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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:	2011
Country of origin:	USA / Ireland
Director:	Steven Soderbergh
Genre:	Slick actioner
Starring:	Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1506999/
Tagline:	They left her no choice.
Favourite line:	"You shouldn’t think of her as being a woman. No. That would be a mistake."

That Steven Soderbergh churns 'em out, doesn’t he?
Only three months ago we were treated to the really rather good Contagion - something of a departure for the Ocean's Eleven helmsman - but here he is back on more familiar territory.

The plot:
Mallory waits for Aaron in a diner, staring at the frozen world beyond the window.
Aaron arrives, seeming none too pleased, demanding she get in the car with him.
Mallory refuses, so Aaron throws scolding hot coffee in her face and, in the blink of an eye, the pair are fighting like animals.
An onlooker tries to help, but Mallory doesn't need the help, not until Aaron is incapacitated, so she asks the stranger for his car.
The pair drive off, and Mallory begins to tell her tale to the stranger, a story of betrayal, broken promises, intercontinental espionage and brutal violence.

With the feel of an older film - think something from the 70's; The French Connection, perhaps, or The Conversation - this meanders along, the director confident enough to linger on shots where other, less capable men would have inserted a cut shot, a fast edit, a montage, something, but no, Soderbergh just lets the camera gaze on, unblinking.
With a veritable posse of acting talent on display - Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender - they all do just fine, but the notable talent here is Gina Carano as Mallory, in real life an ex-MMA cage fighter who has only appeared in one other movie, and that in a fairly minor part. Her acting chops are perfectly acceptable, but it is the prowess she shows in the action scenes that really grabs the headlines. No surprise, I guess, but still great to see a relative unknown outmuscling the big hitters.
Not the best movie you'll see this year - heck, maybe even this week - but if slick, accomplished action is what shakes your barley, give it a squiz.