Sunday, June 7, 2020

Overheard at Table 4: Term Life (2016)

I can certainly understand why I missed this movie.  Man, it slipped through 2016 without nary a ripple of chatter.  That's because it's entirely forgettable.   Holy Moley what a poopshow this one is.

Did Vince Vaughan try to make a serious flick?  We can't tell.  He's so naturally comic, it's like you can see the humour just trying to burst out.  Maybe that's it.  There is nothing worse than a funny movie trying to be serious.  They should have just remade this as a comedy - they could have even made it a black comedy (or should I say "dark comedy") - and it would possibly have been able to achieve some semblance of life.

Basic plot: Criminal Mastermind sells plans to criminals for a cut fee.  He has a daughter he has not been allowed to see all her life because he's a crook.  One job he sells gets the crooks killed.  Crooks turn out to be headed by the son of a Mexican Cartel lord, which means Vince Vaughn is now going to die horribly.  But he didn't sell the crooks out.  He's been framed.   I'll go ahead and spoil it because it's not that big a secret: Bad cops framed him.

Oh yeah, so he's on the run with his estranged daughter and along the way she finds out that he really is a good father figure and suddenly she wants to be a criminal mastermind as well.

The only bright spots in this movie were cameos by Taraji P Henson and Terrence Howard.
Weird thing about Howard though, is how he was playing the role of Andy Griffith.  Even though he gets blown away by the cartel guys, the brief moment of his role makes it seem like he actually would be awesome in a remake of that old tv show.   Black sheriff in small Georgia town, with a squad of Barney Fifes.   There is definitely some potential there.


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