Starring: Sam Riley, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Ray Winstone, Alexander Skarsgård, Ben Gazzara, Michael Shannon, Curtis Jackson, David Zayas, Gaby Hoffmann, Ronald Guttman, John Bedford Lloyd
Review: Vince (Sam Riley) is a young man desperate for money to save his ailing father's life. When he sees an opportunity for a big payday Vince assumes a dead man's identity and unexpectedly finds himself in an extreme underground game of Russian roulette, where desperate men and depraved gamblers are placing their bets on who will be the last man standing.
13 is the American remake of writer/director Géla Babluani's 13 Tzameti which shocked audiences at Sundance. Now, I have not seen the original, but I don't have high hopes for it based on it's remake.
The story starts out with a blue collar family desperate to save an ailing father. The oldest son, Vince, is determined to help and when a sure thing comes his way, he can't say no. But soon enough he regrets his decision once he realizes he'll have to literally put his life on the line to win big. The setup is interesting enough, but as soon as the "game" starts, and we see the more recognizable actors, Vince and his plight seem to get lost in the shuffle. It's the Caddyshack effect (patent pending).
In Caddyshack Danny Noonan (Michael O'Keefe) is your protagonist, but when the likes of Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield,Ted Knight and Bill Murray show up then Danny's story isn't quite so interesting. The same goes for 13. When you have Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Ray Winstone, Alexander Skarsgård, Ben Gazzara, Michael Shannon, Curtis Jackson, David Zayas, Ronald Guttman, John Bedford Lloyd and many more gracing the screen with they're presence you begin to forget all about what's his name. See! What did I tell ya?
The movie is rather bleak, and it loses focus quite noticeably. I kept wondering where it was going, but not in a good way. The majority of the characters that are given backstories don't really have them payoff in any kind of satisfactory way. A lot of what happens in this one had me saying out loud, "What was the point of that?" It seems like it would have been better as a short film or as part of an anthology.
I'd say skip 13, it was certainly an unlucky watch for me.
Fun Fact: Ray Liotta was originally cast in the role of Detective Larry Mullane, a part that eventually went to David Zayas after Liotta had to bow out, due to a scheduling conflict.