Review: "Wrecked"

Wrecked (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you remember the end of the movie "Snake Eyes", and the condition of Nicolas Cage's character? He was limping, bruised, bleeding and a bit hysterical (of course). Wasn't that cool? Now, imagine that a near unknown independent feature comes along, with little to no dialogue, just one main setting, and an actor that has to START the movie from where Cage ended the one listed above. Oh, and the actor is Adrien Brody. How much would that rock?

Luckily, someone already imagined it. In "Wrecked", Adrien Brody plays a man with no name, who wakes up in a crashed car in a forest. A few dead bodies surround the area, making him the only known survivor. His leg is broken and trapped, his face is cut up and heavily bruised and he is scared shitless. Remember, this is the beginning of the film.

Throughout the next 90 minutes, we witness Brody (who I explained in an earlier post is a sex symbol) cry, piss on himself, hallucinate, crawl through the woods and make friends with a dog. Slowly, through flashbacks and some evidence on the ground, we get the idea that he was somehow involved in a bank robbery - but he has more pressing matters to deal with; finding help and staying sane.

As an oscar winner, Brody ought to be choosing cushy roles - the kind that guarantee large paydays and maybe critical acclaim. Instead, he fucks a genetic hybrid ("Splice"), kills alien hunters ("Predators"), portrays Salvador Dali ("Midnight in Paris") and stars as Psycho Ed ("High School"). When he picks a role, it must be because it sounds fun.

And, you know what, watching Brody grunt for an entire movie IS fun.

Holding this movie back are the flashbacks and the ending. It would've been much better to have seen Adrien not remember ANYTHING, and just watch his character struggle with a broken/infected leg, trying to survive another day. Instead, we find out exactly how he ended up in the accident, what the hallucinations meant and that it was all some weird PSA for seat belts.

What was the point of all of this? *Spoilers* Brody was a hostage who caused the accident to get away from the robbers, and the hallucination was his wife, who we thought was a representation of guilt or something (which he shoots at one point). Was this just about survival? A guy loots the car at one point, and is later found dead in a cave - what happened and what did that mean?

I think this was all just an excuse to watch Adrien Brody do a mix of "127 Hours" and "Cast Away", minus the dialogue and hope. A new genre called Brody-sploitation has been created, and for that, I thank the filmmakers. Oh, and Adrien Brody, of course.

3/5 *'s

Solo Thoughts Episode 2

Adrien Brody, bruised and bleeding, pees on himself? I HAVE to stop the movie to talk about it...

A full written review to follow.

Adrien Brody Can Get Away With It

Starting this past weekend, I began to contribute film musings/reviews to the new website JadeHive. They cross posted my previous MoviePass entry, and I have now cross posted my latest entry FROM JadeHive to here:

Fair warning – This is not an average review.

I just finished watching Vincenzo Natali’s “Splice”, and while I do have some overall thoughts on the film itself, I would much rather discuss one specific scene from the film. A scene that has not only been stuck in my mind, but also fully summarizes the movie as a whole: Adrien Brody thrusting into a genetically engineered being.

Try and bear with me.

It should be well known to anybody with eyesight that Adrien Brody is sex. Not sexy, mind you. He IS sex. Everytime He appears on a screen, whether it’s as a confused mercenary in “Predators” or as a lounge singer in a Super Bowl commercial, the man develops a rather steamy relationship with the camera. With one look of sensual forlorn (which is inevitable), He can make women (and probably men) melt in their seats. His ‘male partner in a TV-MA shower commercial’ attitude works so well for him, He was able to not only makeout with Halle Berry on live television, but also get away with it! Good acting skills + Eye sex with camera = Adrien Brody.

So, how does the weird laboratory creature factor in?

In “Splice”, Adrien Brody stars as Clive, one half of a scientist couple who create new lifeforms in an attempt to harvest proteins for medical purposes. After their research is shutdown, Elsa(the other half of the couple, played by Sarah Polley) makes the decision to go ahead and experiment with a new lifeform, this time made with human DNA. The result is a female they name Dren, and Elsa immediately begins a maternal relationship with it, using the scientific research as an excuse. Clive is weary to continue, but soon warms up to Dren – comforting her and teaching her how to dance.


Of course, things have to take an odd turn: Elsa begins to act controlling and overbearing, pushing Dren to act more aggressive. It also becomes obvious that Dren is attracted to Clive, with her drawing pictures of his face, and seductively swimming in front of a camera. All of this leads to the sequence in question.

Now, I’m focused on this scene for two reasons. For one thing, the scene completely summarizes what the movie is about: bad parenting. The film is more about people who shouldn’t have kids than it is about science. It’s explained that Elsa had a very bad childhood. She’s apprehensive to the idea of becoming pregnant, but is all for creating a surrogate daughter inside a makeshift womb (adoption, in a way). She tries to be the mother she never had, but eventually becomes exactly what she hated. Clive is all for having a REAL child – not a human/animal hybrid. He is pretty cold to the creature at first(the unresponsive step dad), but begins to see bits of Elsa in Dren(“you look like your mother”), and eventually, after comforting Dren a few times, succumbs to her when she throws her nude self at him(rivalry with mother for affections of step dad/father issues?). Basically, the scene demonstrates that the scientists have crossed the line, both in science and in parenting (obviously).

And second is the casting of Adrien Brody. As I explained before, the man IS sex. When I first witnessed the scene, the only appropriate response for me was shocking laughter: the man who madeout with Halle Berry has seduced/has been seduced by a hybrid lab creature. When we watch a Hollywood sex scene, we expect to be titillated, not to be made uncomfortable. But because Adrien(who IS sex) performs this unusual scene in such a straight forward way(possibly imagining Penelope Cruz), we are left feeling a discomforting arousal. I have a feeling that the casting agent and even Director had a good chuckle, thinking about Adrien doing this scene. The only other actors I can think of possibly doing this would be Mickey Rourke and Matt Dillon, but I’m not sure if it would be the same.

I recommend this movie be screened to the very gullible, as the shock will cause great joy for the exhibitors. In conclusion, I leave you with a quote from the Director Vincenzo Natali:

“That scene was the reason I wanted to make the film and that’s why it’s such a miracle this film exists.”