Review: Big Game

Air Force One crashes down into the forest/mountains of Finland, leaving the President of the United States (Samuel L. Jackson) exposed in his escape pod in a land he doesn’t know and targeted by a rich terrorist (Mehmet Kurtulus) with a trophy hunting fetish. His only hope is a local boy (Onni Tommila) who has been left in the wilderness to slay a beast for himself as part of a manhood-type rite of passage deal every youngster in his clan (including his dad) has gone through before. Unfortunately, we see early on that the boy may not be quite up to the task of killing an animal, let alone warding off armed terrorists. Ray Stevenson plays POTUS’ chief Secret Service agent nearing the end of his assignment, who once took a bullet for his boss. Watching the events unfold from afar are the usual political/military talking heads including a hawkish general (Ted Levine), CIA terrorist expert (Jim Broadbent), the Vice President (Victor Garber), and CIA director (Felicity Huffman).

 

The kind of film you admire for its sheer craziness, but ultimately when you get right down to it, you can’t quite legitimately recommend overall. This 2015 flick from Finnish writer-director Jalmari Helander (the dark Christmas tale “Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale”) is, above all else, still watchable, however I just can’t in good conscience wholeheartedly recommend something that so poorly wastes a terrific supporting cast. You thought I was gonna come down on the film for being too dopey didn’t you? Nope, that I actually liked about it. It’s really silly and insane and kind of irresistible for the most part. But giving Jim Broadbent, Victor Garber, Felicity Huffman, and Ted Levine (who plays an already clichéd part way too broad) cardboard military/political ‘talking heads’ roles is just unforgiveable in my view, and drags the film down a bit. The only one of them who manages to stand out is probably Broadbent, who at least adds a bit of colour to a pretty one-dimensional part.

 

Much better is Ray Stevenson, a hit and miss actor who is very well-cast here. In fact, he’s probably the acting highlight of the film, despite a continued inability to put on an accent. Although he’s slumming it yet again, Samuel L. Jackson certainly makes for an affable American president. However, his deliberately weak role might not be for all tastes, as he doesn’t really impose furiously angry justice on any motherfuckers here. So it might be a bit jarring for some. I think it’s a pretty interesting use of him, playing a mild-mannered but not entirely ineffectual politician and he plays it well. I’d agree that it’s not the most colourful part he has ever played, though. The real star of the film is young Onni Tommila (from “Rare Exports”), who is OK but a bit dour in the part. Although he’s German-born and of Turkish descent, actor Mehmet Kurtulus actually has a very English-sounding accent, which was for me just about the most interesting thing about his contribution here. As the chief villain, he’s supposed to be a trophy hunter, but the way things play out, I don’t see how it really works. He doesn’t really hunt Jackson, he has him brought to him. Is the point that he’s a villain and therefore a cheater? If so, that’s no fun at all. So I was a bit disappointed there, and given the events in the final stages, one wonders if something got lost in screenplay revisions that clears things up a little better.

 

The best thing in the entire film is the absolutely stunning mountain and forest scenery. It doesn’t look Finnish (the country isn’t particularly known for its huge mountains, so it was actually shot in the German Alps!), but given the writer-director himself is Finnish, I guess if he’s not concerned about accuracy, nor should I be. At any rate, it looks gorgeous, and perhaps that’s the main thing. When the film first started, I thought it was going in bizarrely inflammatory territory to have the chief menace of the film be the kid. Unfortunately for my perverse amusement, but probably very fortunately for a bunch of other reasons, the film isn’t that insane or subversive. It’s still pretty wacky, though, and I liked that about it. It may not have a whole lot of brains and certainly not much depth, but it certainly is pretty oddball and I was never bored. Hey, it could’ve been a whole damn lot worse, at the very least. It’s really watchable, although those knowledgeable in the geography of Finland might question all the stunning mountain scenery. I think the waste of the supporting cast was more questionable for me. 

 

Rating: C+