• Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • FMTV
  • Socials
    • YouTube
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

  • TRENDING TOPICS:
  • Star Wars
  • Marvel
  • DC
  • Physical Media
  • Write for Us

Movie Review – Pursuit (2022)

February 17, 2022 by Robert Kojder

Pursuit, 2022.

Directed by Brian Skiba.
Starring Emile Hirsch, John Cusack, Jake Manley, Elizabeth Faith Ludlow, Graham Patrick Martin, Heather Marie Marsden, Chris Jai Alex, Aubrey Stevens, Barry Hanley, Nick Benseman, Shelby Yardley, James Logan William Katt, Brittany Belt, and Andrew Stevens.

SYNOPSIS:

Detective Breslin crosses paths with Calloway, a ruthless hacker who’s trying to save his kidnapped wife from a drug cartel. When Calloway escapes from police custody, Breslin joins forces with a no-nonsense cop to reclaim his prisoner.

Emile Hirsch is more often than not an underappreciated presence even if he finds himself stuck inside a bottom of the barrel Bruce Willis vehicle, but here in Pursuit, he’s the one giving a Bruce Willis performance. No one can blame him, considering director Brian Skiba (writing alongside Ben Flore and Dawn Bursteen) has cobbled together an incomprehensible mess of a colliding criminal underworld and detectives on the chase.

The plot’s core is relatively simple; Emile Hirsch’s computer hacker son of a high-profile drug dealer Rick Calloway wants his missing wife back. It’s a situation that his father, John Calloway (John Cusack), might have something to do with, as he is also looking after Rick’s son. Somehow, Pursuit spins its gears into a sprawling crime saga involving superiors of superiors, a gay son trying to keep his sexuality a secret from the big boss, officers across different states joining forces, a country line dancer club, assassins (complete with pointless and reprehensible graphic shots of murdered children), and a tragic backstory for nearly everyone. Even with all that, there’s not one point in the movie to want or feel like Rick should be reunited with his family, as almost every character is a horrible person to some degree or connected to a crime, and not in an endearing way.

As these various criminals and drug dealers and detectives all cross paths, Pursuit tangles itself to a point where it’s often hard to get a clear grasp on some of the character motives. And when it is clear, most of the motives are fairly despicable. There’s also no sense of humor or fun or meaningful purpose; it’s just an exercise in being as nasty as possible.

By the standards of dated technology, hacking and tracking come across as ridiculous and hard to take seriously. Perhaps more hilarious is the scene where Rick gets to locating on his computer while a prostitute sits on the bed in the background, looking as bored as everyone watching. Shootouts are embarrassingly conceived, at one point awkwardly cutting to a mall patron for far too long, telegraphing that he is about to get shot. Just about every melee fight comes with the cheapest sound effects imaginable. And when it comes to torture sequences, well, sometimes the filmmakers don’t even bother trying to spend any money, most notably when one character is meant to be stabbing a fork into someone’s eye, except it’s shot from an angle where the object is nowhere near the high no matter what the sound design wants you to believe. However, there is no more tone-deaf moment than a line directed at a babysitter during the climax that had me in fits laughing. Pursuit is indeed so bad it should be seen to be believed, but it’s also nowhere close to competent or enjoyable. For the most part, it’s also indulgent in excessive gratuitous violence without justification.

Throughout all of this, Emile Hirsch doesn’t even bother to give a convincing performance and mostly looks annoyed he is in the movie. The only kind thing there is to say about Pursuit is that a pair of mismatched detectives played by Elizabeth Faith Ludlow and Jake Manley have one or two dialogue exchanges that are passable. There is no reason on earth to give Pursuit a chance.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★  / Movie: ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com

 

FacebookTwitterFlipboardRedditPinterestWhatsApp

Filed Under: Movies, Reviews, Robert Kojder Tagged With: Andrew Stevens, Aubrey Stevens, Barry Hanley, Brian Skiba, Brittany Belt, Chris Jai Alex, Elizabeth Faith Ludlow, emile hirsch, Graham Patrick Martin, Heather Marie Marsden, Jake Manley, James Logan William Katt, John Cusack, Nick Benseman, Pursuit, Shelby Yardley

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Forgotten 2000s Comedies That Are Worth Revisiting

Bad Video Game Movies You Probably Forgot Existed

Exclusive Interview – Amber Doig-Thorne on Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey and The Baby in the Basket

Underappreciated Action Stars Who Deserve More Love

Max Headroom: The Story Behind the 80s A.I. Icon

The 1990s in Comic Book Movies

Demonic Horror Movies To Send Shivers Down Your Spine

Ten Underrated Movies From 2013 That Deserve More Love

The Gruesome Brilliance of 1980s Italian Horror

The Top Ten Best Community Episodes of All Time

FEATURED POSTS:

Ranking Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Post-Governator Starring Roles

Five More Sylvester Stallone Movies That Need a Sequel After Cliffhanger

Not for the Faint of Heart: The Most Shocking Movies of All Time

Trending Now

  1. Zoe Saldaña, Nicole Kidman, and Morgan Freeman star in the trailer for Taylor Sheridan’s Special Ops: Lioness
  2. Sisqó’s “Thong Song” breaks up a fight between John Doe and Sweet Tooth in first clip from Twisted Metal
  3. Movie Review – Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
  4. Movie Review – The Machine (2023)
  5. The Essential New French Extremity Movies
  6. Movie Review – Wifelike (2022)
  • Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • FMTV
  • Socials
    • YouTube
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

© Collinson Media Limited. All rights reserved. The reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of the content without permission is strictly prohibited. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.