Revenge for Jolly!, 2012.
Directed by Chadd Harbold.
Starring: Brian Petsos, Oscar Isaac, Gillian Jacobs, Kristen Wiig, Elijah Wood, Adam Brody, Garret Dillahunt and Ryan Phillippe.
SYNOPSIS:
Owing some money to some bad men, Harry (Pestos) finds his dog, Jolly, dead when he can’t pay up. He sets about avenging his best friend’s death, with the help of his cousin Cecil (Isaac).
May I direct your gaze to that cast list above. Look at it. That’s an exemplary set of names – a heap of in demand dramatic, comedic and method actors. It’s Revenge For Jolly!’s main pull, especially with Oscar Isaac in the supporting role, fresh off the critical success of Inside Llewyn Davis. The film will be noticed, but you can’t expect a great deal of praise coming off that word-of-mouth. Sadly, that cast cannot inject any life into Brian Petsos’ lacklustre script.
There is a great deal of action and incidents taking place along Revenge For Jolly!’s narrative, yet they all seem strung together randomly, as if they included plot arcs and shooting schedules around the A-list star they happened to have employed. Isaac may have a large role – which would presumably give him a chance with a decent character – though there’s nothing special about Cecil, aside from his Ealing comedy-esque name. Brian Petsos in the lead is severely strange, generating little empathy from his quest. It’s tough to mention the remaining cast as their appearances are so fleeting (nearly cameo in their delineation) you can never get a feel for them.
The ambition is clear – sticking within the parameters of the B-movie genre – and you shouldn’t fault Petsos and director Chadd Harbold for trying too hard. They know that their reach is limited, and any constraints that are obvious in the look of the film, or the storytelling, are made up for with the glittering cast. However, a star-studded cast never means you’re getting quality and Machete, the recent films of Bruce Willis, and Movie 43 (to name a few) emphasise that point. The parallels to Rodriguez go beyond Machete, with the gun-toting rampage motif at that centre. Throw in some Coen brothers and you start to define the tone of the film. It attempts to bring these muses together into the B-Movie set-up; being able to tell they are there earns Petsos points for his aspiration, but it’s a chaotic effort. In the end, the film bemuses its audience above anything else – leaving you wondering, “how did they attract all these people to this project?”
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Piers McCarthy – Follow me on Twitter.
Originally published April 23, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
