Dolan's Cadillac (2009)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Jeff Beesley

Writers:

Stephen King (novel) and
Richard Dooling (screenplay)

Release Date:

December 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

A young man attempts to seek to avenge his wife's death after she is murdered by a Las Vegas mobster.

Plot Keywords:

Apostrophe In Title | Punctuation In Title | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Cast

Christian Slater	...	Dolan
Emmanuelle Vaugier	...	Elizabeth
Wes Bentley	...	Robinson
Greg Bryk	...	Chief
Aidan Devine	...	Roman
Al Sapienza	...	Fletcher
Karen LeBlanc	...	Delta
Cory Generoux	...	Pedro
Vivian Ng	...	Jun Li
Patrick Bird	...	Jose
Eugene Clark	...	Tink
Max Keene	...	Danny
Robert Benz	...	Sheriff Bob
Timothy Allen	...	Marshall
Amy Matysio	...	Amy

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

89 min | Germany:105 min (European Film Market)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45367) | Finland:K-15 | Australia:MA (2009) | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Cadillac Prairie Productions

Trivia:

Sylvester Stallone was originally slated to play the role of Jimmy Dolan. He was later replaced with Christian Slater.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Robinson target practices with his pistol, the camera gives a "down the barrel" view. The interior of the barrel is smooth. All pistols have a rifled barrel (as shown in the famous James Bond film introductions).

Good for what it lacks, as much as what it has

The harmless school teacher Robinson (Bentley) seeks revenge on a cold and greedy crook (Slater) who had his wife killed. The plot is familiar, the details of the revenge rather ingenious.

This is actually a rather solid and effective chiller, based on Stephen King's memorable short story. Instead of adding countless new themes in an effort to show the audience that they are not "merely" making a horror flick, the filmmakers have added scenes that actually foreshadow and strengthen the ending.

This hardly classifies it as a classic, but I found surprisingly little to gripe about and actually one or two additions that I found impressive. Christian Slater seems to be enjoying his part without turning it into camp and Besley manages to convey some real human emotions without seeming to reach for the Oscars. In this sort of (short) movie, restraint is just as important as ideas, seeing as how countless thrillers just go overboard on a desperate quest for "impact".

The cinematography and sound engineering stand up to scrutiny and the minor parts are well executed. In short, this one works.