Pawn (2013)

A petty robbery spirals into a tense hostage situation after three gunmen hold up a diner that's a front for the mob.

Director:

David A. Armstrong

Writer:

Jay Anthony White

Stars:

Nikki Reed, Ray Liotta, Forest Whitaker

Cast

Credited cast:
Nikki Reed	...	Amanda
Ray Liotta	...	Man in the Suit
Forest Whitaker	...	Will
Marton Csokas	...	Lieutenant Barnes
Michael Chiklis	...	Derrick
Deborah Twiss	...	Mrs. Davenport
Sean Faris	...	Nick
Jonathan Bennett	...	Aaron
Paul Jude Letersky	...	Sniper
Jessica Szohr	...	Bonnie
Stephen Lang	...	Charlie
Common	...	Jeff Porter
Max Beesley	...	Billy
Jon Lee Brody	...	Sgt. Reyes
Gabriel Jarret	...	Swat team captain

Storyline

An all-night diner. A cop walks in on a robbery in progress. But what happens next - and what happened just before - will change everything you think you know. The building is now surrounded. There are restless fingers on every trigger. And one very intense hostage situation is about to take some extremely shocking twists.

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and brief drug content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 April 2013 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$2,137 (USA) (19 April 2013)

Gross:

$2,137 (USA) (19 April 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Imprint Entertainment, Most Films, Extravaganza Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

It's a Pawn that's played well and serves it's purpose to entertain. Gifted Actors.

A pretty weird mix of actors,isn't it? No doubt there is talent here. I expected an awful Direct-to-DVD(or is it in theaters a week?),I got something a bit differently. You know the genre,you know the players,know the twists will come...but thankfully,Pawn relies more on straight up,unpretentious suspense,realistic,down-to-earth dialog with exceptions for some brilliance and a little silliness(Chiklis attempt at cockney or assassination of it,maybe) and its sudden outbursts of violence with consequences then trying to be a new Memento. It's not innovating or new....it has its share of clichés,some so obvious,we're supposed to be very aware of them and there are a few scenes you feel you've seen before. Still,in the end,it's a tight,impressive lowbudget actionthriller.

It's frustrating with all these "thrillers" where the writers corner themselves,stacking surprises we don't care about on one another until the only logical way out is for them to outsmart themselves and make us giggle in shame. It's tiresome and Pawn,part;Young ex-con at the wrong place at the wrong time,part;Hostagesituation more complicated then it seems,keeps it somewhat simple but never stupid.

It has one or two minor twists and that's just fine.Í appreciate when stories don't completely derail midway in its urge to be clever plus the great bonus of not knowing in which order people here get clipped.

That Whitaker won a Leading actor Oscar for a big supporting role isn't his fault...but his career seemed better off before being the king,right? Now he works with my Swedish,untalented Malin Åkerman and Willis...poor bastard. Mostly a part of this film for a sarcastic or cynical reason,though you can chose to look at it from it's pointless,morbid angle. He's reliable as usual but anyone could've played Thompson(And with all the downloading,DVD-release,ensemble...HOW much did he make?).Pawn starts with an adrenaline rush and remains fast-paced,bloody and overall,a well-acted piece throughout.

Michael Chiklis hopefully gets less work now since his British-love-bloody-geezer psycho-cliché felt more like an American who's seen Lock,Stock 67 times or a cartoon then scary...but then he starts blasting and I at least get that the characters dangerous. If he didn't watch the dailys or read the script,he might have hubris,dyslexia etc,don't care. As long as I don't have to see an acting job like That again.

Was this enjoyable is based on whether I cared or not. And yeah,I sympathized with Tom Cruise's nephew Faris as our desperate hero,who has aged backwards since Never back down. I cared if his girl,played by(so tasty)Nikki Reed made it through the film. You could feel her increasing dread,was way better then I thought,since she never impressed. I wanted to see if crooked Barnes got what he deserved. Cops...let's talk about Ray for just a second.

Liotta is like the A-films Michael Madsen or William Forsythe. Would be (Even)more respected if he didn't work all the time. A gangster-role made him and after that he decided to be the one actor in Hollywood who'd personify THE COP.

From the slightly dirty one with a moral code and a good heart(CopLand,Narc,Phoenix), to corrupt, and sinister(The place beyond the Pines,Son of no one), to corrupt,greedy,misogynistic sleaze-cop with brain..s(Hannibal) to sadistic,womanizing cop(Youth in revolt) to the righteous or bland,pointless,career killing cop(Smokin'Aces,Street Kings 2,La Linea,John Q,Hero wanted) to murderous,deranged and charming(Unlawful Entry) to the mysterious cop(Identity) to the hard-case veteran assigned to babysit the idiot-rookie(Observe 'n Report.)...

Haha,say what you will of the man but to have such a decent career,one even going up(getting billed besides Gosling and Cooper for a small role? Impressive.),he must have done something right while portraying these men of the law of all kinds. Here he taps into the well he did just recently to great effect,in The Iceman;his mobster.

Don't agree. I don't feel he was phoning it in,his calm and polite persona hiding his true nature only on the necessary civilized level where both we and his potential victim see what he's capable of with one look. I think his performance stood out,much thanks to a memorable,chillingly delivered monologue about a certain clock,very smoothly edited,sound and image,his not too subtle metaphor paced along with the hectic events at and outside the diner.

Should've been in it more,as should an unusually sympathetic Lang,very good veteran actor. Marton Csokas has something very slimy about him I appreciate in thrillers and he's effective as twofaced scum.

The one to me unknown actor was crying for the films duration,88 minutes(God,wasn't watching that film like dying 88 times?),every time this semi-cute Sfohr chick popped up,she was in tears. Constantly,believable...and in the end a bit annoying. Common played it alright as a negotiator,subtle and safe.

A slightly mixed bag with mostly great ingredients that I recommend for any rainy night or sunny day,no dull moments,a confident directorial debut and I only guarantee this;It IS a lot better then you think and the trailer suggests. B-movie,fine,a very entertaining,well-acted(mostly) one.