Sophomore director Trent Haaga has cast "Criminal Minds" co-star Matthew Gray Gubler as a character in "68 Kill" like no other the actor has ever portrayed. A bloodthirsty, comedy of errors, crime thriller about a harmless milquetoast and the brutal babe in his life, this fast-moving, contemporary, 93-minute melodrama boasts three dominatrixes who treat him like their slave. The three desperate dames in Chip's life turn his days upside-down. They take him beyond his worst nightmares, and he is powerless to resist their bellicosity. Occasionally, he fights back. Most of his efforts unravel in utter futility. Gubler delivers a sympathetic performance in this role that allows him to change over the course of the action. He works for a sewage company, and he refuses to stand up for himself in the face of any confrontation. You will laugh until your sides are sore every time he ends up in a predicament with no apparent way out for him. Clearly, Gubler embraced the role because he was willing to behave cluelessly throughout with no qualms about how humiliating he would appear. "Chop" director Trent Haaga's second movie isn't anything major, but it features several exciting moments, interesting characters, and off-beat situations that you won't have trouble getting through an initial viewing. Happily, when the dust of his disasters settle, Chip emerges as a changed man.
Our nerdy hero, Chip (Matthew Gray Gubler), has a vicious, joyriding girlfriend, Liza (AnnaLynne McCord of "Transporter 2"), who wants a better life. The first stepping stone to that dream is a scumbag, Ken Mckenzie (David Maldonado of "The 5th Wave"), has $68-thousand in cash in a safe at his place. Chip's crazy girlfriend Liza takes him along on what she calls a quick 'in and out' that turns out to be far more complicated. After Liza kills Ken, Chip and she are shocked to find an innocent bystander in the house, Violet (Alisha Boe of "Paranormal Activity 4"), who can identify them. Quick-thinking Liza has her stuffed the trunk of their red 2004 Mustang and she intends to sell the girl to her perverted brother, Dwayne (a bespectacled Sam Eidson of "The Cain Complex"), as extremely creepy as Liza. Chip discovers Dwayne makes gory snuff films, and Liza admits she sold another girl earlier to Dwayne, who used her for body parts in his home-made video. Chip draws the line at this point, clobbers Liza over the head with a pistol, and vanishes with Violet still in the trunk. Actually, Liza is as angry as she is impressed with Chip's display of machismo. She catches up with him on the highway somewhere in Louisiana and orders him pull over after she brandishes a pistol. The crack on her head that Chip administered when he whipped her with a pistol earlier her topples her.
Now, Chip finds himself at the mercy of a second woman, Violet. He had opened the trunk to check on her, and she manages to relieve him of his pistol and turn it on him. After scaring the life out of poor Chip, Violet decides that she could spend the $68-thousand as easily as Liza. Moreover, Violet has fallen on hard times, some of which she can attribute to the unscrupulous Ken who sought to abuse her. When she refused his improper advances, Violet quit. Little did poor Violet realize that Ken was best buds with her landlord. She wound up in the street with nothing, and Ken was her only salvation. She went back to him as a sex slave. Mind you, with Ken out of the way and all that cash, Violet wants to go somewhere and live like a princess. Chip has to gas up the Mustang. He encounters a Goth-looking cashier at a gas station/convenience store, Monica (Sheila Vand of "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"), and pays her from the $68-thousand. Monica gets noses and bargains with him to keep her mouth shut for two bills. Violet intervenes, saves Chip from Monica, and they head off to a motel. She claims that she wants sex with someone of her preference rather than vice-versa. Chip awakens the next morning, finds a body hacked up in the body tub. Not only is his Mustang gone, but also thieves have taken his clothes.
"68 Kill" chronicles the journey of hardship that Chip embarks on involuntarily to becoming a self-sufficient man who isn't prone to his hormonal desires. At the end, he spots a tattooed lady on the side of the highway with smoke pouring out from the hood of her car, a classic example of a damsel-in-distress. She tries to flag our protagonist down, but second thoughts prompt Chip to avoid her and cruise into the sunset. Humor pervades this perverse, profanity-laden exercise, and the surprises never seem like they will stop. The cast acquits itself admirably, but Gubler's pusillanimous hero overshadows them.
Our nerdy hero, Chip (Matthew Gray Gubler), has a vicious, joyriding girlfriend, Liza (AnnaLynne McCord of "Transporter 2"), who wants a better life. The first stepping stone to that dream is a scumbag, Ken Mckenzie (David Maldonado of "The 5th Wave"), has $68-thousand in cash in a safe at his place. Chip's crazy girlfriend Liza takes him along on what she calls a quick 'in and out' that turns out to be far more complicated. After Liza kills Ken, Chip and she are shocked to find an innocent bystander in the house, Violet (Alisha Boe of "Paranormal Activity 4"), who can identify them. Quick-thinking Liza has her stuffed the trunk of their red 2004 Mustang and she intends to sell the girl to her perverted brother, Dwayne (a bespectacled Sam Eidson of "The Cain Complex"), as extremely creepy as Liza. Chip discovers Dwayne makes gory snuff films, and Liza admits she sold another girl earlier to Dwayne, who used her for body parts in his home-made video. Chip draws the line at this point, clobbers Liza over the head with a pistol, and vanishes with Violet still in the trunk. Actually, Liza is as angry as she is impressed with Chip's display of machismo. She catches up with him on the highway somewhere in Louisiana and orders him pull over after she brandishes a pistol. The crack on her head that Chip administered when he whipped her with a pistol earlier her topples her.
Now, Chip finds himself at the mercy of a second woman, Violet. He had opened the trunk to check on her, and she manages to relieve him of his pistol and turn it on him. After scaring the life out of poor Chip, Violet decides that she could spend the $68-thousand as easily as Liza. Moreover, Violet has fallen on hard times, some of which she can attribute to the unscrupulous Ken who sought to abuse her. When she refused his improper advances, Violet quit. Little did poor Violet realize that Ken was best buds with her landlord. She wound up in the street with nothing, and Ken was her only salvation. She went back to him as a sex slave. Mind you, with Ken out of the way and all that cash, Violet wants to go somewhere and live like a princess. Chip has to gas up the Mustang. He encounters a Goth-looking cashier at a gas station/convenience store, Monica (Sheila Vand of "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"), and pays her from the $68-thousand. Monica gets noses and bargains with him to keep her mouth shut for two bills. Violet intervenes, saves Chip from Monica, and they head off to a motel. She claims that she wants sex with someone of her preference rather than vice-versa. Chip awakens the next morning, finds a body hacked up in the body tub. Not only is his Mustang gone, but also thieves have taken his clothes.
"68 Kill" chronicles the journey of hardship that Chip embarks on involuntarily to becoming a self-sufficient man who isn't prone to his hormonal desires. At the end, he spots a tattooed lady on the side of the highway with smoke pouring out from the hood of her car, a classic example of a damsel-in-distress. She tries to flag our protagonist down, but second thoughts prompt Chip to avoid her and cruise into the sunset. Humor pervades this perverse, profanity-laden exercise, and the surprises never seem like they will stop. The cast acquits itself admirably, but Gubler's pusillanimous hero overshadows them.