Wild Seven (2006)

In this darkly karmic vision of Arizona, a man who breathes nothing but ill will begins a noxious domino effect as quickly as an uncontrollable virus kills.

Director:

James M. Hausler

Writer:

James M. Hausler

Stars:

Richard Roundtree, Robert Loggia, Robert Forster

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Roundtree	...	Lee Marvin - Cleetus Woods
Robert Loggia	...	Mackey Willis
Robert Forster	...	Wilson
Lucie Arnaz	...	Sylvia
James M. Hausler	...	Buckley (as James Hausler)
Christopher M. Clark	...	Conner (as Christopher Clark)
Tyler Parkinson	...	Petey
Zev Stern	...	Nick
Michael Mandell	...	Phillip
William Wiyugal	...	The Texican (as William 'Dub' Wiygul)
Aldred Montoya	...	Serdy
Tank Jones	...	Cyrus Woods (as Larry 'Tank' Jones)
Sean Galdo	...	Stanley Feruza
Lucas Beck	...	Charlie
Matthew H. Sykes	...	Bitch-Slapped-Bank-Guy (as Matthew Hillel Sykes)

Storyline

In this darkly karmic vision of Arizona, a man who breathes nothing but ill will begins a noxious domino effect as quickly as an uncontrollable virus kills. As he exits Arizona State Penn after twenty-one long years, Wilson has only one thing on the brain, leveling the score with career criminal, Mackey Willis. As eccentric and intuitive as he is vicious, Mackey's own perfected criminal game will play right into the path Wilson has set for him. With the help of a prison bus driver, Lee Marvin, Wilson acts as a catalyst, putting a plan into action that will bring an untimely end to Mackey Willis. The problem is, no plan is perfect. Meanwhile, an aimless bunch of Arizona twenty-nothings are cooking up a heist that will lead them to the same bank, with different intentions. Skilled at nothing beyond drinking, doing drugs and attending strip clubs, their plan is destined for immediate failure. Heavily armed, without a single identifiable clue, these boys are as blind as they are impulsive...

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Taglines:

The REAL Generation Gap

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, violence, some drug and sexual content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hausler has regretted using the word "Mexico" to refer to where the boys are going in the film. He had heard people refer to predominantly Mexican areas in Phoenix as Mexico and by the time he realized it was not a widely known slang term, the film was well into production.

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Alternate Versions

Things that are different in Director's Cut: 20 minutes of footage gone(explaining things like Richard Roundtree's placement in the story), different music, different narrative, clues about the story, etc. The film was re-cut to a shorter version before the LAfilmfest in '06.

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Connections

References For a Few Dollars More (1965)

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Soundtracks

Angel of the Morning
Written by Chip Taylor
Published by EMI Blackwood Music (BMI)
Performed by Juice Newton
Courtesy of Capitol Nashville
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Drags on way too long, shallow, trite, one dimensional characters

Had been really excited about seeing this at the LA Film Festival. Other festival films had been excellent. This one really disappointed. And the audience also thought so...

Mostly at a festival screening, the audience of movie buffs applaud at the ending, and stay through to the end of the credits. For this bomb, there was no applause, just a puzzled sigh of relief when it finished, and the audience bolted like they do in a multiplex - the theater was practically empty by the time the credits finished rolling.

It had the feeling of a high school play, written and performed by a high school drama group, with the exception of the three seasoned actors who did a valiant job to breathe some life into the narrow characters they had been saddled with, with way too many unnecessary lines.

Too many characters, that were lightweight or had non-existent back stories. The "sunrise- sunset" device was way overused and became tedious. Dialog and editing was way too loose with many pauses that served no purpose. Doubt if there was much on the cutting room floor, as there were many scenes in there that did nothing to advance the story or give more depth to the characters.

Half the dialog consisted of a group of unexplained twenty-somethings getting drunk and accusing each other of gayness. This alone could been edited to trim 20 minutes from the overly long film. Script did not reflect a great depth or breadth of life experience, and often came across as corny.

A few good moments - the father and son scene in the convenience store, the smartass getting smacked in the face, and some of the acting by the older actors, particularly Loggia, whose angry and credible racism made me genuinely uncomfortable.

But the ending did not deliver any real emotional payoff, and any chance of plot payoff was lost long before the ending finally arrived.

And the main credits - cute device, but quickly became as tedious as a child who won't stop asking the question "Why?" over and over.

Which leads me to my final question on this movie, "Why?"

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 June 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wild Seven

Filming Locations:

Arizona State Prison - 1305 E. Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beat Pirate Films

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1