Push (2009)

Two young Americans with special abilities must race to find a girl in Hong Kong before a shadowy government organization called Division does.

Director:

Paul McGuigan

Writer:

David Bourla

Stars:

Camilla Belle, Dakota Fanning, Chris Evans

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Colin Ford	...	Young Nick
Joel Gretsch	...	Nick's Father
Djimon Hounsou	...	Henry Carver
Dakota Fanning	...	Cassie Holmes
Robert Tsonos	...	Division Doctor
Brandon Rhea	...	Division Doctor
Camilla Belle	...	Kira Hudson
Neil Jackson	...	Victor Budarin
Chris Evans	...	Nick Gant
Kai Cheung Leung	...	Dice Man
Hsin Nan Hung	...	Dice Man's Heavy (as Sun Nan Hung)
Corey Stoll	...	Agent Mack
Scott Michael Campbell	...	Agent Holden
Wai Man Tam	...	Cook in Fish Market
Hal Yamanouchi	...	Pop Father (as Haruihko Yamanouchi)

Storyline

A group of young American ex-pats with telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities are hiding from a clandestine U.S. government agency. They must utilize their different talents and band together for a final job enabling them to escape the agency forever.

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Plot Keywords:

telekinetic | teenage girl | mini skirt | hong kong | future | 

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Taglines:

Leurs pouvoirs font d'eux une espèce en danger (Their powers make them an endangered species)

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, brief strong language, smoking and a scene of teen drinking

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

6 February 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Héroes

Filming Locations:

China

Box Office

Budget:

$38,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,079,109, 8 February 2009, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$31,806,100, 10 May 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Summit Entertainment,Icon Productions,Infinity Features Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Paul McGuigan tried to limit the use of digital effects as much as possible, recalling the great directors who didn't have such means available to them yet made up for them with their imagination. In fact the only scenes in which green screens were used were the car chases, as Hong Kong traffic is very heavy.

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Goofs

Nick's flashback of Henry talking in the restaurant does not match up to the original scene. In original scene the floating gun is pressed to Henrys cheek however in the flashback the gun is pressed to his temple. Secondly Henry refers to the drug as "the stuff" in the flashback but he only referred to the drug as "it" during the original scene.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Young Nick: Dad, what's happening?
Nick's Father: I need you to listen to me, like we're the last two people on the planet, okay Nick? Someday, a girl is going to give you a flower. You got that? A flower. And you have to help her, Nick. You help her, and you help us all. Okay? I know it doesn't make any sense right now, but I believe the woman who told me that. Do you think you can believe me?
[Nick nods]
Nick's Father: I love you. Know how I've said that you were special Nick? Turns out that I was right.

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Connections

Referenced in Hemlock Grove: The Price (2013)

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Soundtracks

Rocket
Written by Working For A Nuclear Free City
Performed by Working For A Nuclear Free City
Courtesy of Deaf+Dumb+Blind Records
By arrangement with Zync Music Inc.

User Reviews

Don't Think Too Hard If You Want to Enjoy This Movie

This little bit of cinematic junk food is moderately entertaining if you're not looking to exercise any brain cells. It's about a bunch of people -- some good, some bad -- with special powers in pursuit of a suitcase that contains something that everybody wants. I could go into what the suitcase actually contains, and why it's important, and why everyone wants it, but I don't have the energy, and it doesn't matter much anyway, because the film is more interested in its style than it is in its plot, which isn't in this case a criticism.

The film reminded me of a jacked up version of one of those 1940s crime thrillers, where everyone speaks in a hard-boiled patter and what happens isn't nearly as important as how it all looks happening. So what if this film's plot seems needlessly complicated, and so what if there are way too many narrative threads that don't ever get completely developed, and so what if the whole thing is edited to within an inch of its life? It's still pretty fun if you're in the mood for it.

Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning are the nominal stars, and Djimon Hounsou makes an appearance, proving yet again that what he really needs more than anything is a better dialect coach.

The crazy color palettes and art direction in this film reminded me as I was watching it of "Lucky Number Slevin," another bit of entertaining B pulp. How funny then that I look at this film's director's (Paul McGuigan) resume only to find that it includes....you guessed it....."Lucky Number Slevin." If nothing else, his films certainly have a visual style in common.

Grade: B