Swelter (2014)

Ten years after their casino heist, four escaped convicts trace their former partner to a desert town, where he is now a lawman with no memory of his criminal past.

Director:

Keith Parmer

Writer:

Keith Parmer

Stars:

Jean-Claude Van Damme, Susan Ruttan, Lennie James

Cast

Credited cast:
Jean-Claude Van Damme	...	Stillman
Susan Ruttan	...	Church Lady
Lennie James	...	Bishop
Alfred Molina	...	Doc
Mindy Robinson	...	Party Host
Catalina Sandino Moreno	...	Carmen
Courtney Hope	...	Halle
Abby Miller	...	Peaches
Dana Schick	...	Stunning Biker Girl
Josh Henderson	...	Boyd
Tracey Walter	...	old man Henry johnson
Freya Tingley	...	London
Brad Carter	...	Mechanic
Grant Bowler	...	Cole
Tokala Black Elk	...	Mezcal (as Tokala Clifford)

Storyline

Ten years after their casino heist, four escaped convicts trace their former partner to a desert town, where he is now a lawman with no memory of his criminal past.

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Plot Keywords:

police shootout | police officer killed | police officer shot in the chest | police officer shot in the forehead | police officer shot in the head | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language including some sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 May 2014 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Agria symmoria

Filming Locations:

Piru, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Grand Peaks Entertainment,Film Invaders,Exchange Peaks Film Capital

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In one of the early scenes when they take the spare tyre out of the trunk it has a hub cap fitted to the wheel. Normally a spare would not have a hub cap fitted; the hub cap on the wheel with the flat tyre would end up on the spare after it has been fitted.

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Connections

References Ocean's 11 (1960)

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Soundtracks

Ears To The Ground
Performed by Tree Adams
Written by Tree Adams (BMI)
Courtesy of Treehouse Music Inc.

User Reviews

Script needed work

10-years ago five pulled off a robbery. Four got caught and went to prison. The 5th got away with the $10-million. Now the Four have completed their sentences and go after that 5th person. The twist is that the 5th person cannot remember where he put the money. Of course, the Four don't believe him.

John-Claude Van Damme is the top name in here, but he doesn't have much to do, actually hardly anything. His name is here to draw us in. I bit. This story is really about Bishop (Lennie James) who is now the Sheriff in Butler a town outside Las Vegas, Nevada. He is that 5th person, and we are led to believe he really doesn't know where he hid the $10-million. We know he is the 5th man because we see him in flashbacks as part of that robbery years ago.

This takes too long to become interesting. No one really stands out. Bishop comes the closest, but we see that Cole (Grant Bowler) appears to be the leader of the Four, but he fizzles too quickly until the last 10-minutes. The main guy was supposed to be Stillman (Van Damme) but he just sat around and didn't say much at all. He wasn't "the guy."

I think the main problem with this movie is that too much screen time was spread around too evenly and we were at a loss to decide who to key in on. See? But, we still went with Bishop as the main guy. There should have been some cat and mouse stuff between the Four and Bishop. This was like a short story made into a full length novel and there really was no place to go. The plot was a very simple one and there wasn't much material for a full length movie. See?

The script needed work and no one took the time to make it right. The acting all around is good with the supporting cast including Josh Henderson and Alfred Molina, but the last 10-minutes is all the movie you needed to see. Everything before that was slow and boring with quickie scenes that sometimes seemed to be unrelated to the main job of getting to Bishop. It all took too long.

Oh, you will find out where Bishop hid the money.

And, another thing: when you see a movie with a goofy title as Swelter, stay away. (3/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes.