Mojave (2015)

A suicidal artist goes into the desert, where he finds his doppelgänger, a homicidal drifter.

Director:

William Monahan

Writer:

William Monahan (screenplay)

Stars:

Oscar Isaac, Garrett Hedlund, Louise Bourgoin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Garrett Hedlund	...	Tom
Louise Bourgoin	...	Milly
Cletus Young	...	Old-Timer
Oscar Isaac	...	Jack
Tim Soergel	...	Park Ranger
Ralph Brannen	...	Town Car Driver
Walton Goggins	...	Jim
Niall Madden	...	Eddy
Fran Kranz	...	Bob
Matt Jones	...	Insane Doorman
Mark Wahlberg	...	Norman
Ron Duncan	...	Mal
Oliver Cooper	...	Nick
Candice Rodrigo	...	Young Female Deputy
Frank Miranda	...	Young Male Deputy

Storyline

A famous Hollywood director is feeling dissatisfied with his life, the issues in it including the disintegration of his marriage which will probably end with an expensive divorce and loss of custody of his young daughter. To get away from his life if only for a short period, he drives into the Mojave Desert. The getaway doesn't turn out the way he expects, the major turning point being when a sociopathic drifter stumbles into his camp. That encounter ends up with both men seemingly wanting to kill the other. What the director is unaware of is that the drifter, who didn't know who he was during their encounter, ends up finding out who he is and about his life, which makes him an easier target once the director returns to Los Angeles. The drifter seemingly wants to torture the director by threats of harm against the director's friends, associates and/or loved ones, including his current girlfriend, a French actress, regardless of if the threats are real or just used as that ...

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Plot Keywords:

drifter | desert | stalking | reference to mojave desert arizona | mojave desert arizona | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

3 December 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Atrapados (Mojave)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Atlas Independent, Henceforth Pictures, Henceforth

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

William Monahan wrote The Gambler (2014), which starred Mark Wahlberg.

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Connections

Features Greed (1924)

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Soundtracks

I Faram Gami I Faram
Written and Performed by Mulatu Astatke
Courtesy of Mulatu Astatke

User Reviews

Lacking real substance

'Mojave' is the brain child from the writer of 'The Departed'. Add in a slew of great actors and the result is me, with high hopes for this movie. But within the first few minutes those hopes were drastically lowered. This is mainly due to the all around aimlessness of the story. Garrett Hedlund wanders into the desert and meets the hick version of Oscar Isaac. Than Hudlund inexplicably bludgeons Isaac and frames him for the murder of a police officer. So, Isaac follows Hedlund back to LA in hopes of exacting of his revenge. All of this roughly taking place with in the first ten or twenty minutes of the film. Now we have our story. What I liked most about 'Mojave' is the scenes that Isaac and Hedlund share. While there may only be two or three of them, I found them to be the best parts of the movie. Both sociopaths, it was interesting and sometimes rather funny to watch these two go back and forth.

The only other aspect worth mentioning is the music. In this otherwise uninspired film, the music really helped capture the mood of each scene. Whether or not the scene actually has the desired affect on you is beside the point. Even though, more times than not, the music is really the only thing that helps move scenes forward.

Other than these few things there really isn't much that 'Mojave' offers. The performances are passable but almost every actor in the film feels miscast. All of them seem to over or under act in a strange attempt to give these flat characters meaning. And boy most of these characters are two dimensional.

They worst offenders come in the form of Mark Wahlberg and Walton Goggins. These two come into the film as nothing more than vessels for director William Monahan to force in his own opinions. There is nothing more to them than that. They come into the film, spit their "political commentary", and leave as quickly as they came.

As you watch this, it's impossible not to think, "Wow, what the heck was that about?". Not to mention the incredibly in your face social commentary. I understand that many of us are hopelessly addicted to our phones but do you have to pretend like EVERYONE is? And, do you seriously have to show this in every single scene??

The worst part is, they don't just talk about it. There is one scene in particular where a character exits a bar and passes a line of people. ALL of which are on their phone, and to make things even less subtle the film feels the need to add phone clicks and buzzes. This is not a film that children are going to see so do you have to make it this obvious?

I'm pretty sure that I do actually have a brain and I can pick up on subtly. So why ram it down my throat with next to no subtly? Aside from the two or three scenes that Isaac and Hedlund share this is all the film does for its hour and a half run time. Use uncomfortably pretentious celebrity cameos to drive home the films own misguided views of the world. While it does do some things right I can't say that this is worth recommending. This overall standardness is enough to send 'Mojave' spiraling into obscurity.