Leofwine_draca Review of Once Upon a Time in Venice

Once Upon a Time in Venice (2017)

Quirky comic thriller is all over the place

[5/10 · 19 April 2018]

ONCE UPON A TIME IN VENICE is a quirky comedy thriller set in California. It's another straight to video effort for ageing action man Bruce Willis, playing up to his wise guy persona by tackling the role of a tired and caffeine-addicted private detective who goes off the deep end when the dog he's been dogsitting is kidnapped. This is a low budget and quite bizarre little outing at times, variously copying the likes of JOHN WICK and PULP FICTION at times. The cast is populated by a tapestry of oddball characters, some of whom work, some of whom don't. There's a lot of sex and a lot of shouting and a few witty scenes. Tonally it's all over the place, too often wallowing in toilet and crude humour, as well as repetition (the amount of times Willis gets knocked out without suffering any after effects). Willis is okay, just okay, with his most memorable scene being the nude skateboarding moment which is achieved via some digital trickery. The ever-excellent John Goodman gives the best performance to my mind, although it's nice to see Jason Momoa playing something other than a stock tough guy. Thomas Middleditch is also quite amusing, which I wasn't expecting at all so kudos to him.