Director: Jason Eisener (debut film)
Starring: Rutger Hauer, Molly Dunsworth
On Blu-Ray + DVD: July 5, 2011
You know, for a movie called Hobo with a Shotgun, I sure do wish there was more hobo. And a hell of a lot more shotgun.
Rutger Hauer stars as a hobo who rides a train into a new town. For unknown reasons, this town is in even worse shape than Sin City, with weird, 80s-style violent reality shows and policemen who laugh when you turn in criminals. After spending a few days in this city and getting assaulted by a gang (and the police), Hauer buys a shotgun and gets to killing.
Had the plot stopped here, I would've been perfectly content with it. A movie titled Hobo with a Shotgun shouldn't even try to be serious. It should set up a basic storyline, and then just let the absurdity of its idea carry it through. Honestly, that would've been enough for me, and it baffles me that more action movies don't embrace their silliness.
And the violence in this section is wonderfully over-the-top. A couple of examples are Hauer shotgunning a pedophilic Santa Claus in the face and a car filled with people being squished, causing a fountain of blood. Damned or not, I laughed loudly at these scenes, and I wish there were more of them. Hauer is a charismatic hobo, and his presence help make his violent actions seem defensible.
Sadly, though, the plot kept going, and it is the plot that inevitably sinks this film. Interspersed in Hauer's rampage are two pointless and annoying subplots. The first involves a prostitute (Dunsworth) who lets him stay in her house. Dunsworth is very annoying and, at least here, a terrible actress, and I loathed every single time she came on screen. The story that Eisener tries to drag out of her and Hauer's relationship is extremely tedious and unnecessary. The second subplot is this family dynamic involving the evil leader of the city and his two sons. These are probably the worst scenes of the entire film. The things they say to each other are idiotic (especially that of one of the brothers), and their relationship doesn't really make much sense.
It may sound like I'm overanalyzing the plot to a movie that I just finished saying needed no plot. Maybe I am, but the reason I put so much focus on the plot is because the film itself does. While I kept waiting for more action and over-the-top violence, Eisener kept shoving his story down my throat. It's not a good story, it never was, and it single-handedly destroys this otherwise entertaining movie.
Hobo with a Shotgun has some entertaining aspects. If you like your movies gory (and I mean lots of gore), you'll probably want to check it out. Hell, you'll probably like it better than I did. However, I went in expecting a film with little to no story and was given a film with a drawn-out, terrible story. Drive Angry had this same problem. The next time someone tries to make a grindhouse movie, just make a damn grindhouse movie. Leave the plots out of it and just give me some action.
Is that too much to ask?
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