He Was a Quiet Man (2008)

DVD

Do you remember that older PS2/Xbox game Dead to Rights? Well, yes it was forgettable (along with its sequel), but if there's one thing I remember from that shoot'em up (aside from your canine pal), is one of the advertisements for it. A tagline that was used said this: "Tick, tick, tick, boom. You push a good guy too far... Sooner or later he's going to make some bad things happen." And nothing can be closer to the truth for Christian Slater in, He Was a Quiet Man.

Taking the perspective of a completely average guy with a completely average life, He Was a Quiet Man tells a tale of anger, love, depression, violence and redemption (not in that exact order) through the unlikely circumstances one man is thrust. Christian Slater finally plays a character worth watching (after Hollow Man 2 and the laughable videogame to movie adaptation of Alone in the Dark that is) and actually does an excellent job conveying insecurity, brooding hatred and unrequited love; placing all of the other actors such as William H. Macy and Elisha Cuthbert in the passenger seat.

The story if you aren't able to guess from the title and/or cover, is about a man (played by Slater) pushed to the breaking point by a meaningless job, obnoxious co-workers, and a love he can't admit to. Feeling overwhelmed and pushed into a corner, he resorts to violent extremes in order to bring closure to his own little world... But as luck would have it, something occurs that alters everything... A life-changing event that puts him at the top of the pecking order. The only question is: Can it stay this way?

Well, I'm not here to answer that, but I will say that this movie is worth seeing to find out. Delivering solid performances from everyone involved, interesting visuals such as talking goldfish and exploding buildings, as well as a good script to top it off-He Was a Quiet Man creatively implements important cinematic aspects to develop a bittersweet drama revolving around an ordinary man and the extremes he is pushed to.
Sadly, after the ingenuity begins dropping at the half-way point it's as if they've already got you interested so the filmmakers thought that they didn't have to try as hard with the last portion of the film. And as the ingenuity takes a disappointing turn, so too does the story.

Even still, He Was a Quiet Man is still worth a look if only just to see the excellent first half. While it doesn't go completely down hill during its second act, it's just sad to see that the cleverness originally used, isn't carried all the way through to the end.

Screener copy, no bonuses.

While it's definitely worth checking out, I wish the second portion of the film could have been more consistent with the first (in terms of story, visuals and all around creativity.