Rutger Hauer makes Sundance entry Hobo with a Shotgun a grindhouse extravaganza.
(4 out of 5 stars)
No matter how many times you've watched the YouTube trailer for the make-believe drive-in release Hobo with a Shotgun, nothing prepares you for the guts and gut-splitting laughs throughout the feature-length, grindhouse throwback inspired by the top pick of the SXSW Robert Rodriguez Grindhouse Trailer Competition.
After premiering in front of enthusiastic crowds in the Park City at Midnight section of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, director Jason Eisener and writer John Davies deliver every wish plus more to the genre buffs at Sundance and return the spotlight to veteran actor Rutger Hauer as the title character who battles a vicious crime lord with little else but his trusty shotgun.
For Hauer, who first gained fans in genre fare The Hitcher, Nighthawks and Flesh and Blood, Hobo with a Shotgun offers the veteran Dutch actor a rare chance to play the hero with plenty of gruff, grit and charisma. When Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of specialty distributor Magnolia Pictures, opens Hobo with a Shotgun in art houses and on VOD this spring, look for Hauer to create a new generation of fans and for the film to be embraced as a B-movie classic.
A hobo (Hauer) gets off a freight train in search of finding a new home but quickly discovers that the city he hopes to adopt is ruled by a violent crime boss named Drake (Brian Downey) and his two ruthless sons Slick (Gregory Smith) and Ivan (Nick Bateman). Refusing to back down and accept the crime that surrounds him, the worn and ragged hobo teams up with a pretty hooker (Molly Dunsworth) and with shotgun in hand sets out to make things right again.
Looking dapper in his recent role as a corporate exec opposite Christian Bale in Batman Begins, Hauer emphasizes the years under his belt as the hobo. He's believably haggard looking and something of a loose cannon. Yet, behind the crazy eyes, Hauer stands tall as an unorthodox hero who won't back down despite the odds.
Newcomer Molly Dunsworh complements the bloodletting with some welcome sexiness and Downey, Smith and Bateman make clownish adversaries for the soft-spoken hobo. All of them are appropriately over the top as if they're compensating for Hauer's stoic performance.
Fans of Eisener's Sundance short Treevenge, a clever horror spoof about Christmas trees that attack their owners, know what to expect from Hobo with a Shotgun. Eisener and writer John Davies unload squishy gore, frequent gunfire and outrageous situations with ample humor. Cinematographer Karim Hussain and production designer Ewen Dickson make gritty use of the film's Dartmouth, Nova Scotia locations. The result is a film that looks like a '70s B-movie; something Roger Corman would have been proud to produce.
To their credit, Hobo with a Shotgun's true blue grindhouse picture, not a parody of a B-movie like the recent Blaxploitation spoof Black Dynamite.
A lot of the credit goes to Rutger Hauer, who plays the hobo as straightforward hero instead of a comical revision. Hauer clearly understands that Hobo with a Shotgun is authentic trash cinema and as such its' fans want their splatter honest and true. Luckily, Hauer does not disappoint.
Distributor: Magnet Releasing
Director: Jason Eisener
Scriptwriter: John Davies
Cinematographer: Karim Hussain
Cast: Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth, Brian Downey and Nick Bateman
Editor: Jason Eisener
Production Designer: Ewen Dickson
Composer: Adam Burke, Darius Hobert and Giallos Flame
Running Time: 86 minutes
Producers: Rhombus Media, Whizbang Films, Yer Dead Productions
Rating: Unrated
Release Date: Spring 2011