Eli Roth directs Bruce Willis, Dean Norris and Elisabeth Shue in this remake of the original revenge vigilante thriller.

Bruce Willis seemed to have given up over the last decade of his career. Phoning in franchise work for big salaries, and cameoing in a sluice of indistinguishable VOD dreck for day player paychecks. Then he retired and announced he was suffering from aphasia. One of the biggest and most charismatic A-List stars of the Nineties was finding lead roles near impossible. So he cashed in his fame to build up reservoirs of wealth for his family and self care while he could. Kept working as long as he could. Most of the films made in this final run are absolute dogshit. But there are glimmers of hope. Moonrise Kingdom. Looper. Motherless Brooklyn. This! And this got a drubbing on release. Written off with all the trash. But it actually does everything you’d want from a studio exploitation programmer. It looks good, moves at a pace, can be thrilling when the set pieces ramp up. While Willis might not be the sparkling, smirking charmer of Moonlighting or Die Hard, he does somehow manage (despite health limitations) to put in the right turn here. Death Wish deserves a reevaluation. It ain’t a classic but it is Willis’ last effective lead performance. Sits comfortable in the mid tier with Last Man Standing or Striking Distance. Now we know what he was suffering through and the reasoning behind the fire sale of his prestige, Death Wish is surely owed a smidge more love. It brings violence and suspense on a scale that the movie business ain’t all that interested in anymore. It is also Eli Roth’s most competent directing work.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Death Sentence (2007)

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Herbert Ross directs Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker and Drew Barrymore in this drama where a lesbian and a woman with a secret go on a road trip together, picking up a chaotic younger woman who gets them in trouble with the law.

Nineties melodrama buzzword bingo! This movie is a soft filtered hot mess. Scenes go wildly off beam. I wonder if the Thelma & Louise echoes were welded on after studio notes. Pre-fame Matthew McConaughey rocks up looking like a Lego man come to life. Drew flashes her abusive boyfriend at one point. Those two seconds of make all the forced mawk somehow worthwhile.

5

Perfect Double Bill: Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

Michael Curtiz and William Keighley direct Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Claude Rains in this classic Technicolor swashbuckler.

A joyous lark. Keeps things light, keeps things moving. Errol Flynn struts and peacocks through this with absolute insouciance. It is so consummately entertaining and out of time (even for the thirties) that the whole romp proves irresistible.

8

Perfect Double Bill: The Sea Hawk (1940)

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