Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Review: Haywire

Steven Soderbergh made it clear: upon completing three more movies, the 49-year-old director intends to walk away from filmmaking. (He will instead devote his artistic attention to painting.) After watching Haywire, either Soderbergh was hit by a sudden case of "senioritis," or he decided to take an early retirement.

Gina Carano.

Soderbergh's latest attempt to (at least according to the press material) turn "audience's expectations on their heads" by subverting popular genre expectations, results in an adequate female 007 action/adventure picture. What makes this easier to swallow than the average Angelina Jolie outing are the expertly staged fight sequences and a brisk running time. (Even at 93 minutes this could have used a trim.)

Haywire went before the cameras almost two years ago. Contagion, completed after Haywire, came and went before this hit screens. An action film signed by a name director, shelved, and later assigned a mid-January opening does not bode well.

Having successfully managed to extricate a credible performance as a high-class call girl out of porn sensation Sasha Grey (The Girlfriend Experience), Soderbergh chose real-life mixed martial arts champion, Gina Carano, to play private-sector operative gone rogue, Mallory Kane. (The director joked, "I knew there had to be a woman other than Angelina Jolie who could run around with a gun.") She is assigned the task of freeing a Chinese journalist held hostage in Barcelona. When the writer turns up dead, all fingers point to Mallory as the prime suspect. What else is new?

Carano has the tough, tight look, and smoldering dispassion the genre demands, but not even Meryl Streep could add depth to what isn't there. The most exciting prospect of Haywire was the director reuniting with screenwriter Lem Dobbs, author of The Limey (still Soderbergh's finest hour as far as I'm concerned). They manage to capture the look and feel of '70's international espionage films, but not unlike what The Artist is to silent cinema, there is not much going on beneath the surface of Haywire.

Gina Carano and Channing Tatum.

Action set-pieces are lifted from other films: there's the obligatory confrontation in a diner reminiscent of Superman II, Unstoppable, Pulp Fiction, and countless more. This scene, and one other, benefits from the element of surprise. In each case, Soderbergh quiets the mood just long enough for one of the male antagonists to sandbag Mallory from behind, forcing our anything but poor, defenseless heroine to retaliate. It left the audience "Ooohing" and Aaahhing" louder than the crowd at a Price is Right taping just after a cubic zirconia tiara (from Dicker and Dicker of Beverly Hills) was wheeled center-stage.

Mallory sends her best duds in to be dry-cleaned so that she may team up with tuxedo-clad rake, Michael Fassbender and further hammer home the Jolie-association with a brief lift from Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The rest of the all-male cast of box office names includes Michael Douglas (apparently phoning in a favor for a friend), Antonio Banderas (sporting Gabby Hayes whiskers), Bill Paxton as Mallory's vigilant father, and the always-unremarkable Ewan McGregor, this time doing his best to act from under a terrible haircut.

Michael Angarano, an impartial witness and willing hostage, is on board to act as a pipeline through which Mallory can pump backstory, sort of like Juno's function in Inception. Surprisingly, Channing Tatum leads the pack actually showing a little range as Mallory's casual sex partner-turned-aggressor.

Gina Carano and Michael Fassbender as Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Because the gun is in the hand of a woman does not automatically qualify this as a female-empowering saga. Malloy is a lady Rambo (Rambette?) going through the same motions as many a male counterpart before her. Soderbergh was set to bring back small-screen secret agent Napoleon Solo until leading man George Clooney had to bow out. This is hopefully the closest we'll get to Soderbergh crying U.N.C.L.E.

Reader Rating: Two Stars

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Woodpeckers are stocking away acorns, Amorous tarantulas

Stunning sycamores, Mars rising
Next Article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon

Steven Soderbergh made it clear: upon completing three more movies, the 49-year-old director intends to walk away from filmmaking. (He will instead devote his artistic attention to painting.) After watching Haywire, either Soderbergh was hit by a sudden case of "senioritis," or he decided to take an early retirement.

Gina Carano.

Soderbergh's latest attempt to (at least according to the press material) turn "audience's expectations on their heads" by subverting popular genre expectations, results in an adequate female 007 action/adventure picture. What makes this easier to swallow than the average Angelina Jolie outing are the expertly staged fight sequences and a brisk running time. (Even at 93 minutes this could have used a trim.)

Haywire went before the cameras almost two years ago. Contagion, completed after Haywire, came and went before this hit screens. An action film signed by a name director, shelved, and later assigned a mid-January opening does not bode well.

Having successfully managed to extricate a credible performance as a high-class call girl out of porn sensation Sasha Grey (The Girlfriend Experience), Soderbergh chose real-life mixed martial arts champion, Gina Carano, to play private-sector operative gone rogue, Mallory Kane. (The director joked, "I knew there had to be a woman other than Angelina Jolie who could run around with a gun.") She is assigned the task of freeing a Chinese journalist held hostage in Barcelona. When the writer turns up dead, all fingers point to Mallory as the prime suspect. What else is new?

Carano has the tough, tight look, and smoldering dispassion the genre demands, but not even Meryl Streep could add depth to what isn't there. The most exciting prospect of Haywire was the director reuniting with screenwriter Lem Dobbs, author of The Limey (still Soderbergh's finest hour as far as I'm concerned). They manage to capture the look and feel of '70's international espionage films, but not unlike what The Artist is to silent cinema, there is not much going on beneath the surface of Haywire.

Gina Carano and Channing Tatum.

Action set-pieces are lifted from other films: there's the obligatory confrontation in a diner reminiscent of Superman II, Unstoppable, Pulp Fiction, and countless more. This scene, and one other, benefits from the element of surprise. In each case, Soderbergh quiets the mood just long enough for one of the male antagonists to sandbag Mallory from behind, forcing our anything but poor, defenseless heroine to retaliate. It left the audience "Ooohing" and Aaahhing" louder than the crowd at a Price is Right taping just after a cubic zirconia tiara (from Dicker and Dicker of Beverly Hills) was wheeled center-stage.

Mallory sends her best duds in to be dry-cleaned so that she may team up with tuxedo-clad rake, Michael Fassbender and further hammer home the Jolie-association with a brief lift from Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The rest of the all-male cast of box office names includes Michael Douglas (apparently phoning in a favor for a friend), Antonio Banderas (sporting Gabby Hayes whiskers), Bill Paxton as Mallory's vigilant father, and the always-unremarkable Ewan McGregor, this time doing his best to act from under a terrible haircut.

Michael Angarano, an impartial witness and willing hostage, is on board to act as a pipeline through which Mallory can pump backstory, sort of like Juno's function in Inception. Surprisingly, Channing Tatum leads the pack actually showing a little range as Mallory's casual sex partner-turned-aggressor.

Gina Carano and Michael Fassbender as Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Because the gun is in the hand of a woman does not automatically qualify this as a female-empowering saga. Malloy is a lady Rambo (Rambette?) going through the same motions as many a male counterpart before her. Soderbergh was set to bring back small-screen secret agent Napoleon Solo until leading man George Clooney had to bow out. This is hopefully the closest we'll get to Soderbergh crying U.N.C.L.E.

Reader Rating: Two Stars

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Those Who Wish Me Dead: Angelina Jolie’s effortless role

What was it about this script that connected with Jolie?
Next Article

Semi-Happy Halloween

It would simplify matters if the treatment were as distasteful as the subject matter.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader