'Viral Factor' not lacking in action
<b>Reel Life review: 'The Viral Factor'</b>
It's an AMC South Barrington 30 Theaters exclusive!
Dante "Wham Bam" Lam's insanely action-packed "The Viral Factor" would be the kind of movie Hong Kong action junkie John Woo would make if he ever directed a deadly virus thriller set in China, Jordan and Malaysia.
Except that "The Viral Factor" doesn't quite measure up to the fascinating stylistic excesses and compelling characters in Woo classics such as "The Killer" and "A Better Tomorrow."
Nonetheless, Lam piles on the fights, bullets, crashes, explosions and blood in "The Viral Factor," then occasionally forgets he's making a straightforward action thriller and slides into a domestic drama recycling the old convention about separated siblings who wind up on different sides of the law.
The story begins with a betrayal by an IDC agent named Sean (Andy Tien), who kills the main squeeze of fellow agent Jon ("Green Hornet" co-star Jay Chou) and puts a bullet into Jon's head. Permanently.
With two weeks left before the bullet wound totally paralyzes him, Jon takes off to find Sean, now armed with a mutated version of the Small Pox virus that can wipe out most of the planet.
As if already not dealing with enough emo baggage, poor Jon finds out from his mom that he has a brother named Yeung Man (I am not kidding) she abandoned 31 years earlier.
Meanwhile, Yeung (Nicholas Tse, whose raw charisma purloins this movie from his co-stars) has become a sociopathic criminal who eventually winds up helping his cop bro save Yeung's daughter and a pretty research scientist (plus her cute mother) from the evil Sean.
What "Viral Factor" lacks in dramatic depth, it makes up for in sheer audacity with its bold car crashes, brutal one-on-one engagements and characters' frequent death-defying falls.
"The Viral Factor" opens at the South Barrington 30 Theaters. Not rated, but man, it's stuffed with blood, violence and edgy stunts. 122 minutes. ★ ★ ★
<b>Reel Life review: 'Being Flynn'</b>
I wanted desperately to really like Paul Weitz's movie adaptation of Nick Flynn's 2004 memoir whose blisteringly original title can't be printed in a family newspaper.
It's an unaffected little movie that gives its sharp cast some real characters to chew on and digest. But once the story establishes its key characters, it sputters around in a circle and not even a dramatic reveal near the end pumps up the engagement quotient.
Robert DeNiro stars as nutty old Jonathan Flynn, a homeless alcoholic New York cabdriver who sincerely believes that J.D. Salinger, Mark Twain and himself are America's greatest writers.
His meek and milquetoast son Nick (Paul Dano, who continues to be an acquired cinematic taste) has had a rough life, especially with his sad and troubled mother (a poignant supporting performance by Julianne Moore), and he takes refuge in drug-altered states and a pretty co-worker (Olivia Thirlby).
"Being Flynn" dodges almost all those pesky Hollywood clichés, but nothing else in Weitz's needy little indie film fills in the holes - not the respectable performances, the sloggy pace or the father-and-son bond that never quite feels genuine.
"Being Flynn" opens at the Century Centre in Chicago. Rated R for language, nudity and sexual situations. 86 minutes. ★ ★
<b>Reel Life review: 'The Forgiveness of Blood'</b>
Joshua Marston's family feud drama "The Forgiveness of Blood" works a lot like an episode of AMC's "The Walking Dead," only without zombies or any on-screen killing.
When an Albanian dad reportedly kills a neighbor in a dispute over mundane easement rights on his farm, the dad goes on the lam from authorities, leaving his family behind to become potential victims of a brewing feud.
Told through the eyes of a teenager named Nik (Tristan Halilaj), "Forgiveness" charts the day-to-day new reality of the dad's family, who must never leave the their house for fear members of the slain man's family will retaliate . . . outside.
They never really do, so for most of its running time, "Forgiveness" is a quietly observed study of quarantined adolescent rage and pent-up hormones leading to modest acts of teen rebellion set within a modern community still ruled by horribly out-of-date traditions.
"Fiddler on the Roof" covered the same topic with a little more zeal.
"The Forgiveness of Blood" opens at the Century Centre in Chicago. Not rated, but suitable for mature audiences. 109 minutes. ★ ★ ½
<b>'Pina' at After Hours</b>
The After Hours Film Society presents Wim Wenders' 3-D doc "Pina," exploring the work of choreographer Pina Bausch, 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Tivoli Theater, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove. Tickets cost $11 ($7 members). Go to afterhoursfilmsociety.com or call (630) 534-4528.
<i> Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire's column runs Fridays in Time out!</i>