Ben Parker's THE CHAMBER: Confined-space melodrama opens in theaters and digitally

The first alert that something may be amiss about THE CHAMBER -- a somewhat new (made in 2016) confined-space movie from writer/director Ben Parker -- is the fact that the "scientists," or maybe "military" folk who come aboard the mini-submarine (that rather thoroughly confines everyone's space) refuse to tell the sub's captain, who appears to be the movie's hero, why they are there or what they are searching for. This is suspect to and for the captain but also to and for the very believability of the movie's plot.

You will either accept this "fact" or not, but to keep watching, you'll need to pretty completely suspend what they used to call your "disbelief." (Though, in the age of Trump, could there possibly be much disbelief left to suspend?) Mr. Parker, shown at right, does an adequate job in the directorial department but a quite below-average one as a writer. On the plus side is his ability to keep us guessing as to who is good and who isn't and why. But by the time we find out, his plot, motivations and all else seems so jumbled as to make his would-be confined-space thriller/melodrama not so much about "who will survive?" as it is about "who cares?".

One reason I decided to give this movie a spin is its star: Johannes Kuhnke (above), who was so fine as the lead in that near-avalanche/family film Force Majeure. He is certainly OK here, but the role is limited to mostly silly plot machinations involving nuclear naughtiness and, yes, North Korea and the U.S., with Charlotte Salt (below), playing the head of the antagonist group. (Given its 2016 provenance, the film is timely, at least.)

As The Chamber takes place under the sea, you needn't place any bets on whether or not the water will soon rise around its protagonists/antagonists. But as the characters keep doing dumb things and are allowed to continue this for far too long, your patience may run out before the movie does.

Granted the situation here is grim, but did Mr. Parker need to make his characters so alternately dumb and crazy? The craziest is played (and well enough, certainly) by James McArdle, below, and the sweetest by Elliot Levey, above. But the nonsense piles up in the last half-hour to the point that it grows so silly that it very nearly becomes fun. Almost. Dumb and tiresome finally win out.

Really, now: You increase your passenger list by two people, yet you don't bother to include two more survival suits? The ending is such that I asked myself why in hell I bothered to sit through all this. Oh, right: It was Mr. Kuhnke's fault.

From Cinedigm and running too long, even at only 90 minutes, The Chamber opens tomorrow, Friday, February 23, in a few theaters and on digital streaming. Your move....

Short take: Jaume Collet-Serra's thriller, THE COMMUTER, offers Liam Neeson and foolish fun

If you're anything like me and find Liam Neeson the kind of actor who almost never disappoints, even if the occasional movie he inhabits may, little could keep you away from his latest, titled THE COMMUTER and once again directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (of Unknown, Non-Stop and Run All Night), the trailer for which has been screening in theaters for what seems like at least the past six months. That trailer, as usual, gives away far too much and lays out practically the whole plot.

Even so, there are enough surprises up the sleeves of its three credited screenwriters to keep us interested, while Collet-Serra (below) directs with enough panache that we enjoy even some of the more nonsensical portions.

Our beleaguered hero (Neeson) has so much happen to him in the course of a single day, even before he steps onto the commuter train -- whose route appears to begin as part of the NYC subway system and then change somehow to that of Metro-North (though maybe things have drastically changed since I left the city three years ago) -- that the poor guy will immediately have your complete sympathy. In any case, before you can say Vera Farmiga (who plays the poor guy's antagonist), he is knee-to-neck deep in big-time trouble. One of the things that makes the movie so much fun is the terrific casting of every last one of the roles.

In addition to Neeson and Farmiga (above), we have Sam Neill, (below), Patrick Wilson (further below), and Elizabeth McGovern -- all of whom are rather wasted, as their roles don't amount to much at all. Yet it's always enjoyable to see them on screen, so this remain a plus. Even better are the many more unsung performers who plays the other folk traveling on this bound-for-hell train.

The plot takes a multitude of twists and turns, half of which are smart and half nonsense -- but all turn out to be rather fun. Toward the finale the movie even delivers its own "I am Spartacus" moment, which is so embarrassingly stolen that seniors in the audience will wince. But even this ends with a good laugh.

The Commuter may turn out to be this year's Kidnap, that Halle Berry movie that was by turns utterly ridiculous and slam-bang fun. Any way you look at it, as mindless entertainment goes, you could do a hell of a lot worse than boarding this particular train.

From Lionsgate and running 104 minutes,. the movie opens wide today. To find the theater(s) nearest you, simply click here.

Doug Liman's THE WALL: an endurance test but perfect stand-in for our middle-east wars

To be honest, TrustMovies was bored bigtime through much of the new film, THE WALL, written by Dwain Worrell and directed by Doug Liman. And why not? The movie is mostly about two lone U.S. soldiers amidst a passel of dead bodies (other soldiers and contractors involved in one of the USA's current middle-east idiocies) who've been killed by a quite expert sniper -- who may or may not still be pointing his rifle at our two remaining guys. We quickly learn that indeed he is, as one soldier is wounded on the ground and the other high-tails it to shelter behind that small and crumbling wall of the title. And that's mostly it -- regarding, until the grand finale, any real visual action or change.

That sniper, whom we never see but merely hear his voice (offered up with award-caliber nuance by Laith Nakli), leads that grunt behind the wall (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, below) backward, forward and every which way, as he mocks, cajoles, threatens, surprises and bedevils that poor soldier -- having already wounded, maybe killed his counterpart (John Cena), who lies stone still on the ground on the other side of that wall.

Mr. Liman, pictured left, has shown his moviemaking skills numerous times, most especially via Go and The Bourne Identity and to some extent with later efforts like Fair Game and Edge of Tomorrow. I suspect that he, even more than many movie directors, is immensely helped along by the often very good writers involved in his projects. Here, that writer is Mr. Worrell, who intentionally or not, has given us an almost perfect movie metaphor for America's ever-present and increasingly worsening involvement in the middle east.

The America we see via The Wall  -- both individually and as a country -- is stupid in the extreme, possessing little sense of history, morality or even political intelligence. And if you bridle at this description, consider how that sniper is able to control the actions of our would-be heroes, over and over again, until.... well, you'll find out.

Little wonder U.S. meddling in this oil-rich part of the globe brought about, first, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism (after our deposing of a democratically-elected leader and our placement of the corrupt and totalitarian Shaw in his place), and then, post-9/11, our further attacks on Afghanistan and then Iraq helping lead to the rise of the Taliban and now ISIS. We're being led around by the nose by the very folk we supposedly want to help/conquer. But by now, our noses must have either been anesthetized into non-feeling, or perhaps what's going on somehow feels "right" -- simply because it's been going on for so very long now.

Visually, The Wall is mostly Mr. Taylor-Johnson, and while I have appreciated his work in movies from Nowhere Boy to Kick Ass and beyond, there is not so much the actor is able to do with this role, as he ends up consistently playing second fiddle to that creamy, duplicitous voice. Mr. Cena, above, has a fun scene at film's beginning, shaking his booty, but then is reduced to something approaching corpse.

Once their soldier is stuck behind that wall, writer and filmmaker try their best to provide some variation but are consistently stymied by their situation and their lack of character, let alone any character development. Compare this film to Steven Knight's Locke, which confines a single character to the interior of a car on a long drive, during which whole worlds unfold and change in the course of some 90 minutes.

And yet: As tiresome as I found the film as it moved slowly along, I have not been able to get it out of my mind, post-viewing. Everything about it, from the soldiers' action at the beginning to the dark but absolutely unsurprising conclusion, is perfectly calibrated to indict America's behavior in the middle-east. No outside nation in history has yet been able to successfully conquer this area. So we will? Talk about hubris.

You may very well come away from The Wall admiring most the cleverness, not to mention the sheer energy, wit and provocation of the antagonist and his marvelous voice. Against which, over and over again, our poor Americans are simply no match. As continues to happen historically, as supposed "wins" become in reality losses, we are consistently outmatched by something we have not understood and evidently do not even wish to understand.

You can certainly view this film as simply a wartime thriller/confined-space movie, and as such it works predictably, if reasonably well. If you care to dig a tad deeper, however, prepare to be very depressed.

From Roadside Attractions via Amazon Studios and running a thankfully short 82 minutes, the movie opens everywhere tomorrow, Friday, May 12. Here in South Florida, you can find it in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area at the Aventura Mall 24, the Paradise 24 in Davie, the South Beach 18 in Miami Beach, the Kendall Village Stadium 16, the Sunset Place 24 in Miami; in Palm Beach County at the Cinemark Palace 20 in Boca Raton, and the City Place 20 in West Palm Beach. Elsewhere in the state or country? Click here (then click on GET TICKETS) to find the theater nearest you.

It's time for a decent werewolf film, so take a chance on Paul Hyett's train thriller, HOWL

What is it about movies that take place on a speeding train that makes them -- initially, at least -- irresistible? Maybe that inesca-pable sense of "confined space"? Or the opportunity to meet a group of disparate characters who wouldn't otherwise be thrown together? Or the suspense provided by that other thing these movies always seem to possess: a big problem -- a killer, a bomb, a crazy person -- in the midst of all that train travel?

Two recent and very good examples of this genre are Last Passenger and Honour, the latter of which, though not officially a "locomotive" movie, offers a terrifically effective opening and closing scene aboard a moving train. The latest to enter the train genre is the new werewolf movie HOWL, and I think it is no coincidence that all three of these films, along with so many other "train" movies (remember The Lady Vanishes?) are British. The Brits seems much more connected to their trains than are we auto-obsessed Americans.

Howl is a much better and more subtle film that its too-obvious American DVD/Blu-ray box art, above, might suggest. (The British theatrical posters, at right and below, give a much better sense of the dark tone and suspenseful appeal of the film.) Oh, there's plenty of guts, gore and nasty creatures involved here, but the film takes its pleasant time building up to this, as we meet and get to know the diverse set of people aboard the last nightly train from London to the provinces during an initial storm that eventually ceases, unveiling -- uh-oh -- a full moon.

While the passengers and crew seem at first to be a sad and unpleasant lot, as we get to know them, truer colors surface, and most of these men and women prove decent enough sorts who gain our sympathy. The train is soon brought to a halt in the midst of a dense forest, and then the carnage begins. Director Paul Hyett (shown below), together with screenwriters Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler, may be a bit better at building suspense than they are at maintaining a riveting pace.

Still, they are good enough at both to eventually have us holding our breath in hopes that these people whom we now care about, will somehow survive. Who does and who doesn't is, of course, necessary for the fun-and-games of the survival genre -- of which this film is also a part. The dozen or so passengers and crew that make up the cast do a fine job of differentiating themselves and creating surprisingly full characters in a very short time.

In the leading roles are the sad young conductor (Ed Speleers, above) who's just been denied a promotion, and the coffee service girl (Holly Weston, below, left) whom he likes but who does not return his affection.

We also have the career woman, the hotshot businessman, the sullen teen, the working-class striver hoping to find a better job, the loving senior couple, the out-of-it fat boy, and the nerdy egghead East Indian or maybe Pakistani kid. A mixed and interesting bag, this, but very soon their numbers begin to decline.

How the attacks come and what happens is all part of what we expect from the werewolf genre, but there are enough little surprises along the way to keep us feeling creepy and on our toes.

How it plays out -- from claw marks on the equipment (above) to some unusual behavior from all concerned -- is alternately expected and not,

with the long-awaited transformations finally coming fast and furiously.

Certainly no masterpiece of the genre, Howl nonetheless fills a gap by being one of the better werewolf movies since the much-appreciated but woefully underseen Dog Soldiers back in 2002.

Interestingly enough, one of the stars of that Neil Marshall movie, Sean Pertwee (above), also makes an appearance in this one, as the unlucky train driver.

Well, most of the characters here turn out to be unlucky, but they're rather plucky, too, which adds immeasurably to the movie's interest and charm. Howl, from Alchemy and running a crisp 92 minutes, is available now for rental or purchase on DVD, Blu-ray, early EST (Electronic-Sell-Through) and digital streaming (via Amazon & perhaps elsewhere, too).

The latest movie in a confined space, a large one: Omid Nooshin's LAST PASSENGER, a good one

You might not think of a speeding train as a confined-space film; after all, there are lots of cars you can move between, including a dining- and/or bar-car where you can eat and drink. Still, if that train is speeding along wildly, and there's no safe way to get off, then it is definitely a confined space. Such is the case for the few remaining passengers in a new film called LAST PASSENGER that opens today in Manhattan. When TrustMovies went just now to get his page of notes that he scribbles as he is watching each new film, he found that page completely blank -- except for the film's title at the top. What happened? So immediately swept up with the story and its execution was he, that he simply forgot to jot down a single sentence. Can there be a better recommendation for a genre movie than that?

Probably not, but in the spirit of good sportsmanship, I'll use my fading memory to tell you a bit about why the film works as well as it does -- without giving away spoilers. First off, Last Passenger is not a great film, for sure, and runaway trains are not anything we haven't seen previously. But that's perfectly OK because the movie doesn't need to be great -- just smart, fast and believable. So the co-writer (with Andrew Love and Kas Graham) and director, Omid Nooshin, manages just that, hooking us with some interesting characters with whom we're happy to travel.

These would include dad, a surgeon (played by Dougray Scott, shown below) and his cute son (Joshua Kaynama); a very attractive woman who has just boarded the train (Kara Tointon, at right); the conductor (Samuel Geker-Kawle); a busy businessman (David Schofield, two photos, below); an older woman (Lindsay Duncan), returning home with gifts for her grandkids; and a fellow with a foreign accent who may be up to no good (Iddo Goldberg, the stand-out performance in this very good cast).

That's pretty much it -- a few extras come and go -- and we're soon down to just half a dozen people for the remainder of the ride. Mr Nooshin does a fine job of handing us small talk and humor, while achieving a slight sense of uneasiness and eventually full-out dread. Suspense is built in two ways: first, what's happening; then second, why?

In stories like this one, some characters must be sacrificed, and Nooshin does a nice job of surprising us with the why and when. The film's most moving scene happens as there's a chance, due to his smaller size, for the young boy only to escape, which would mean his leaving his father. For reasons you will have already learned, this is more than problematic, and the movie manages these moments quite beautifully and surprisingly.

The cast is a very good one, with everyone in fine form, working together initially as adversaries but finally as friends. That we come to care for these people as much as we do, adds to both the suspense and our identification with the film. Nooshin keeps events tumbling over one another so there's little time to look for logic loopholes, and the actors are especially good at creating what looks like quite real behavior under circumstances that range from normal to not at all.

As I say, this is no great film, but if you're in the mood for a thriller these days, you could hardly do better than this. Last Passenger -- another good genre movie from Cohen Media Group (remember The Prey?) and running 97 minutes -- debuts today, Friday, April 25, in New York City at the Regal E-Walk theater.

Will the film play elsewhere theatrically? I've no idea, but it will most likely appear soon on DVD and maybe even via Netflix streaming. (You can stream The Prey there now, as a matter of fact, and if you haven't seen that little genre wonder, you should!)

Steven Knight and Tom Hardy turn LOCKE into an original and compelling "confined space" film

If LOCKE is a stunt -- and to some extent, it certainly is -- then it's a damned good one. This is one of those increasingly frequent "confined-space" movies  (with the exception of its initial scene, in which the title character, played by Tom Hardy leaves a construction site, gets into his car and drives away) where every-thing takes place inside an enclosed space -- that car -- from which no exit seems easily possible. The odd thing about Locke, however, is that it is not a thriller, the genre into which every other confined space film I can think of -- from ATM to Brake, Buried, Elevator, Freezer and Last Passenger (which also opens this week and takes place entirely on a train) -- neatly fits. And why not? With enough events front-loaded, that confined space just increases the thrills. But no: Locke is... well, it's a drama for adults. How's that from a movie-maker -- Steven Knight -- who clearly has quite the pair of balls.

Mr. Knight, shown at left, has been more prolific as screenwriter (Dirty Pretty Things, Amazing Grace and Eastern Promises are among his many efforts) than as a director (Redemption), but Locke may change all that. So compelling an actor is Mr. Hardy and so specific and alert is Knight's script to the life and problems of his character (whose name is Ivan Locke) that, together, they turn the movie into a tour de force of feeling, emotion, anger, surprise and even a little humor. How? Knight lets his audience slowly learn where Locke is going and why, while simultaneously allowing us understand what this means to the life this man had led up until now. Knight and Hardy manage all this via phone conversations -- which cannot be overly expository or we'd simply not buy them -- that fill in everything from situation to character.

Locke talks to his wife, his son, another woman who is important to him, his boss, an underling, and a couple of other people, all of whom come across marvelously, thanks to voice casting and talent. (Among the voices are those of Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson and Tom Holland.)

There is a job at stake and a family life that may be shattered, and Mr. Hardy's fine performance captures all of it and more -- lots of tiny moments that add up to "character" -- his, and the folk to whom he is speaking. The plot -- and yes, there is one -- is derived from all these conversations, which build into something quite special.

Aurally, the movie is magnificent. I don't see how you could ask for much more, sound-wise. (If broadcast during the heyday of radio, Locke would have been an award-winning drama). Visually, there are times when I think more could have been done -- the camera remains on or near our man, occasionally glancing out the windshield or at the car phone by which these many calls are being made -- but thanks to Hardy's face and talent, Locke at least comes close enough for jazz.

Marriage, fidelity, parenting, employment: the themes here are big ones, and they are given their due. So wrapped up do we become in Ivan's situation that by the finale, when we hear a certain sound -- one, by the way, that we've heard countless times before -- such a flood of emotion/satisfaction/healing is released that we're likely to be caught by surprise at how very moved we suddenly are.

Locke, from A24 and running just 85 minutes, opens this Friday, April 25, in New York City at the AMC Lincoln Square 13 and the Angelika Film Center, and then on Friday, May 2, it will open in Berkeley, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Raphael.  To see all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters, click here and then click on THEATERS. (The movie's site could use some updating, however, as the Los Angeles entry seems to have the wrong theater and the wrong date....)

The latest contained-space thriller: Salomon/Doganoglu/Weisfeld's FREEZER

What initially seemed different, creepy, promising and fun -- single-room/contai-ned space thrillers such as ATM, Brake, Buried, Devil, Elevator and Vehicle 14 -- is beginning to look a little long in the tooth, as more and movie-makers hop on the band-wagon and threaten to bring this sub-genre to a halt by virtue of the weight of sheer numbers, not to mention content that's looking more and more been-there/done-that. The latest addition to the group is FREEZER (hmmm.... I just noticed, too, that so many of these films sport a single-word title, as though the contained space does not leave room for even a second word), the product of director/cinematographer Mikael Salomon (shown below), and screen-writers Tom Doganoglu and newcomer Shane Weisfeld.

Freezer is efficient, fast-moving and short, with a number of surprises and twists along the way. It's a decent enough time-waster, for sure, but given the number of this kind of movie you may have already seen, it breaks no new ground.

In fact, it gets off to a bit of a rocky start, thanks to its wavering tone. A poor (but awfully sexy) schlub (Dylan McDermott, below) wakes up to find himself bound-arms-and-legs in a meat freezer. He is then assaulted by a couple of nasty Russian mob guys and told that, if he doesn't give back "the money," he'll be killed. You might think that a guy in that position would be non-plussed at best, scared out of his wits at worst. Instead, our "hero" keeps coming back with would-be clever zingers to toss in the face of his captors. This goes on for quite awhile.

Possible spoiler ahead: This silly tonal dissonance makes more sense by the time you've reached the end of the film, but getting into it and buying it all will take a suspension of disbelief lasting too long for many viewers.

Fortunately, Freezer has a number of surprises up its sleeve. These keep coming with enough regularity to hold interest as the movie opens up to include more and more characters, while still taking place in that confounded frozen space.

In addition to the none-too-bright Russian mobsters (one of whom, Andrey Ivchenko, is shown far right, giving our hero a bear hug), as well as Peter Facinelli (below), playing a wounded cop, hot on the trail of the Russian mob.

Most luscious of all, of course, is the mob's gun moll and girlfriend of its leader's son, played by Yuliya Snigir (below, a hottie from Russia who is also a Chess Master, last seen over here in A Good Day to Die Hard).

Everyone does a creditable job, given the twists and turns they're asked to make, and I suspect that, even if you're a regular fan of movies like this, you won't quite have figured it all out until the conclusion. Even then, however, you may be likely to ask, "So what?"

Freezer, from Anchor Bay Films and running just 82 minutes  opens this Friday, January 17, in Los Angeles at Laemmle's NoHo 7. It will make its Blu-ray/DVDebut, as well as appearing on VOD, the following Tuesday, January 21.