No sweat. Except that – for reasons Wilee can’t initially fathom, nor can we — someone else wants the contents of Nima’s envelope really, really bad. That would be half-crazed rogue cop Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon).
Dangerously in debt due to his gambling addiction – his game of choice, oddly enough, is a Chinese version of dominoes called Pai Gow – Monday is on the run from loan sharks. He’s convinced that Nima’s package holds, shall we say, the ticket to his salvation.
The ensuing dash all around the town gives Koepp the opportunity to serve up some fluid and suspenseful chase scenes, and he capitalizes on it with style.
But he and Kamps irresponsibly glamorize the recklessness of the couriers’ lifestyle as a thrilling alternative to the boredom of office work. Thus daredevil Wilee — his bike literally has no brakes — is portrayed as a veteran, perhaps a graduate, of Columbia’s law school who refuses to take the bar lest he have to wear a suit all day. Way to stick it to the Man, Wilee!
Though various characters fly through the air and land with a thud, they take their lumps with such indifference that any implicit warning about a downside to all this quickly gets left behind on the pavement.
As for Monday, in his increasing desperation and quasi-lunacy, he resorts to a level of cruelty that even most adults may find difficult to witness.
The film contains scenes of violence, including beatings and torture, about 20 instances of profanity, at least one use of the F-word, pervasive crude and crass language and obscene gestures. The Catholic News Service classification is L – limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
Mulderig is on the staff of Catholic News Service.
