Force of Nature: Just Another Run-of-the-Mill Art Heist Troubled Cop Natural Disaster Movie
By Kim Hughes
Rating: C
Let’s get this out of the way right up front: Force of Nature is fairly terrible albeit in some interesting ways that won’t change the way you think about film but will make a Monday night couch-sit more entertaining, if only to discuss the WTF elements while washing out the popcorn bowl.
If the trailer alone fails to cohere tantalizing clues about Force of Nature’s numerous shortcomings — and it really should — then consider that Kate Bosworth is billed above Mel Gibson. I know, I know… but still. Also, that a film set in a Category 5 storm also requires an elaborate art heist, a suicidal on-duty cop, an unhinged ex-cop, central casting villains, insane firepower, and a wobbly love interest to stoke its storyline.
Snakes on A Plane you say? Ha! We’ve got a big cat in a closet in a Puerto Rican apartment building, gusts of 190 mph outside AND Mel Gibson channelling a codger-ized version of Lethal Weapon’s Martin Riggs.
The plot, such as it is, is this. It’s San Juan and the big one is descending. Embittered cop Cardillo (Emile Hirsch) and his aw-shucks partner (Stephanie Cayo) must evacuate residents of a high-rise. As it happens, the same high-rise is simultaneously the target of a high-stakes theft.
Cardillo quickly encounters retired detective Ray (Gibson) who refuses to leave despite the pleadings of his fed-up adult daughter Dr. Troy (Bosworth). Luckily or not, Ray is wise to what the thieves are after and skilled in the ways of shooting up bad guys real good while spewing snappy one-liners intended to underscore his old-school, tough-guy misogyny. Anyway, the race for supremacy amid a meteorological disaster is on.
What may be most intriguing about Force of Nature — the title presumably a wink both to the storm and Gibson’s scenery-chewing, gun-toting curmudgeon — is how strangely ponderous it feels despite all the action-packed bells and whistles and relentless rainfall.
When you find yourself wanting the killer storm to hurry up and kill, there may be gaps in the narrative thrust though director Michael Polish is generous both with stunts and death. Not enough to overcome a bunch of crudely drawn characters who want to talk about their feelings mid-movie, however.
To riff on the film’s title (which seems like a prerequisite), let’s just say you won’t be blown away. But I wish this alternate headline had fit the space: Old Bastard Fights to Save Old Masters from Psychopathic Gangsters Amid a Natural Disaster. Boom!
Force of Nature. Directed by Michael Polish. Written by Cory Miller. Starring Emile Hirsch, Kate Bosworth, Mel Gibson, David Zayas and Stephanie Cayo. Available through Digital and On Demand on June 30.