The Bannen
Way
(2009/Sony DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: D Telefilm: D
If you
want to see slickness done to the point of bad satire, just see how bad the
goofy telefilm The Bannen Way
is. A post-modern mess, the 2009 TV
movie seems to be wanting to set itself up as some kind of pilot, but it is so
smug, confused, self-impressed, boring, goofy and unreal that it plays like a
series of clichés that are all over the place as if speeding them up and
shuffling them will make us not notice how bad this all is.
Mark
Gantt is the title character, one you will never want to meet again as he tries
to juggle mobsters, the police, women and goofs who tolerate him. Michael Ironside and Robert Forster even turn
up, but they cannot save this silly mess and the result is a major waste of
time at 94 minutes. Gantt co-wrote this
with Director Jesse Warren and it is outright lame.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1image was shot on the Red One HD camera and it
shows with motion blur, softness and other visual flaws throughout, while the
Dolby Digital 5.1 mix may not have the best dialogue placement (too much in the
center channel and not as clear as it could be) but it has some good sound
design and fairly good soundfield otherwise.
Extras include six boring featurettes.
- Nicholas Sheffo
