A Perfect Getaway

“A Perfect Getaway” is one of those movies where the filmmaker builds the entire picture around a potentially brilliant twist and forgets about the other ninety percent of the film. The difference with this, however, is that the shocking conclusion damn near makes up for the lack of effort that is obvious throughout a majority of the flick’s runtime. Notice the emphasis on the ‘damn near’. There are far too many dull moments in this seemingly duplicated product that one can hardly call this movie thoroughly entertaining. However, for a low-budget thriller hitting theaters in mid-August, it’s a fair attempt at a transition into the fall season where the scary movies really start to surface.

Had it not been for actors Milla Jovovich, Steve Zahn and Timothy Olyphant, “A Perfect Getaway” could have easily been ‘an imperfect getaway’. The plot is far from convincing and undeniably similar to a handful of pictures including “Turistas” and “The Beach”. It’s your typical run-of-the-mill slasher where a bundle of tourists find themselves stranded and killed off by a killer on a remote island. Fortunately, the actors are convincing. Even with such pitiful dialogue to work with, the actors find a way to bring realism to their roles.

The screenplay is what really holds this movie back. Twohy spends too much time establishing the events that eventually lead up to the twist ending which leaves little room to solidify the more important elements of the story. As a result, there are countless plot holes and poor character development that cause the film to suffer severely.

“A Perfect Getaway” reminded me a lot of “Scream 3”. Twohy plays with the audience a lot like Ehren Kruger did. Unfortunately, you can only toy with the viewer so much before you start to piss them off. Come the conclusion, viewers will feel more cheated than wowed. While I’m not going to spoil the ending, I will say that viewers should go into this movie expecting nothing because chances are, you’re not going to figure out the twist until the last second. At that point, Twohy spends ten minutes or so cycling through flashbacks to explain what’s suppose to be a surprise and only then will you see that the writer played an unfair game.

Overall, “A Perfect Getaway” is a decent little thriller. Truth be told, some viewers will love the film while others will hate it. It really depends on whether you buy into the conclusion. If you can forgive Twohy for intentionally throwing you off, you’ll have a blast. Otherwise, you may want to skip this flick.