What do you do when you cast an incredibly
green actress in Gina Carano best known as a Mixed Martial Artist as the lead in your
espionage action film? If you have the
clout of a director like Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's 11, Contagion), the answer is to surround her with
a highly accomplished cast loaded with players that possess the acting
wherewithal to impact a film in limited screen time. The net result is a film narrative that is
brisk and entertaining, albeit somewhat thin on the character development side.
The movie starts in medias res and focuses on
a double-cross gone wrong. Carano plays
Mallory Kane – an ex-Marine working as a private contractor in the world of
espionage, who must piece together the who, what, when, and where in hopes of
answering the question of why she was double-crossed.
The plot of the film is as no nonsense as
Carano herself. Right from the outset,
it takes off at a brisk pace and never stops to take a breath, dote on
unnecessary details, or engage in extraneous storytelling right up until the
closing credits. Carano’s onscreen
presence, the work of the supporting cast, and Soderbergh’s direction
contribute to a finished product that fuses the raw brutal physicality of The Bourne Identity with the stylized feel of Ocean’s 11. And as is usual with Soderbergh’s brand of
storytelling, there is an element of cool sophistication that makes you feel
like you are watching a film that is far more cerebral and highbrow than it
really is.
As a lead, Carano is limited. She is nowhere near a polished actress, but
she doesn’t have to be as her character does most of her communicating with
fists and guns. In fact, the movie
itself is prone to long stretches without dialogue and when a meaningful line needs to be uttered, Soderbergh leaves that heavy lifting for one of the more
seasoned veterans.
What really works about this film is the
supporting cast. Ewan McGregor and
Michael Fassbender play the most complex characters – duplicitous and nefarious
– and whereas Carano drives the brute physical action, these two actors are catalysts for the more cerebral aspects of the plot. Grouped with Michael Douglas, Channing Tatum,
Antonio Banderas, and Bill Paxton, the cast ensures that there is no shortage
of twists, turns, and bad guys for Carano to dominate.
Where the film is lacking is in character
development, although part of me believes this is by design. The movie isn’t about life lessons, liminal
moments, or catharsis. It’s about the business
of soldiers-for-hire and one specific double-cross. Anything
that falls outside this scope is of no consequence to the
film.
I would recommend this movie,
although I offer the caveat that it is not for everyone. Films are often incredibly chatty. This is not a bad thing, as it’s a way for
writers to flex their creative muscle. So if you are a fan of witty banter or emo soliloquies, then Haywire is not
the film for you. But if you are fan of a
more subtle and authentic brand of action as the driving force of a film, you
will definitely enjoy this movie. It is a solid rental, worthy of a Saturday night. Should you find yourself a fan of Carano by time
the end credits role, look for her next in The Fast and the Furious 6 opposite Mark Vincent Diesel and Paul Walker.
Standout Performance: Amongst a strong supporting cast, I
particularly enjoyed seeing Bill Paxton’s in a feature film again.
It wasn’t on par with his work in Aliens, but his work does bring some
emotional elements to the movie.
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