Pursuit
They’re on opposite sides of the law but they have more in common than they would ever like to consider; Detective Mike Breslin, his pregnant wife murdered by parties unknown, and hacker Rick Calloway, his wife kidnapped and held for ransom, though as the son of prominent drug lord Jack Calloway at least he has a list of suspects to whittle down in his direct affirmative action.
Breslin and Calloway both conducting separate but parallel investigations, their pursuit of their suspects collides in a shootout in a motel room, Calloway arrested and for reasons unexplained transferred to his hometown of Lonoke, Arkansas where he promptly escapes; Sheriff Taye Biggs attempting to dissuade Breslin from resuming the hunt, it is swiftly apparent that the local law enforcement already sit in the deep pockets of the Calloway family.
Directed by Brian Skiba from a script credited to Skiba, Dawn Burnsteen, Ben Fiore and Andrew Stevens who also plays rival drug lord Frank Diego, Pursuit is so disjointed as to beg the question whether any of the four actually spoke to each other during the writing process, the film a carousel of characters with little attempt to link them together as scenes unfold or sometimes explode with no indication there is an underlying story.
Starring Jake Manley as Mike Breslin, drinking as he moonbathes topless on the balcony from which his wife was thrown before watching looped home movies and security footage, he struts and pouts as though he were a rock star rather than a police officer, while for a hacker who has gone to great lengths to erase his digital footprint the conspicuously ugly tattoos which adorn Rick Calloway’s face are as incongruous as Emile Hirsch’s twitchy performance.
Still, at least Manley and Hirsch attempt to do something with their parts, more than can be said of John Cusack’s somnambulist presence as Calloway senior, less the spider at the centre of the web than the confused middle aged man more interested in entertaining his grandson and barbecuing than becoming involved in the incomprehensible plot, while William Katt’s corrupt sheriff and his hitman deputy played by Nick Benseman approach the moral ambiguity of their characters with the depth of choosing which side to play in chess.
With dialogue as bad as the tattoos and action scenes shot with wind machines and in slow motion, presumably explaining how Breslin is able to avoid a dozen shots fired from across a motel room without cover, just when it seems things can’t get any worse it unleashes a fistfight in a country music bar, Pursuit an aggressively incoherent film where any aspiration towards quality is exemplified by the newspaper headline which declares DRUG LORD SENTANCED TO LIFE IN PRISON.
Pursuit will be available on digital download from 12th June
