Bent

Bent is a low budget movie with an interesting and sometimes original script and some small twists that keep your attention for most of the time. Gallagher is a vice cop that during a failed operation get involved in a shooting, his partner and an undercover cop gets killed and he ends up in jail accused of corruption. When released he looks for vengeance on his partner death but also to clean up his name since he has been branded as a "COP KILLER" so other cops are trying harm him Following the only lead he has about that night; he gets involved in complex government conspiracy that might not be what is seems and several attempts against his life. Sadly the suffers from a weak direction; particularly on the acting side. Karl Urban tries to generate empathy while being serious (like a classic detective) something he not always achieve. Worse is Sofia Vergara (usually very good comedian) she is not good as "Femme Fatale" nor as bad girl with private agenda. The only one able to came out clean is Andy Garcia. He injects his character with believable emotion and depth; sadly some cliches work against him; but is by far the only one to succeed. In brief; compared to many bigger productions and directors; this movie is able to be interesting enough to forgive most of its failures.

SPELL BINDING INTRIGUE,ESPIONAGE AND ROMANCE ALL COME TOGETHER IN THIS MOST RECENT BOBBY MORESCO FILM. KARL URBAN IS FORCEFUL AS GALLAGHER AN EX-COP OUT FOR JUSTICE. ANDY GARCIA DELIVERS YET ANOTHER ICONIC CHARACTER PORTRAYAL IN HIS SUPPORTING ROLE. GREAT FILM A MUST SEE

I have not seen a main male character in a film smoke so much on screen since I watched the 1940's film "The Big Sleep" Starring Humphrey Bogart. One might say that this film is Bogart meets the Marlboro Man. It is so obvious that the Tobacco Industry must have helped finance this terrible recycled film, it's like an hour plus long TV commercial for smoking. The macho character attired in a black leather jacket Danny Gallagher (Karl Urban) is a disgraced cop who upon his release from prison goes on a revenge mission to get the bad guys. All his fellow cops hate Gallagher because he was accused of being a cop killer. So he is now a lone wolf out for revenge. Gallagher is shot at, beaten and comes back for more. Someone should should have told him that if the beatings and bullets don't kill him, his chain smoking surely will! The story and plot has been done so many times before, it is the same old same old. But the shocking thing about this film is the shameful outright advertising for cigarette smoking. I had read where famous movie stars were offered thousands of dollars to smoke in their films. Since cigarette ads in magazines had been banned for years, along with TV ads and billboard advertising. The cigarette industry wants desperately to get the public to see smoking in a positive light. So here Gallagher lights up constantly in this film, the macho hero Gallagher is more than happy to oblige. I read where the Director of this film wanted to do a modern day film noir with Gallagher as an updated Bogart, with a cigarette so ever in his and and puffing away. Yet, back in the 1940's the public was not aware of the dangers of cigarette smoking, we are today! Funny thing though Gallagher the hero is a smoker and the villains in this film are all non-smokers. Another peculiar item, all the cigarette packs is this film have no label, they are all light blue in color. I suppose the tobacco industry would get a lot of flack if Gallagher had a visible pack of Marlboros or Camels in his hand. So this film could be called the return the hero smoker the Marlboro Man, not a cowboy, a cop this time around.

Bent (2018) is about a former cop that was framed, lost his partner and now is seeking out revenge, while battling his inner demons to just call it quits and stay with his all time love. It has an OK plot and I like what they did with it, but they make things way too big and never explain them enough. A conspiracy? Is it Goverment related? Is it only about rogue agents fighting over money? In the end, all that doesn't matter. It's not an action movie. It's about seeing an investigation unfolds and it's kinda bland. There are some curveballs, but they are rather weak. Overall, just an OK flick.