Which would you prefer: starting every day waking up to Sonny & Cher or starting every day waking up to a swinging machete aimed at your head? I know … it’s a tough one. I mean, eventually you’re probably going to tire of the constant decapitations and have to give in to “I Got You, Babe,” amIright?
The Groundhog Day format is fairly common these days, but I had yet to see the formula yield a quality action scenario. And while this film does play exactly like a video game – the minute Roy (Frank Grillo) dies, the “game” resets — it’s a pretty cool video game. And the movie format allows us to imagine an entire world of solutions (as opposed to a series of 64-bit boards). So while the only feasible way to escape level one is to duck the machete, sacrifice the wielder to the machine-gun hovering helicopter outside, and jump out the newly broken window onto a moving sand truck, we can imagine the hero ducking into a crawl space or tearing down the fire exit when the rocket launcher blows up his place. In other words, the script plays like a standard video game, but there’s more to this reality.
Roy makes no bones about being pissed off. I don’t blame him for it. If you woke up to a machete aimed at your head every morning, you might just take it personally. And it is personal … how could it not be? After dozens of “attempts,” Roy has learned that a “good day” is making it to the bar before noon. He never survives past 2 pm, so he may as well be hammered when he gets hammered.
The deal is that Roy is ex-Delta Force, so he definitely has the skill set to defeat the numerous assassins he wakes up to, but he never gets far enough to figure out what’s going on … does this have something to do with the scientific work being done by his ex (Naomi Watts) or her grandboss (Mel Gibson)? I suppose I’ve given it away there. If you know Mel Gibson is in the film, you know he’s the bad guy. I am trying very hard not to love-to-hate Mel at this moment; I know it’s weird and funny when Mel himself makes jokes about megalomania, but dude, you are a closet Nazi; it’s
like Stephen Miller joking about how messed up it is to abuse power.
The joy in Boss Level is all in Frank and his relationship to his crazies. He keeps living a day in which the only people he ever meets are professional psychopaths trying to kill him … oh, and the douche he carjacks every morning. One particular swordstress (Selino Lo) is kinda the Groot of assassins, punctuating every kill with her one line, “Guan Yin has done this.” It’s actually hilarious after a while.
Yesterday, I couldn’t tell the difference between Frank Grillo and Joe Manganiello. Nor did I care. Today? Different story. Where has Frank Grillo been? Looks like I’ve seen him in at least a dozen different films; I like to know what he’d do with another role as big as this one.
Boss Level is one of favorite sleepers of late. You’re unlikely to seek it or find it, but if you’re an action junkie and don’t have a problem with violence or hyperbole –as I clearly do not- this one is a fantastic ride. Has the Groundhog Day genre worn out its welcome? I sure as Hell hope not.
Roy is re-living the same morning all wrong
He has to survive just so he can play along
Assassins thwart him, you bet
And then the day will reset
Exactly when does he get to Donkey Kong?
Not Rated, 100 Minutes
Director: Joe Carnahan
Writer: Chris Borey & Eddie Borey and Joe Carnahan
Genre: The definition of insanity?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Action junkies
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The violence-challenged
