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January 27, 2012

Benji Tunnell: Soderbergh's latest goes 'Haywire'

By Benji Tunnell Globe Columnist

JOPLIN, Mo. — I’ve said in the past that the age of the modern action star is dying, if not completely gone.

The one/two punch that hastened the decline was when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson first decided to trade on his budding action career to land watered down family films, and then with the exhumation of long dead action stars like Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Clowes and others, their corpses re-animated for “The Expendables.”

Sure, we have some little bit of promise here and there, with the occasional Angelina Jolie or Charlize Theron making appearances before scurrying back to more Oscar-friendly fare. But the overall state of the genre is just sad to see. That’s why I was crossing my fingers with the release of Steven Soderbergh’s latest, “Haywire.”

Soderbergh has shown himself to be a skilled, if occasionally overrated, director. His career has spanned from the independent film revival of the late ’80s and early ’90s to the blockbuster “Ocean’s” movies, with an Oscar thrown in the mix. His filmmaking may tend to go to the extremes on occasion (the 4 1/2 hour “Che” being the prime example), but with so few directors truly taking risks any more, it can make things exciting.

His latest experiment was to craft a film around a former “American Gladiator”/current MMA fighter in the form of Gina Carano. It is a strange idea, to be certain, and one with quite a bit of risk, but again, who else is trying these things in Hollywood?

Carano plays Mallory, a freelance covert operative who is contracted to either protect or erase intended targets. When a partner in one of her missions turns on her, she must defend both herself and her reputation as she attempts to unravel the mystery.

“Haywire” feels more like a larger budgeted B-movie than a traditional studio film. It lays the groundwork for the plot, but it is obvious that the film exists to give Carano the opportunity to beat down some big name stars. The movie seems almost like a shell; the framework is there, but it feels incomplete.

Carano is both the biggest strength and the biggest weakness for “Haywire.” Her fighting background allows for some amazingly realistic fight scenes. Soderbergh helps the cause by pulling back the score and other mood enhancements and just allowing Carano and her partner to carry the action on screen. It is brutal looking and does allow a fuller immersion into the world.

That said, Carano also delivers lines as you would expect from a professional fighter. In interviews, Soderbergh stated that he avoided acting coaches for his new star, not wanting to distract her from her main duties. But with her stilted and sometimes wooden delivery, it seems that she could have used just a little more training. Soderbergh is smart in pairing her in her opening scene with Channing Tatum, the male Jessica Alba, whose acting ability is exceeded only in his ability to tie his shoes. But he can’t stay with her the whole movie, and when Carano is left to emote on her own, her rawness is exposed.

Aside from Tatum, the rest of the cast is filled out with a surprising amount of star power. Ewan McGregor plays her boss/former lover, Michael Douglas is a shady government agent, Bill Paxton is her father, Michael Fassbender gets some hands-on time with her, and Antonio Banderas is given a break from his duties as Melanie Griffith’s Botox nurse.

But such are the sacrifices of stardom. It is a well-rounded and experienced cast, but their participation only serves to highlight the inexperience of Carano as the lead.

Also doing no favors is the screenplay by Lem Dobbs. The non-linear storytelling ends up being a big flaw in the movie, causing Dobbs to rely on novice tricks such as using forced means of narration. At one point, Mallory gives a lengthy exposition to a man whose car she has stolen even though her training would have taught her to keep such information to herself and the guy served no purpose as a companion other than to slow her down. If this is the judgment that Mallory has used in the field, it’s no wonder someone’s trying to kill her. It is a lazy way of filling the audience in on the backstory, and it is disappointing to see Soderbergh sign off on such a lackluster script.

Soderbergh has announced his retirement to focus on painting (and with two additional films starring Tatum, it is obvious that his judgment is gone and he needs to hang up his digital camera). If his remaining films reach the quality of “Haywire,” it will be a sad reflection on a once great career.

But don’t tell Gina Carano I said that.

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