August 23, 2008

Haven - 2004

Last night The Hubs and I watched Haven. I'd been kind of on the fence about renting this movie because it stars Orlando Bloom and, well, I can't stand him. But I have to say, it wasn't a bad film at all.

Our hero, Bill Paxton, plays a shady businessman named Carl. Carl and his daughter, Pippa, have to flee their Miami home when they are busted by the Feds. Carl has been dealing in dirty money with his "partner" Mr. Allen. When they get to the Cayman Islands, Carl tries to track down Mr Allen to make things right. Pippa, who has grown to hate her father, takes off with Fritz, a thuggish native who seems to be in trouble with all the gangsters on the island.



While this storyline is happening, we are introduced to Shy, played by Bloom. He's fallen in love with Andrea, the daughter of a powerful and wealthy businessman. Their love is forbidden as he is white and poor, and she is black and rich. We see Andrea lose her virginity to Shy, only for Andrea's father to catch them and declare that Andrea was raped - despite her telling him it was her choice. Andrea's brother, Hammer, decides to get revenge on Shy, and that's when all hell breaks loose.


The movie then takes an interesting turn. Just when we've forgotten all about Pippa and Carl, they come back into the picture full force. I am not going to spoil it because it really is pretty good and I would recommend it as a rental. There's fast editing, great cinematography, and the lighting in certain scenes is really quite clever. And it's one of those films that when it's over, you slowly recall the clues that were given during the entire film that suddenly click into place. I love that kind of film making. There weren't enough scenes with our hero, Bill Paxton, and he doesn't wear leather pants. But you do see him semi-shirtless, which is OK with me.


Rent Haven from Netflix. It's really quite entertaining.

No comments: