Review of Free Fire (2017) by Greg D — 24 Apr 2017

What an unexpected surprise! I saw very little advertisement for this low budget action comedy flick. To tell you the truth I'm glad I didn't see much because I pretty much went into this film blind to what it was about.

The plot is actually quite simple. The movie takes place in 1978 and is about a group run by Chris (Cillian Murphy) an IRA member who brings along his right hand man Frank (Michael Smiley) to buy guns from an arms dealer.

Frank enlists two idiots named Stevo (Sam Riley) and Bernie (Enzo Cilenti) to help transport the weapons. Along for the ride is Justine (Brie Larson) who is the contact for getting both groups together.

They arrive at a warehouse and are brought inside by a hired hand named Ord (Armie Hammer) who brings them to meet Vernon (Sharlto Copley) his associate Martin (Babou Ceesay) and also two of his underlings Harry (Jack Reynor) and Gordon (Noah Taylor).

Everything is tense as hell and then suddenly someone from each side recognizes someone from the other side and violence erupts. Soon enough bodies start getting hit and it becomes an all out shoot out and a tale of survival! So yeah there's obviously more, but I am not going to spoil it.

I absolutely was entertained by this one. It has a great mix of laughs and I actually grew to like the characters. You know little to nothing about them coming in and throughout the film the story slowly unravels about each person.

It's well done and for a film that basically takes place in one spot it has good pacing to it. Some people may watch this and eventually ask what was the point? But, I found myself enjoying it and seeing it as almost even a kind of grindhouse or B movie, but filled with some really good actors.

The movie is violent so if gun violence is something you're entirely against you may not find it so funny, but if you give it a chance it has some great performances and is super funny. The only gripe I have is still that the plot itself is maybe a bit too simple, but it never detracts from this unique film! I would highly recommend giving this one a look!