Review of Misconduct (2016) by Leon B — 30 Sep 2016

Review:

Although Hopkins & Pacino are 2 of the best method actors in the game, there names aren't enough to pull in audiences. The director had the chance to make an all time classic with these 2 top actors but he chose to make an mediocre thriller, which had a sketchy script and a unrealistic plot. Hopkins plays Arthur Denning, whose a successful pharmaceutical business man, who goes out with Emily Hynes (Malin Akerman). Emily becomes friends, on Facebook, with her ex-boyfriend, Ben Cahill (Josh Duhamel), whose an ambitious lawyer, who is willing to do anything to climb to the top. When Emily gives him some secret documents about Arthurs business, Ben takes it to the head of his company, Charles Abrams (Al Pacino), who tells him to go ahead with the case, even though Arthur is a brutal business man. From there, the movie goes down many different avenues, of murder, kidnap and deception. Hopkins is only in a few scenes, so he totally got wasted but Pacino puts in a good performance, even though he didn't play the lead. Josh Duhamel didn't bring the intensity that his role needed, and most of his decisions throughout the movie, we're totally ridiculous. For a lawyer, he should have known that his DNA was going to be all over the crime scene and I don't know why he just didn't go to the police right from the beginning. Anyway, it's a watchable movie, mainly because there is loads of twists and turns throughout but the director didn't take full advantage of the great cast. Watchable!

Round-Up:

At 76 years old, Al Pacino hasn't made a decent film since the awful Jack & Jill. With 4 projects in the pipeline, which include, The Irishman, Retribution, The Trap and Where the White Man Runs Away, I really don't think that he will hit the form that he had during the Godfather days. Anyway, this movie was made by, first time director, Shintaro Shimosawa, who has produced and written mostly for TV, which explains why this movie was such a big task for him. He must have thought that he won the lottery when Pacino and Hopkins decided to accept there roles but be should have done more scenes with them together, accept for concentrating on Josh, who seemed to be played by everyone. On the plus side, it doesn't drag on get boring, because there is enough material to keep the audience interested but the silly actions from the lead character made me question the dodgy storyline.

Budget: $11million.

Worldwide Gross: $938, 750.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/thrillers, starring Josh Duhamel, Anthony Hopkins, Al Pacino, Alice Eve, Malin Akerman, Byung-hun Lee and Julia Stiles. 4/10.