This is the final film of BMW's "The Hire" series of short films that I have reviewed. I stumbled upon one of these odd little films a few day ago and was instantly hooked--and NEEDED to see them all. It seems in 2001 and 2002, BMW had tons of money and decided to fund a series of short films in which their cars are featured. What made this really unusual is that Clive Owen stars in them all and BMW assembled some of the world's finest directors--with huge budgets as well. Amazingly, they managed to hire, among others, John Frankenheimer (one of the greatest living directors at the time), John Woo, Ang Lee, Wong Kar Wai. While I would never consider him nearly in the same league, surprisingly, Guy Richie might have actually made the best of the eight films.
This one featured one of the least experienced or famous of the directors, Joe Carnahan. However, like the other films, this one is top-notch from start to finish. And, like many of the other films, this one features a lot of famous actors. Don Cheadle, F. Murray Abraham and Ray Liotta (who, oddly, is unbilled) are there to support Clive in yet another exciting and action-packed installment. It begins with Cheadle being rescued by Owen. Something Owen has in an odd looking briefcase is so important that an army of baddies are chasing him--trying to stop him from delivering whatever it is. In the process of avoiding these killers, Owen is actually able to maneuver a helicopter into crashing--a very spectacular stunt, indeed! What the package turns out to be is something you'll just have to see for yourself. I just don't want to spoil the suspense...but I thought the payoff for this was very good and a bit touching. Overall, it plays like an entire movie crammed into less than 10 minutes--and it's pretty amazing.
This one featured one of the least experienced or famous of the directors, Joe Carnahan. However, like the other films, this one is top-notch from start to finish. And, like many of the other films, this one features a lot of famous actors. Don Cheadle, F. Murray Abraham and Ray Liotta (who, oddly, is unbilled) are there to support Clive in yet another exciting and action-packed installment. It begins with Cheadle being rescued by Owen. Something Owen has in an odd looking briefcase is so important that an army of baddies are chasing him--trying to stop him from delivering whatever it is. In the process of avoiding these killers, Owen is actually able to maneuver a helicopter into crashing--a very spectacular stunt, indeed! What the package turns out to be is something you'll just have to see for yourself. I just don't want to spoil the suspense...but I thought the payoff for this was very good and a bit touching. Overall, it plays like an entire movie crammed into less than 10 minutes--and it's pretty amazing.