TARGET PRACTICE Showdown with Terrorists
Available via NETFLIX, AMAZON,
BEST BUY,
BORDERS, BARNES & NOBLE, et al.
Acclaimed award-winning thriller from
Big Screen Entertainment and
ADA/
Warner Elektra ... Visit the
Official Film Website:
http://targetpracticemovie.com/
Target Practice
By ROBERT KOEHLER, VARIETY
With:
Eric Dean,
Aaron Hawk,
Joey Lanai,
Solomon Hoilett, Eltony
Williams, Bill Elverman,
Richard deGuilio,
Daniel Rosenberg.
When a group of fishing buddies stumble upon a terrorist cell-in-training, politics give way to pure, unadulterated action in
Richmond Riedel's impressively mounted "Target Practice." Though it's never more than a low-budget thriller that occasionally stumbles when its characters stop moving and talk, this is a helming debut engineered with confidence and exceptionally skillful editing.
Regional fests should take notice, and a careful distrib could provide a brief theatrical window before tube and vid shots.
Initial impression is that a "
Deliverance"-type storyline will play out, given the generally solid, middle-class makeup of the fishing party, some assuring their wives they'll be back soon, and all of them bickering with each other in the
SUV driven by
Dave (
Bill Elverman). Riedel's script tends to slot his men into types, particularly bigoted, hard-hearted
Paul (Joey Lanai) and whiny
Mark (Eric Dean), who could be read as gay without the film stating as much.
But once the guys stop to check what seems to be a roadside vehicle in distress, the action becomes all, and Riedel, a vet
Hollywood editor, shows his manifest chops with a relentless pace and astute storytelling.
Different reference points from "Deliverance" soon take over, including the terrific, taut
WWII TV series "
Combat!", Fox's "24" and
Ti West's "
Trigger Man," another ultra-indie about innocent outdoorsmen being gunned down.
West's film was all the more disturbing in refusing to provide a motive; Riedel's film insists on naming the enemy as an
Al Qaeda training camp deep in the forest (which looks very much like the
Mt. San Jacinto area in
Southern California). After a bloody attack leaves Mark and a wounded
Steve (Aaron Hawk) together, and Paul alone and on the run, pic alternates between the two sides in a vicious cat-and-mouse chase in the mountainous woods.
The seemingly weaker Mark asserts himself as a leader, much to Steve's surprise, and Paul is forced to work with a black
CIA undercover agent (Solomon Hoilett), who has infiltrated the cell and is about to bring it down. Pic's juggling of PC thematics and post-9/11 fears follows the "24" strategy of playing to both rightward and leftward viewers, though the juggling here is often too obvious by half.
Pic never lets up, though, and certain twists are quite brilliantly pulled off, with the bonus of being fairly credible.
Key setpieces, including Mark and Steve's discovery of the camp, are extremely tense and executed with great energy, with no guarantees, given the cast of unknowns, that anyone will survive.
Flashbacks designed as character backgrounding prove more facile than effective, however.
Whether viewers will completely accept that this particular cell is ready-for-Al-Qaeda-primetime is open to question, though Daniel Rosenberg's cell leader conveys a scary mix of cunning, ruthlessness and smarts. Dean and Hawk struggle with some rancid patches of dialogue, but work nicely in tandem, while Lanai enjoys playing the bigoted Paul.
Financially strapped
American filmmakers would be wise to study "Target Practice" for what can be done with minimal crew and cash. Pic maintains technical quality control with sharp lensing (again, by Riedel), action staging (care of stunt coordinator Sean
Christopher) and subtle supporting music (
Jeff Arwady).
Camera (color, DV), Riedel; music, Jeff Arwady; sound (stereo),
Scott Jennings; stunt coordinator, Sean Christopher; assistant director, Christopher. Reviewed on
DVD,
Los Angeles,
July 26, 2008. (In
Dances With Films,
Los Angeles.)
Running time: 97
MIN.
Read more: http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117937872
.html?categoryid=31&cs;=1#ixzz10gb2fl16
WINNER,
Action Film Of The Year,
Action On
Film International Film Festival,
Best Action
Feature,
Fargo Fantastic Film Festival, 2nd
Place Best Feature Appalachian Film Festival,
Silver Screen Award Nevada Film Festival,
Award of Excellence Accolade Film
Competition, Official
Selection 17
Film Festivals including Dances With Films
Independent Film Festival,
Trail Dance Film Festival,
Burbank International Film Festival,
Macon Film Festival,
Riverside International Film Festival, ThrillerChiller Film Festival,
Wild Rivers Film Festival, more