RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Jesse Williams, Jordana Brewster, Niamh Wilson, and Simon Northwood
Director: Jay Baruchel
NICK
Peter Farrelly, Adam McKay, and Todd Phillips are just a few examples of comedy directors that have successfully jumped genres. We can now add Jay Baruchel to that list. Baruchel balances vintage horror tropes and fresh ideas to create an entertaining yet thought-provoking film that looks at the effect of gratuitous violence in the media. It doesn’t want you to take pride in its disturbing killings, but to simply feel them. It's a unique approach and one of many ways Random Acts of Violence breathes new life into the slasher genre. This one is sure to become a cult classic.
QUENTIN
There is probably a worthwhile commentary on society's obsession with true crime somewhere in Random Acts of Violence, but it's buried under a lot of garbage. 1. The protagonists are underdeveloped and unlikeable. 2. The villain, who lacks a tangible motive until a semi-predictable one is lazily tacked on, isn't frightening. 3. The kill scenes, while gory, aren't creative. Director Jay Baruchel tries so hard for a grindhouse auteur aesthetic that it's off-putting, then he couples it with fairly unoriginal slasher movie tropes that completely lack tension. Believe it or not, I actually love horror movies... Just not this one.
