A Review of ‘The Bouncer’: An actioner that mostly falls flat
A bouncer tries to save an abused woman from a formidable mobster.
‘The Bouncer’: An actioner that mostly falls flat
Cast: John Ozuna, Costas Mandylor, Rosemary Yaneva, Nicholas Turturro, Gerald Okamura, Vincent Rivera, Tayah Kansik, Simon Phillips, Paloma Morales, Iulia Alexandra Neacsu, Florin Fratila, Jackie Falcon, Raul Pacurar, Laurentiu Dragon, Mihai Hurduc
Critic’s Rating: 2 ½ Stars out of 5
Director: Massimiliano Cerchi
Duration: 1 hour, 18 minutes
Genre: Action, Thriller, Suspense
Language: English
Release: 2024
What’s it about?
A bouncer tries to save an abused woman from a formidable mobster.
Review:
What we have here is a disappointing action yarn with cardboard characters, ineffectual ambience and a mostly contrived narrative. There are gunfire interludes, martial arts sequences and car chases, but these don’t all hit the spot. A couple of moderate surprises during the course of the story can’t adequately compensate for lame attempts at stirring up suspense. The Bouncer, while endeavouring to pay tribute to its genre, suffers from a mediocre quality. A few thrills and a few kills are all that is on offer with a conclusion that is hardly worth the wait.
This caper opens with two bouncers - Frank (John Ozuna) and Carl (Simon Phillips) - on duty at a nightclub in Bucharest, Romania. While both possess robust hand-combat skills, Frank appears to be guided by a strong moral compass. But unfortunately this trait lands him in trouble when he aids an ill-treated escort of a powerful mob boss. After an ugly altercation at the club, Frank and Sylvia (Rosemary Yaneva) find themselves on the run from the dreaded Mr. Kane (Costas Madylor). What’s more, Sylvia and her knight in shining armour have underestimated the extent of their adversary’s connections.
Drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse, Frank uses his wits and street smarts to throw his stalkers off the scent. He turns to some of his local “friends” for help in this quest, potentially endangering them in the process. Frank tries every trick in the book to escape with Sylvia only to discover how far-reaching Mr. Kane’s tentacles are. Will the hunted duo skip town or be forced to confront Kane and Co.? Also, how does the prime villain and his gang manage to remain in such hot pursuit? These questions might keep the average viewer moderately engaged.
The film presents a couple of odd flash-backs aimed to explain Frank’s sense of character and how misfortune landed him in the role of a bouncer. But Ozuna’s performance in the lead role is not altogether convincing, especially due to his somewhat monotonous tone of voice. Also, Sylvia and Mr. Kane sorely lack ample character and motivation, presenting themselves as nothing more than campy action-movie clichés. There is just not enough personality behind the vendettas.
Co-writer and director Massimiliano Cerchi offers the occasionally impressive exchange of dialogue. But this is only a small part of a predominantly wanting script that is hard to effectively translate to screen. Also, while some thought, effort and editing has gone into making the kung fu scenes convincing, discharged bullets don’t appear to have any impact on the cars they are aimed at. Not a scratch or shattered window. Meanwhile, the cinematography is at best uneven, though the pulsating background music helps to counterbalance the visual inconsistency. However, on the whole, The Bouncer is a shoot-‘em-up that most critics might find easy to shoot down.
