Hot Picks
|
|
|
The Mason Brothers
USA 2017
produced by Keith Sutliff, Chad Zapfe (executive), David Trevino (executive), Mark Belasco (executive), Marie Adler (executive) for KS Pictures, Adler & Associates Entertainment
directed by Keith Sutliff
starring Keith Sutliff, Brandon Sean Pearson, Matthew Webb, Michael Ryan Whelan, Julien Cesario, Tim Park, Gregory Gordon, Pelé Kizy, Alexandria Rousset, Erica Souza, David Trevino, Nazo Bravo, Steve Bethers, Carlotta Montanari
written by Keith Sutliff, music by Federico Vaona
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
It should have been a very easy job for the Mason brothers Ren (Keith
Sutliff), Jesse (Brandon Sean Pearson) and Orion (Michael Ryan Whelan) and
their buddy Gage (Matthew Webb): Storm the bank at nighttime, open the
vault, grab the money, and out again, all doable in under three minutes -
if they wouldn't have run into some other thugs who had the exact same
idea, which ultimately resulted in a shoot-out ... Now Orion's dead, and
the gang collectively come to the conclusion it can't be coincidence that
two gangs of crooks had the idea to rob the place in the exact same
timeframe - so they must have been set up by somebody, and the other crew
was merely trying to get their hands on the loot without having to go
through the trouble of having to open the vault. Thing is, only very few
people knew that the Masons & Co would even pull the job that night,
that means there must be a snitch very close to them, maybe even within
the gang, or how about their silent partner Fredrick (Julien Cesario).
Fortunately they know a fellow crook (Tim Park) who's good at finding
things out, and he soon provides them with two of the guys (Gregory
Gordon, Pelé Kizy) from the other crew. Now naturally, on one hand Ren,
Jesse and Gage would love to just slaughter them - but due to familial
bonds, they feel compelled to first torture the name of the snitch out of
them - but the longer they keep them alive and the longer they stay put in
their hiding place, the more vulnerable they are to all sorts of crooks
(and the police, theoretically) wanting to get their hands on the loot, as
soon a few too many people know about the heist ... In pure
structure, The Mason Brothers might seem quite a bit reminiscent of
Reservoir Dogs, also being
about a failed heist - that's never shown - a bunch of crooks holed up in
a warehouse, and frantically trying to find the snitch in their midst. But
there's where the similarities end, as The Mason Brothers is a
movie that stands very well on its own legs, telling a story that differs
from Reservoir Dogs in
pretty much every other detail, making its protagonists more of the
working class of gangsterdom, and using its occasional flashbacks in a
very refreshing manner. And thanks to a tight script, a subtle directorial
effort that still allows the occasional violent outburst, and a strong
ensemble cast, this movie works very well on pretty much every level.
|
|
|