Culture

It pretty obvious from the get-go what kind of movie this is, because we’re told in direct narration by the sultry voice of main character O (short for Ophelia), played by Blake Lively. She explains that she’s a hot rich girl whose parents don’t love her, but who happened to win the affections of two best friends Ben and Chon (also hot), successful marijuana growers. She also says that she might be dead at the end of the movie (mysterious).

After Ben and Chon have lots of sex with Ophelia, they get into some hot water with a Mexican drug cartel, and subsequently Ophelia is kidnapped and held to ransom by their leader Elena (Selma Hayak). This becomes a test of both Ben and Chon’s love for Ophelia, as they must now heroically get her back using force. Luckily Chon is a soldier with some useful friends, and Ben’s really nice. There’s also a 2D appearance of John Travolta as a crooked DEA agent.

I found the character development in this film pretty average, as emphasised by O telling us that Ben and Chon are “two men that make a whole”. Considering O’s character carries the emotion of the film, it’s a pity that the writing is so poor, and she comes across whiny and dim.

It’s kinda just your typical action movie, with the obvious shock factor. It’s a shame, as Oliver Stone has put out some decent films in the past, like Natural Born Killers. It does cover all the bases though – it has sex, some hand impaling, people getting stabbed and shot, rape, revenge, and so on. So yeah, if you’re into those things you will enjoy this movie.

I’d like to point out the most annoying part of the film, but it’s vital to the plot, so I won’t.

2 / 5 stars