This is the kind of movie that really bums me out to have to dislike. As a fan of Amber Heard and Karl Urban, it sucks that I have to diss their work here, especially since this movie marks Amber Heard's first gig as a producer. After seeing this lame fest, it might just be her last.
The story is more than familiar, full of the usual cliche's and pitfalls, and horrible plot devices are really all that drives it forward.
Stay with me here...
Two super hot American hot chicks who are hot, go biking through the isolated Argentinian countryside in search of... who knows. They separate from their briefly mentioned "bike tour" for god knows what reason, and rent a room in some small town, for again, some unapparent reason.
One of them is a smart, responsible girl, and the other is a loud mouthed slut. The slut (the poor man's Megan Fox, Odette Yustman) says and does some wild things, insults the locals, and shows poor manners, inviting trouble. The chaste good girl (Amber Heard) tries to keep her wild friend under control, but fails.
After a drunken night of danger and debauchery, they miss their early morning bus (to where, we're not certain, since their on bikes), and decide to go sunbathe in the deep, isolated countryside somewhere. Makes sense. Long story short, the two separate, the slut goes missing, and the good girl runs around acting foolish in an effort to find her.
From this point on, the movie is just about flimsy characters making poor decision after poor decision, and battling a bunch of cliche's along the way; shady locals, shady policia, evil gringo hating latino's, the "is he good or bad" red herring guy... It's like Turista's, but not good. Or even The Ruins, but bland and pointless.
One of the things that always drives me insane in these types of movies, are the moronic characters that always seem to do the most moronic things, and at every turn; Screaming when they should shut up, antagonizing creepy locals, leaving friends alone in the rapey forest of a foreign country, making no effort to think things through and be smart about their actions... all plot devices, and all frustrating. How can you pull for characters like that?
Karl Urban comes off as gimpy in this movie, which is a shame because the guy has played some great roles in some great movies. Amber Heard is hell and gone from her awesome work in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane here as well, which is odd to me, because she tends to pick challenging roles that at least take chances. And Odette Yustman... well her best work is still in The Unborn. Yeah.
For me, this movie is a D, because it's just so frustratingly cliche and pointless. That's not to say it sucks horribly, or that other won't like it, but honestly it's just totally unremarkable. Even though I just remarked a bunch about it, but you know, whatever.
It's a nice looking movie, but the substance just isn't there.
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