The Kill Hole

Last updated
The Kill Hole
The Kill Hole poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMischa S. Webley
Written byMischa S. Webley
Produced byJonny Gillette
Zach Hagen
Starring Chadwick Boseman
Tory Kittles
Dennis Adkins
Victoria Blake
Ted Rooney
Peter Greene
Billy Zane
CinematographyEric Billman
Edited byJames Westby
Music byJason Wells
Production
company
Alternate Ending Studios
Distributed byAlternate Ending Studios
Release dates
  • August 28, 2012 (2012-08-28)(Columbia Gorge International Film Festival)
  • March 15, 2013 (2013-03-15)(United States)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Kill Hole is a 2012 American action thriller war film written and directed by Mischa S. Webley and starring Chadwick Boseman, Tory Kittles, Dennis Adkins, Victoria Blake, Ted Rooney with Peter Greene and Billy Zane. [1] It is Webley's directorial debut. [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

The shadow of war follows a troubled Iraq War vet as he is forced to pursue one of his own into the Pacific Northwest wilderness to finally confront a war crime that has haunted them both. Lt. Samuel Drake is a troubled vet plagued by his actions while deployed in Iraq. Recently discharged, he is trying to piece his life back together while he works as a cab driver and lives in a rundown motel room. He also attends counseling sessions led by Marshall to help cope with the horrors of his past. While on this path to a fresh start, Drake's fragile new life is shattered when two executives, who represent a private military contractor, present a new mission, one with no option to refuse; track down and kill Sgt. Devin Carter, an AWOL Marine Corps. sniper who knows the truth about Drake's past and who himself is on a mission to target and kill members of the mercenary firm. A gripping, lyrical meditation on war and the scars it leaves on those who fight, The Kill Hole is a story of one man who is forced to face his violent past, and the uneasy bond he forms with the mysterious assassin he must confront in his quest for redemption.

Cast

Reception

The film has a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. [4]

Dennis Harvey of Variety gave the film a negative review, calling it "a middling drama that tries to combine elements of Rambo with serious treatment of soldiers’ post-traumatic stress disorder and vague political commentary.” [1]

Omer M. Mozaffar of RogerEbert.com gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Its director and producer Zach Hagen is congenial and it is a very good movie. It keeps leading you in one direction, in order to sneak up on you in the other." [2]

Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Made up of four or five story ideas all crammed together, the film maintains a stop-start momentum at best that keeps it from ever hitting a solid stride." [5]

Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, calling it, "an unconvincing, sometimes unfathomable tale about a brooding veteran (Chadwick Boseman) who was involved in a vaguely defined atrocity while fighting overseas." [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Loaded Weapon 1</i> 1993 US comedy film directed by Gene Quintano

National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 is a 1993 American parody film directed and co-written by Gene Quintano, and starring Emilio Estevez, Samuel L. Jackson, Kathy Ireland, Frank McRae, Tim Curry and William Shatner. The film mainly spoofs the first three Lethal Weapon films, as well as several others including Basic Instinct, Commando, Die Hard, Dirty Harry, Rambo, The Silence of the Lambs, Wayne's World, 48 Hrs. and TV series such as CHiPs. Loaded Weapon 1 was released on February 5, 1993.

<i>American Dreamz</i> 2006 American film

American Dreamz is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Paul Weitz. Described as a "cultural satire" by Weitz, the film satirizes both popular entertainment and American politics during the second George W. Bush administration.

<i>Sgt. Bilko</i> 1996 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn

Sgt. Bilko is a 1996 American military comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn and written by Andy Breckman. It is an adaptation of the 1950s television series The Phil Silvers Show, often informally called Sgt. Bilko, or simply Bilko, and stars Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, Phil Hartman and Glenne Headly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chadwick Boseman</span> American actor (1976–2020)

Chadwick Aaron Boseman was an American actor. During his two-decade career, Boseman received several accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, along with an Academy Award nomination.

<i>Teenage Paparazzo</i> 2010 American film

Teenage Paparazzo is a 2010 documentary film about the life and times of a 14-year-old paparazzi photographer named Austin Visschedyk. It was directed by actor Adrian Grenier and produced by Bert Marcus, Adrian Grenier and Matthew Cooke.

<i>Curse of the Undead</i> 1959 film

Curse of the Undead is a 1959 American Horror Western film directed by Edward Dein and starring Eric Fleming, Michael Pate and Kathleen Crowley.

<i>Beneath the Darkness</i> 2011 American film

Beneath the Darkness is a 2011 American teen thriller dark comedy film directed by Martin Guigui in his feature directorial debut and starring Dennis Quaid, Tony Oller and Aimee Teegarden.

<i>Gone</i> (2012 film) 2012 American film

Gone is a 2012 American thriller film written by Allison Burnett, directed by Heitor Dhalia, and starring Amanda Seyfried. The film earned negative reviews from critics and was a box office disappointment.

<i>Smiley</i> (2012 film) 2012 film directed by Michael Gallagher

Smiley is a 2012 American slasher film directed by Michael Gallagher and made by Level 10 Films. The film stars Caitlin Gerard, Melanie Papalia, Keith David, Shane Dawson, Andrew James Allen, Toby Turner, and Liza Weil. The film was released on October 12, 2012, to largely negative reviews.

<i>This Beautiful Fantastic</i> 2016 British film

This Beautiful Fantastic is a 2016 British romantic drama film directed and written by Simon Aboud and starring Jessica Brown Findlay, Tom Wilkinson, Andrew Scott, Jeremy Irvine, Anna Chancellor, and Eileen Davies.

<i>Marshall</i> (film) 2017 American film

Marshall is a 2017 American biographical legal drama film directed by Reginald Hudlin and written by Michael and Jacob Koskoff. It stars Chadwick Boseman as Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court Justice, and focuses on one of the first cases of his career, the State of Connecticut v. Joseph Spell. It also stars Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Dan Stevens, Sterling K. Brown, and James Cromwell.

<i>Almost Sunrise</i> 2016 American film

Almost Sunrise is a 2016 American documentary film directed by Michael Collins and produced by Marty Syjuco. It recounts the story of two Iraq veterans, Tom Voss and Anthony Anderson, who, in an attempt to put their combat experience behind them, embark on a 2,700-mile trek on foot across America. It made its world premiere on the opening night of the Telluride Mountainfilm Festival on 27 May 2016. After its theatrical run, it aired on the PBS series POV.

<i>Message from the King</i> (film) 2016 film

Message from the King is a 2016 revenge-action-thriller film directed by Fabrice Du Welz, and written by Stephen Cornwell and Oliver Butcher. The film is produced by Cornwell, David Lancaster and Simon Cornwell and stars Chadwick Boseman, Luke Evans, Teresa Palmer, and Alfred Molina. The film's plot revolves around Jacob King (Boseman), a man from Cape Town, South Africa who travels to Los Angeles in order to find his younger sister and after finding out she is dead, he works to avenge her death.

<i>A Stray</i> 2016 American film

A Stray is a 2016 American drama film starring Barkhad Abdirahman.

<i>21 Bridges</i> 2019 American action thriller film by Brian Kirk

21 Bridges is a 2019 American action-thriller film directed by Brian Kirk and written by Adam Mervis and Matthew Michael Carnahan, based on a story by Mervis. The film stars Chadwick Boseman as an NYPD Detective who shuts down the 21 river crossings of Manhattan to find two suspected cop killers, portrayed by Stephan James and Taylor Kitsch. Sienna Miller, Keith David and J. K. Simmons appear in supporting roles. The film was produced by brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, Mike Larocca, Robert Simonds, Gigi Pritzker, Boseman and Logan Coles. It was also Boseman's final theatrical film before his death in August 2020. His last two films, Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, were released on Netflix.

<i>Endings, Beginnings</i> 2019 romantic drama film by Drake Doremus

Endings, Beginnings is a 2019 romantic drama film, directed by Drake Doremus, from a screenplay he wrote alongside Jardine Libaire. The film is semi-improvised and loosely based on the screenplay. It stars Shailene Woodley, Jamie Dornan, Sebastian Stan and Matthew Gray Gubler.

<i>Da 5 Bloods</i> 2020 American war drama film by Spike Lee

Da 5 Bloods is a 2020 American war drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Spike Lee. It stars Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Jean Reno, and Chadwick Boseman. The film's plot follows a group of four aging Vietnam War veterans who return to the country in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader, as well as the treasure they buried while serving there.

<i>Ma Raineys Black Bottom</i> (film) 2020 film by George C. Wolfe

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a 2020 American drama film directed by George C. Wolfe and written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, based on the 1982 play of the same name by August Wilson. The film stars Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts. Inspired by the career of Ma Rainey, an influential blues singer and the title character, the film dramatizes a turbulent recording session in 1920s Chicago.

After Louie is a 2018 American romantic drama film written by Vincent Gagliostro and Anthony Johnston, directed by Gagliostro and starring Alan Cumming and Zachary Booth.

Battle Scars is a 2017 American war drama film written and directed by Danny Buday and starring Zane Holtz, Heather McComb, Ryan Eggold, Fairuza Balk and David James Elliott.

References

  1. 1 2 Harvey, Dennis (14 March 2013). "Film Review: 'The Kill Hole'". Variety . Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 Mozaffar, Omer M. (23 December 2012). "The Kill Hole: An adventure about remorse". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  3. Gardner, Chris (September 3, 2020). "'The Kill Hole' Director Recalls Casting Chadwick Boseman Before His Meteoric Rise". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  4. "The Kill Hole". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  5. Olsen, Mark (March 21, 2013). "Review: 'Kill Hole' a muddled thriller about war veterans". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  6. Genzlinger, Neil (March 14, 2013). "A Troubled Veteran Meets a New Enemy". The New York Times. Retrieved July 6, 2023.