Wrecked (film)

Last updated
Wrecked
Wrecked Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michael Greenspan
Written byChristopher Dodd
Produced byKyle Mann
Adrien Brody
Starring Adrien Brody
Caroline Dhavernas
Ryan Robbins
CinematographyJames Liston
Edited by Wiebke von Carolsfeld
Music by Michael Brook
Production
companies
Independent Edge Films
Telefilm Canada
Three-Seven Entertainment
Wrecked Productions
Distributed by Alliance Films
Release date
  • October 15, 2010 (2010-10-15)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$8,020 [1]

Wrecked is a 2010 Canadian thriller film, directed by Michael Greenspan, written by Christopher Dodd, produced by Kyle Mann and starring Adrien Brody. [2] It was released by IFC Midnight Films on April 1, 2011. [3]

Contents

Plot

A “Man” wakes up, severely injured, in a wrecked car near the bottom of a steep ravine. His right leg is broken and stuck between the dashboard and the door, and he is suffering from amnesia. Two other passengers are dead nearby. The Man hallucinates about a “Woman” finding him.

The Man scares off a cougar by firing two shots from a revolver he finds inside the car. He hears on the car radio about an armed robbery by a man named Raymond Plazzy. Finding a credit card under the passenger seat in the name of Raymond Plazzy, the Man assumes that he is Plazzy. After a few days, he finally manages to pry his leg free.

The Man splints his leg and crawls around the car. He finds bags of money in the trunk. When he starts to crawl up the hill, a man emerges from the woods and starts to loot the car. The Man tries to stop the woodsman, who just aims his gun at him before he runs away with some of the stolen money. A Belgian Shepherd dog appears, and the Man follows it into the woods. He finds a working cell phone inside a cave, discovering the body of the woodsman, who appears to have been attacked by the cougar. The Man cannot obtain a cell signal.

Frequently hallucinating about the Woman, he finally shoots her with the revolver after realizing the hallucinations have led him back to the car. He then becomes determined to get out of the ravine. After crawling for days, he finds a road and a dead body with a matching photo ID card that says Raymond Plazzy. He then remembers what happened to him: he was running errands with his wife (the Woman) when he witnessed an armed bank robbery, where a security guard is shot and the Man is taken hostage by Plazzy. In the present, the cougar appears and the man kicks Plazzy's corpse toward the cougar, which drags it away. The Man now has a cell phone signal and calls for help.

The man is picked up by a park ranger. When getting in the truck, he asks about the dog, but it is nowhere to be seen. When he clicks his seat belt on, it triggers a memory of putting on his seatbelt while Plazzy and his two fellow robbers were arguing, with Plazzy holding a gun to the Man's head. The Man uses their distraction to grab the wheel, causing the car to crash. The scene blacks out.

Cast

Production

At the film's global premiere, which took place on 15 October 2010 at Emirates Palace as part of the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, Adrien Brody spoke candidly about why he chose to work on a project with a novice feature film director: "I believed that Michael had the ability to make something special. And I had a blueprint to work with from the script, and in the conversations that Michael and I had. You can't just make safe bets. Even directors and actors who do great work, do not always do great work. And I don't feel like you can wait around until someone of note comes to you and says come work with me. You have to seek out new things that inspire you. The key to this working is that he really didn't have to babysit me. You have to have trust in each other, and I trust Michael." [4]

Reception

Wrecked received mixed to favorable reviews from film critics. Rotten Tomatoes rates the film 48% with an average score of 5.3 out of 10, based on 27 reviews. [5] Metacritic, which uses a weighted score, gives the film a score of 61 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on 10 reviews. [6]

Writing for IndieWire and giving it a "B" grade, Eric Kohn calls Adrien Brody's performance "committed" and Michael Greenspan's debut "has the stable definition of a one-act play" but finds the film "falls apart when it starts to repeat itself", but that "Brody's engagement with the material prevents "Wrecked" from falling apart." [7] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter calls the film "never less than gripping", saying it "builds tension steadily", "is visually inventive", not tedious, and yet "comes up a bit flat with a perfunctory ending where something more feral or dramatic is needed." [8]

Contrastingly, Brad Brevett describes the conclusion as "interesting", but complains of the film going in circles too much of the time, arguing that the story is too small for a feature film, while conceding that Adrien Brody gives "a solid performance, despite having very little to work with." [9] Alex DiVicenzo concurs: "Christopher Dodd's script would have benefited from a few more twists and turns; something that puts the man in peril but remains grounded in reality to avoid taking the viewer out of the movie. Director Michael Greenspan does the best that he can with what he has, aided in no small part by the fine cinematography by James Liston." [10] In a very brief New York Times review, Jeannette Catsoulis also complains that the film moves slowly at first and lacks suspense. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrien Brody</span> American actor (born 1973)

Adrien Nicholas Brody is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's war drama The Pianist (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor at age 29, becoming the youngest actor to win in that category. He also became the second American male actor to win the César Award for Best Actor for the same film.

<i>Summer of Sam</i> 1999 US crime-drama film directed by Spike Lee

Summer of Sam is a 1999 American crime thriller film about the 1977 David Berkowitz serial murders and their effect on a group of fictional residents of an Italian-American neighborhood in The Bronx in the late 1970s. It focuses on two young men from the neighborhood: Vinny, whose marriage is faltering due to his cheating, and Ritchie, Vinny's childhood friend who has embraced punk fashion and music.

<i>White Noise</i> (2005 film) 2005 Canadian film

White Noise is a 2005 supernatural horror film directed by Geoffrey Sax and starring Michael Keaton and Deborah Kara Unger. The title refers to electronic voice phenomena (EVP), where anomalous voice-like sounds, which some believe to be from the "other side" — interpreted as spirit voices, are found on electronic audio recordings.

<i>The Pianist</i> (2002 film) Biopic directed by Roman Polanski

The Pianist is a 2002 biographical film produced and directed by Roman Polanski, with a script by Ronald Harwood, and starring Adrien Brody. It is based on the autobiographical book The Pianist (1946), a memoir by the Polish-Jewish pianist, composer and Holocaust survivor Władysław Szpilman. The film was a co-production by France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland.

<i>Dummy</i> (2002 film) 2002 film by Greg Pritikin

Dummy is a 2002 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Greg Pritikin. The film stars Adrien Brody as an ex-office worker who becomes a ventriloquist. It also stars Milla Jovovich, Illeana Douglas, Vera Farmiga, Jessica Walter, Ron Leibman, and Jared Harris. It premiered at the American Film Market on February 21, 2002, and received a limited theatrical release on September 12, 2003.

<i>Good Neighbours</i> (film) 2010 Canadian thriller film dir. by Jacob Tierney

Good Neighbours is a 2010 Canadian thriller film written and directed by Jacob Tierney. It is based on the book by Chrystine Brouillet.

<i>The Brothers Bloom</i> 2008 caper comedy-drama film by Rian Johnson

The Brothers Bloom is a 2008 American caper comedy-drama film written and directed by Rian Johnson. The film stars Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi, Maximilian Schell, and Robbie Coltrane. The film went into wide release in May 2009.

<i>Harrisons Flowers</i> 2000 film by Élie Chouraqui

Harrison's Flowers is a 2000 war-romance drama film directed by Elie Chouraqui. It stars, among others, Andie MacDowell, Elias Koteas, Brendan Gleeson, Adrien Brody, Marie Trintignant, Gerard Butler and David Strathairn. The film is also Quinn Shephard's big screen debut. The film premiered at the 2000 San Sebastián International Film Festival, and released in theatres on 24 January 2001 in France. Universal Pictures gave the film a limited theatrical release in the United States on 15 March 2002, then Lionsgate released this film in the United States on DVD in 2007. For this film's United States version, the film's length was reduced by about 5 minutes; it also features a new score by Cliff Eidelman.

<i>Giallo</i> (2009 film) 2009 Italian film

Giallo is a 2009 Italian horror giallo film co-written and directed by Dario Argento and starring Adrien Brody, Emmanuelle Seigner and Elsa Pataky.

<i>Puncture</i> (film) 2011 American film

Puncture is an independent feature film starring Chris Evans, directed by Adam Kassen and Mark Kassen. The film is based on the true story of Michael David "Mike" Weiss and Paul Danziger. It was chosen as one of the spotlight films for the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, premiering on April 21, 2011 in New York City.

<i>Boy Wonder</i> (film) 2010 film

Boy Wonder is a 2010 American psychological thriller about vigilantism. The film was written and directed by Michael Morrissey and stars Caleb Steinmeyer, Zulay Henao, Bill Sage, Tracy Middendorf, Daniel Stewart Sherman, Chuck Cooper, and James Russo.

<i>Date and Switch</i> 2014 film directed by Chris Nelson

Date and Switch is a 2014 American teen sex comedy film directed by Chris Nelson, written by Alan Yang, and starring Nicholas Braun, Hunter Cope, Dakota Johnson and Zach Cregger. The film's plot features Matty and Michael, two best friends who vow to have sex. Matty tells Michael that he is gay, which unexpectedly changes their quest.

<i>Third Person</i> (film) 2013 film

Third Person is a 2013 romantic drama film directed and written by Paul Haggis and starring an ensemble cast consisting of Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis, Adrien Brody, Olivia Wilde, James Franco, Moran Atias, Kim Basinger, and Maria Bello. The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival.

<i>Road to Paloma</i> 2014 American film

Road to Paloma is a 2014 American drama thriller film directed by, produced by, co-written by, and starring Jason Momoa. Robert Homer Mollohan co-stars and co-wrote the script. It also co-stars Sarah Shahi, Lisa Bonet, Michael Raymond-James, Chris Browning, Timothy V. Murphy, and Wes Studi. The film was released on July 11, 2014.

<i>Backtrack</i> (film) 2015 film

Backtrack is a 2015 mystery thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Michael Petroni. It stars Adrien Brody, Bruce Spence, Sam Neill, Robin McLeavy, Malcolm Kennard and Jenni Baird.

<i>Manhattan Night</i> 2016 American film

Manhattan Night is a 2016 American crime thriller film written and directed by Brian DeCubellis. It is based on the 1996 novel Manhattan Nocturne by Colin Harrison. The film stars Adrien Brody, Yvonne Strahovski, Jennifer Beals and Campbell Scott. The film was released on May 20, 2016, by Lionsgate Premiere.

<i>Bullet Head</i> 2017 American film

Bullet Head is a 2017 American-Bulgarian crime thriller film written and directed by Paul Solet and starring Adrien Brody, Antonio Banderas, and John Malkovich.

<i>Crawl</i> (2019 film) American film by Alexandre Aja

Crawl is a 2019 American natural horror film directed by Alexandre Aja, written by brothers Michael and Shawn Rasmussen, and produced by Sam Raimi. It stars Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper as a daughter and father who, along with their dog, find themselves trapped in the crawl space of their home and preyed upon by alligators during a Category 5 hurricane in Florida.

Michael Greenspan is a film director, producer and writer best known for the psychological thriller Wrecked, which debuted at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Film Festival and starred Academy Award-winning actor Adrien Brody and actress Caroline Dhavernas.

<i>Clean</i> (2021 film) 2021 American film by Paul Solet

Clean is a 2021 American action thriller film directed by Paul Solet and starring Adrien Brody, who also produced and wrote the film.

References

  1. "Wrecked".
  2. Luyben, Liz. "Wrecked (2011) Movie Information". TrailerDownload.net. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  3. "IFC Midnight Picks Up Adrien Brody Thriller". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  4. Smith, Nigel M. (18 October 2010). "A Candid Adrien Brody Gets "Wrecked" in Abu Dhabi" . Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  5. "Wrecked (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  6. "Wrecked - 2011". Metacritic. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  7. Kohn, Eric (30 March 2011). "REVIEW: Adrien Brody's Diminishing Returns Continue With "Wrecked"". IndieWire . Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  8. Honeycutt, Kirk (March 29, 2011). "Wrecked: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  9. Brevett, Brad (April 2011). "Movie Review: Wrecked (2011)". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  10. DiVicenzo, Alex (28 August 2011). "Film Review: Wrecked (2011)". HorrorNews.net. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  11. Catsoulis, Jeannette (March 31, 2011). "A Punishing Drive". New York Times . Retrieved 16 July 2018.