
Year: 2016
Rated R
Rating: * * 1/2 Stars
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Elijah Wood, Jerry Lewis
Las Vegas. Home to elicit gambling, legal prostitution, and gleaming neon lights. It's also the setting for The Trust (my latest review). Speaking of that setting, well the Vegas in "Trust" is in a way, not personified. We're talking about the Sin City outer world here. I didn't view one scene where a trouper was hitting the slots, taking in a Wayne Newton show, or noshing on shrimp at a casino buffet.
Anyway, The Trust is directed by two brothers (Benjamin and Alex Brewer). They fashion a dirty cop movie that's a little offbeat and a little off the aisle. The first half feels like this year's The Nice Guys. The second half is akin to a grubby Ocean's Eleven. There's a hint of Russian roulette, Elijah Wood smoking plenty of reefer while feeling paranoid, Nicolas Cage channeling a goofball civilian killer, and a breezy tone of background music. Finally, you have Jerry Lewis appearing in a role so minuscule, you'd miss him if you blinked too much. To be honest, I had almost forgotten that the king of slapstick was susceptible to the silver screen. My mistake mind you. My mistake.
Now the one thing I thought of when I saw the trailer for "Trust", was how Nic Cage and Elijah Wood would fare as a buddy cop team. Bottom line: Their on-screen chemistry is about as uneven as The Trust itself. You could sometimes tell that they were actually trapped in different films between them. And try as I might, I just can't picture Wood in an adult role. Twenty years have passed and I still see him as a child actor. So sue me. As for "Trust's" direction, well it throws darts at the crime thriller genre. Were the Brewer brothers paying tribute to explosion monger Michael Bay in some of their speedy edits? Definitely. Were they at times, filtering in elements of a bungling, Keystone Cop comedy? Yup. Finally, were Alex and Ben trying to add the notion of a full-fledged drama as well? For sure. Like I said, uneven and to a point, fluctuated.
All in all, I did admire the meticulousness of the safe-cracking sequence in "Trust" (it was effectively long-winded). I also dug the ending which had a startling, mob/gang slant to it. Ultimately though, The Trust gets a strong, mixed review from me. It's not quite "worthy" enough. Natch! Rating: 2 and a half stars.
Written by Jesse Burleson
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