Survive the Night

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During this time, when theaters all around are closed, it's often kinda hard to come across the right title to review. This week was one particular case, and it led me to what appeared to be the next badass Bruce Willis action flick. However, the end result is unfortunately an incredibly cliched home invasion movie, and Willis isn't even that big a part of it.

The film opens with two criminal brothers, Jamie (Shea Buckner) and Mathias (Tyler Jon Olson) talking about a job well done, and discussing the killing of their third brother who has been skimming off the top. I guess that's supposed to harden these guys, but the brother is never brought up again for any reason. The plan is to take the money and head to Mexico. But when they stop for gas, Jamie decides to be the worst kind of idiot ever and start a stand-off in the store, leading the cashier to use his gun on Mathias' leg.

Meanwhile, after falling on some hard times in his doctoral practices, Rich (Chad Michael Murray), his wife, Jan (Lydia Hull) and daughter, Riley (Riley Wolfe Rach) move in with Rich's parents, Frank (Bruce Willis) and Rachel (Jessica Abrams). This conveniently sets them up to be the proverbial lambs for the slaughter. We get some of the family dynamic here, but you'd be hard pressed to pick out one of these alleged heroes to like. Yes, even Willis is nothing but an old crank who gives his son the worst time.

The home invasion comes into play after Jamie and Mathias try for the walk-in clinic, which ends up being closed for the day. They manage to spot Rich there, though, find out he's a doctor, and follow him home. The idea is to fix Mathias' leg, but without spoiling how incredibly stupid things get, let's just say shit happens. From there, it becomes a literal reference to the title of the film, but who needs to survive? Mathias, or Rich and his family, headed by the great Bruce Willis, currently known for any number of better films of any kind you could be watching instead.

As mentioned before, Willis is pretty much just a big name to slap onto a dull project, and it allows him to pad his wallet a little bit while he's currently dwindling as an action hero. But for what it's worth, the guy's still got it. The gruff, manly demeanor, the fight, the beautiful Camaro in his garage that for some reason can't outrun a Ford pickup. I mean, I know nothing about cars, but I feel like there's something amiss there. Feel free to correct me on that, but it can't hold a candle to the music video for 'Stylo' by Gorillaz which features the band ripping down a desert road in a Camaro, being chased by Bruce Willis in an El Camino.

Getting back to the actual film, it really is just a lot of cliches and taking from similar movies who have done it better. It's your run of the mill home invasion movie, but it's also jam-packed with irritating characters who make stupid decisions and spout stupid dialogue fairly often. Unfortunately, even a seasoned Bruce Willis isn't enough to save this one.  It's way under the radar for the time being, and will most likely be lost and forgotten in time. For an idea, it boasts an average of 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on only 44 votes. as I write this (we'll see how that continues). It could be worse, but it's still not exactly worth it. If I'm honest, I was pretty bored.

1/5

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