Two Of These People Have Dialted Pupils
Let's be honest, this movie flew under the radar for a reason. You and I both know this movie is not begging for an Oscar or festival acclaim; it isn't even asking for that large of an audience. However, acknowledging that A Perfect Getaway is not that awesome of a movie, it is still fairly enjoyable.
The movie starts off with Steve Zahn. Done, if you're not sold on this what is wrong with you? Steve Zahn is the kind of guy that can go from a well crafted indie flick like Sunshine Cleaning to a real throw away movie like...well...A Perfect Getaway. He plays a newly wedded man named Cliff who appears to be quite diminutive in the shadow of his new, taller wife, Cydney; played by Milla Jovovich.
"Babe, Do You Smell Meth?"
Allow me to branch off-topic here for a sec. Why is it in movies like these or in some cases, 'real life yuppies' a.k.a. people with money, want to celebrate their life union together by going to the far reaches of Earth? Not only that, easily chopped up or soon-to-be-sold into white slavery newlyweds want to be in places where it is easy to die and little chance to prevent said death.
In a very slap sticky manner, director and writer, David Twohy introduces Cliff & Cydney to this remote Hawaiian island in a fashion similar to murder mystery novels of the 50s. Create tension by showing the audience your playful deer to blood thirsty wolves. Only in A Perfect Getaway, the blood thirsty wolves are employees of a mom & pop hotel and two more pairs of wandering couples. The couples seem like your average run-of-the-mill "Yea, its them, because they look & talk different" suspects. It will remind you of Clue, but you know...not as good.
Twiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiist!
Honestly, the supporting cast is fairly competent, not as competent as Steve Zahn, but then again...who is? The *hippie couple is cute, but get little camera time. The director thinks he can use them to play with you when he pulls his grand finale 'slight-of-hand'. However, the secondary couple, who take it upon themselves to guide Cliff & Cydney through the backwoods of this Hawaiian jungle are not as bad as you'd think. The ex-Marine and his wife are played by Timothy Olyphant & Kiele Sanchez, who are actually pretty damn good. At times, "Nick" [Timothy] as a seemingly shell-shocked marine lays it on kind of thick, but by the end of the movie their performance stands out more than Steve or Mila's [sorry Steve!].
A Perfect Getaway is not a movie you will see in the theater, because at this point it probably has sold about seven million dollars worth a tickets and has been axed from most major cineplexes. Look for it on DVD. The movie has a nice charm and though the plot is paper thin and very 'what you see is what you get'-type of flick; it really does execute on the simpler tropes of action/mystery movie making. Also there is casual meth smoking on a beach. I would love to spoil everything about this movie, but the twist is actually something worth seeing. Milla is graceful, I think her being cast in this kind of role is cool, but expected. A Perfect Getaway will make someone's rainy Saturday a fun one.
I Give A Perfect Getaway...
A Rosey Meth Pipe
*The husband in the hippie couple is Chris Hemsworth. The Aussie set to play Thor in the upcoming Marvel movie. Luckily no one will see this movie, so its like it never happened.