The Big Ugly is a frustrating affair. It has good
actors (Vinnie Jones, Malcolm McDowell, and Ron Perlman) delivering good
performances, but it is all undone by some incredibly inane directorial
choices. I wholeheartedly blame director and writer Scott Wiper for ruining
what could have been a great introspective revenge thriller.
A mobster from London, Harris (McDowell), and his loyal
enforcer, Neelyn (Jones), come to the U.S. and invest with West Virginia oilman
Preston (Perlman). After a celebratory night of drugs and alcohol, Neelyn
stumbles awake and notices that his girlfriend Fiona (Lenora Crichlow) isn't in
their hotel room. He soon discovers that she has been raped and murdered by
Preston's psycho of a son, Junior (Brandon Sklenar in an effectively creepy
performance).
So, The Big Ugly wants to be a philosophical revenge
flick, but it's pretty dull and protracted. It's a cheapie action movie without
action and loaded with annoying directorial flourishes. Wiper seems to insist
on harsh backlighting in many scenes, obscuring the faces of the actors, thus
making it difficult to see the reactions and expressions of the performers in
those particular scenes. And the flashy editing just comes off as clumsy.
The choice of songs on the soundtrack is grossly
inappropriate and even downright laughable for the scenes the tracks are placed
in. Junior beats the tar out of Neelyn to the tune of "Long Cool Woman (In a
Black Dress)" by The Hollies. What? Why? But the funniest musical interlude is
Exile's "Kiss You All Over" accompanying a standoff between some mountain folks
and Preston's henchmen.
This one is just a waste.
The Big Ugly is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and
Google Play Movies & TV.
