Generic thriller loses its way
Most people probably know David Tennant for his likeable roles in Dr Who and Broadchurch, but the Scot has spent much of his time turning his hand to more reprehensible characters in TV’s Jessica Jones, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and, erm, the St Trinian’s sequel.
Here, Tennant plays Cale Erendreich, a mysterious rich man hiding a terrifying secret that Robert Sheehan (Sean) and Carlito Olivero’s (Derek) car valets stumble across when the former steals his car and breaks into his house.
Dean Devlin’s (Geostorm) film has an intriguing set-up but is hampered by Brandon Boyce’s increasingly formulaic script.
Devlin isn’t blameless for the movie’s failings, though, getting things off and running with an odd opening, complete with ill-fitting music, and lighting several key scenes so dimly it makes Tim Burton’s Batman look like Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin.
The tightly-shot sneaking around a psychopath’s house template was executed in far superior fashion in 2016’s Don’t Breathe.
Boyce’s script begins by preying on potentially murky morals – would you mind a car valet stealing your vehicle if this was their comeuppance? – and keeping Cale’s motivations enigmatic.
The game of cat-and-mouse between Cale and Sean also builds well, starting pretty harmlessly before becoming a matter of life-ordeath.
Indeed, between the tempting storyline developments and Devlin showing a flair for fear – delivering a genuine jump scare and a terrifically tense moment where Cale approaches a parked car – with 45 minutes on the clock, Bad Samaritan is shaping up well.
Sadly, the longer the film goes on the worse, and more dumb, it gets; the initial lack of help offered by the authorities lacks realism and the previously meticulous Cale begins making schoolboy errors right, left and centre.
Tennant is a long way off his magnetic turn as the despicable Kilgrave in Jessica Jones; he’s perfected the death stare, which is better than his forced screaming and yelling, but ultimately feels pretty toothless.
Sheehan plays the victim well, and delivers the film’s best performance, but Olivero virtually disappears and Kerry Condon (Katie) and Jacqueline Byers (Riley) are given thankless tasks.
The opportunity to develop something very interesting is bungled as Bad Samartian degenerates into a generic thriller missing any real unique selling point.
This is no more apparent than during a lazy climax with exposition-heavy dialogue and the use of a misguided comedic line at a crucial moment.
It may be slightly better than Geostorm, but Devlin might want to consider returning to his previous role as a writer.