Thin script KOs 'Haywire'
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Michael Fassbender and Gina Carano star in "Haywire."
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Playing girly-girls is so last century.
Today, it's all about tough chicks such as Angelina Jolie, Rooney Mara, Michelle Rodriguez, Saoirse Ronan (teen category) and, now, Gina Carano. She is a mixed martial arts champ who makes the transition to the big screen in "Haywire."
Who knew women even engaged in the sport dramatized in "Warrior"? Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, for one, who cast her.
She plays Mallory Kane, a covert ops specialist who, told she will have to masquerade as someone's wife, says, "I don't even know how to play this. I don't wear the dress."
- Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Channing Tatum, Michael Douglas.
- Rating: R for some violence.
But Mallory dutifully dons a cocktail dress and, while wearing it, puts an adversary in a headlock, kicks him through a glass door, and squeezes his neck with her legs until he loses consciousness, and then, polishes him off. For good and forever.
"Haywire" allows Ms. Carano to take on Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor and Antonio Banderas, among others, in a story by Lem Dobbs ("The Limey," "Kafka") that's the equivalent of an undercooked steak. It's stylishly delivered by director Soderbergh, but the script is like an EKG with fights providing the spikes. As for who is who, well, that's somewhat lost in the action.
Mallory, an ex-Marine who lives in San Diego and works for a government security contractor, tells the story of her betrayal to a stranger she abducts along with his car. She did, as requested, with a hostage in Barcelona but discovers some colleagues may have become terrorizing turncoats and she could be next on the hit list.
Rather than concocting an elaborate plot or staging a wrenching decision, the movie reduces reasoning to two snappy lines: "The motive is money. The motive is always money."
Ms. Carano, clambering around rooftops, driving like a stunt woman and kicking everyone's -- uh -- butt with ease and skill, is believable as an action star although she lacks that certain something to be the new "It girl." Or maybe she will easily wear the mantle, once her acting catches up with her physical prowess and presence.
You cannot argue with a cast that includes Mr. Fassbender, who is the "It man" of the moment thanks to "Shame," "A Dangerous Method," "X-Men: First Class" and "Jane Eyre." Bill Paxton turns up as Mallory's author-dad and it's wonderful to see Michael Douglas, looking hale and hearty before his cancer diagnosis and recovery, on screen, too.
But as George Clooney said a few months ago: "You can make a really bad movie out of a good script, but you really can't make a good movie out of a bad script, period. It starts with the screenplay."
And sometimes a so-so-script leads to a movie with more promise and punches than delivery.
First Published January 20, 2012 12:00 am
