The Devil to Pay! (1930)

The Devil to Pay sounds like a melodrama. Well, it sounded like one to be even with the poster showing happy and smiling Ronald Coleman and Loretta Young. Right away I knew it was some kind of story having to do with a guy wanting a girl who has money when he has none. The film is about that but instead of a boring overdone melodrama it is a funny, entertaining comedy with great acting by the entire cast.

            Willie Hale (Coleman) is auctioning off his household furniture to move back to England from South Africa. He has gambled all his money away on horses and cards. His father hears that Willie is back in England. He swears to kick his son out if he comes home. Susan, Willie’s sister, has her friend Dorothy Hope (Young) come over. Dorothy walks in just as the father is swearing to kick Willie out. Susan shows Dorothy a picture of her brother. Dorothy does not think Willie cannot be that bad the way he looks.

            While walking home Willie buys a dog after becoming friends with it in a pet shop window. He did not want to he wanted to take is last twenty pounds and bet it on the horse races. After he buys the dog Willie goes to see a mistress of his named Mary (Myrna Loy). Mary is over the moon at seeing Willie again since they have not seen each other in all the years he has been in South Africa. His father complains the following morning that Willie has his trunks sent home but he his nowhere to be found. He still wants his son out of the house. Willie comes home as if nothing is the matter. He manages to smooth talk his father into staying at the house and his father gives him a hundred pounds. Dorothy comes over again and finally meets Willie. Susan and Dorothy are supposed to be going out somewhere for the afternoon together but Willie manages to convince them to spend the day with him at the races. They all have a great day going on the carnival rides and watching the race. Willie gave both Susan and Dorothy money to bet on a horse that was fifty to one. He takes them home after the race in his car. They do not realize that Dorothy’s fiancé Paul is a car behind them and sees her with Willie instead of where she was supposed to be.

            When she gets home Dorothy does not lie to her father and Paul about where she was and who she was with. Her father and Paul are furious that she had refused to go out with Paul and instead spent the afternoon with Willie. Dorothy invites Willie to her party that night. She has a good time dancing with. She tells Paul that she really liked Willie and gives her ring back to him. Willie either does not realize that Dorothy really likes him or he does either way he leaves for Liverpool to see Mary.

            Willie’s father brings him a letter from Dorothy’s father telling him to come and talk that afternoon.  His father tells him to let Mr. Hope have it. Dorothy’s father says if Willie marries Dorothy they get none of his money. Willie seems to pretend to be upset just for show. He asks Dorothy to marry him. She says she will on the promise that he will no longer see Mary again. Mr. Hope has Willie followed in case he should see Mary again. Willie tries very hard to write Mary a letter but even after his talking to the dog he cannot seem to come up with a proper way to say goodbye to her. He decides to accidentally bump into her on the street. The plan almost works until Mary pushes him into the car and takes him back to her place. The private eye goes back to Mr. Hope and Dorothy with the news. Dorothy does not believe the guy and even calls Mary’s place. Mary has Willie answer the phone. Dorothy is crushed.

            Willie does see Dorothy. She had her father put five thousand pounds in her account. She gives Willie the money thinking that was all he was going to marry her for.  Willie takes the money and cashes the check. He goes around to his haunts asking if anyone wants money. He overhears that since Dorothy is no longer marrying Paul he is now poor his creditors are after him since they were counting on him coming into money. Mr. Hope hears that Mary is leaving for the South of France. He thinks Willie has brought him and Mary a ticket to there on Dorothy’s money. Not long after Dorothy receives a letter from Paul thanking her for the five thousand pounds.

            Dorothy goes to Willie’s house. He is leaving for New Zealand with the plan to raise sheep. She fully plans on going with him but he is not happy with her and wants to go by himself. He knows she would not be happy being poor in the middle of nowhere. Dorothy does not care she just wants to be with him. Mr. Hale comes into the room with a note from Mr. Hope saying that if Willie stays in England he will give him the money to start his own farm. Willie laughs at the note and Dorothy does as well.

            I liked the cast. Loretta Young was beautiful and perfect in her part. I found her pairing with Ronald Coleman a bit odd because Coleman was so much older than she was. Young was seventeen at the time and Coleman was in his late thirties. He was wonderful in this film he was snarky and funny and ridiculously charming. My favorite scenes are of him having conversations with the dog they are so funny. Myrna Loy is the whole reason I even found the film and sat through it. I should have known she would only be in it for like two seconds. This was the point in Loy’s career where she was crossing over from vamp to the other woman in dramas. She was young herself at this time at only twenty-five. Her character was not a bad woman. If you really look at her character she was the wronged woman.  I liked her and Coleman together they looked good together.

            The Devil to Pay is a good Pre-Code film. There are two lines that I absolutely loved because they were perfect Pre- Code lines. The first is when Willie is auctioning off his furniture. A woman he used to know buys his bed and replies “I always wanted you to sleep in it.” The second is when I believe his brother or his sister asks if maybe he has been in an accident when he does not come home the following morning. Willie’s father replies “Of course he’s met with an accident. I hope he marries her.” To me those lines alone are worth sitting through the film. The Devil to Pay is good to see at least once especially if you are a fan of either Ronald Coleman, Loretta Young, or Myrna Loy or all three if you are like me. 

They Met in Bombay (1941)

Whenever I see Rosalind Russell in a film I usually expect it to be a comedy. I always associate Russell with comedies ever since seeing His Girl Friday (which was the first time I had ever seen her in a film) and The Women. I was hoping They Met in Bombay was a comedy. To me the title sounds like a comedy. The film had a lot of potential at the beginning and then it turned into boring war propaganda.

            Gerald Meldrake (Gable) is a jewel thief. He has a friend of his make a copy of a famous necklace called The Star of Asia. The owner the Duchess of Beltravers will be traveling to India for Empire Day and will be wearing it for the occasion. He goes to India claiming to be from Lloyd’s of London saying that he is there to keep an eye on the necklace. As Gerald walks out of the vault room he sees Anya Von Duren (Russell) walk in the door. He immediately begins to flirt with her but she wants nothing to do with him.

            Anya tells one of the hotel staff that she will be meeting friends at the hotel for the Empire Day dinner the next day. She asks the staff member to bring a chart so she can pick out where she and her friends can sit. After being an annoyance to the staff member Anya finally picks a spot that happens to be near the Duchess. When the staff leaves Anya takes out her book on the Dukes of Beltravers and has certain sections underlined.

            The next day, Gerald and Anya wind up getting stuck in the hotel elevator together. Anya invites Gerald to her room once they are released from the elevator. While Anya is in the bedroom Gerald finds her book on the Beltravers and finds what she has underlined. That night Anya sits down at her table and is there for some time by herself. Eventually she makes a bit of a scene when she claims her friends have not shown up and she does not think they will show. The Duchess overhears and invites Anya to sit with her. The Duchess and Anya have a good time drinking together. The Duchess has Anya come to her room for some more drinks. Eventually the Duchess has too much to drink and falls asleep. This was Anya’s plan the whole time, she is also a jewel thief. After Anya walks out of the room Gerald goes in. He sees the necklace has been stolen so he puts the fake one on the Duchess. He goes to Anya’s room as the Lloyd’s agent. He says he will not arrest but his game is blown when two of the hotel staff members bring in the necklace to show her what it looks like.

            Now Anya and Gerald are in on the stolen jewels together since neither can notify the authorities on who has them or they will reveal themselves. Before they can get out of their car at the airport the police are after them. Gerald manages to get them on a cargo ship to China. On the way the ship’s captain Chang (Peter Lorre) gets a notice that there are two thieves who have stolen the Star of Asia. He suspects Gerald and Anya are the thieves and notifies the authorities. Gerald was one step ahead of Chang and managed to get them both off the ship.

            Gerald comes up with the idea to pose as a British soldier and once he does this the whole film goes south and becomes a piece of war propaganda.

            Rosalind Russell and Clark Gable were very good together. Gable does not really do anything for me but I found him to be a bit funny at the beginning. I hated how once they got to China the film became a Gable film and Russell just kind of fades into the background with nothing to do. Peter Lorre looks terrible in his Asian make up. I only knew it was him because of his voice.

            I felt very let down with They Met in Bombay probably because I was expecting it to be a bit of a comedy. It was somewhat at the beginning and then went to crap. I felt the war propaganda could have been left out. I am not against them in films during the forties it was important to moral but for this film it was not called for. They Met in Bombay is worth watching once.

 

How to Steal a Million (1966)

“It's National Crime Prevention Week. Take a burglar to dinner.” 

            I like to think that if I was smart enough, sneaky enough, and ballsy enough I could be an art thief. So much art in the world is already stolen. Hell, the Metropolitan Museum of Art their entire Cypriotic collection is stolen and so are the friezes and statues of the Parthenon in the British Museum (the artifacts were taken by archaeologist before there were laws governing archaeology so technically they are stolen from what I understand). I would like to be like Parker and Sophie from the show Leverage who are both art thieves. Parker is a cat thief she knows how to bypass all kinds of security and break into places; I think I would enjoy being like her.

            If it had not been for my love of art (I have a degree in Art History)or watched Leverage there is no way I would have watched How to Steal a Million. I am not a big fan of Audrey Hepburn but I have already tortured myself with quite a number of her films so what was one more. I was surprised I actually liked sitting through the film. It helped that Peter O’Toole was outrageously handsome.

            A man named Charles Bonnett has just sold a Cezanne painting for a great amount of money at auction. The sale generated a great deal of publicity. The only thing that worries Bonnett and his daughter Nicole (Hepburn) is that the painting is a fake. Bonnett is a master forger. Nicole and her father heard and see police cars coming to their house. She thinks the police are after her father when in fact they are just escorting museum personnel who are there to collect a statue for their latest exhibition. The statue, the Cellini Venus, is supposed to have been sculpted by an Italian sculpture during the Renaissance when in fact it was sculpted by Nicole’s grandfather and the model her grandmother. Nicole tries everything she can to get the statue away from her father before he can let the officials take the statue to the museum. She even goes so far has to try and break it a few times.

            That night, while Bonnett is at the grand opening of the exhibit, Nicole hears someone breaking into the house. She goes downstairs to find a man (Peter O’Toole) stealing the Van Gogh painting on the wall. He says he thought she would be at the opening. Nicole grabs an antique gun from the wall and threatens to shoot him although she has no intentions of really shooting him just scare him. Unfortunately the gun goes off knocking Nicole to the floor and shooting the man in the arm. In the kitchen she puts a bandage on his arm. He says he is too weak to get back to his hotel she needs to drive him. Nicole is not happy with the idea but does so because if she tells on him she will expose her father. On the way to the hotel he tells her his name is Simon Dermott and that he is a society thief. In reality Simon is actually an art detective. He has been hired to look into Bonnett as a forger selling his art works for a great amount of money.

            Bonnett has made the mistake of signing an insurance document for the museum worth a million dollars. This document states that in order for the statue to be insured a specialist has to come in and validate that it is real by dating it. If it is tested they will automatically know the stone is not as old as they are claiming it to be. Nicole comes up with the idea to steal the statue without her father knowing. She goes to Simon to enlist his help. Simon of course says yes and comes up with a plan.

            Through a great plan and hilarious circumstances Nicole and Simon are able to steal the statue from the museum. Simon tells Nicole who he really is but that he will not be arresting her since the statue was a fake and was given to a crazy American man who was willing to do anything for it.

            Audrey Hepburn actually did not annoy me in this film. There is something about her that annoys me in some her films but I thought she was very good here. I could have been pleasantly distracted by her costumes that were designed by Givenchy. I loved all her clothes they were so chic.This was the first time I have ever seen Peter O’Toole in a film. I liked him a lot he was a very good actor. His eyes were gorgeous I could not stop staring at them!! Charles Boyer makes an appearance in the film. He is only I believe in one scene. I knew it was him before the camera showed his face, I would know his accent anywhere. Eli Wallach plays the guy who gets the statue at the end. His character Davis Leland was annoying. I know he was essential to the ending but the film could have done without him I thought… which could be due to me not really caring too much about Wallach as an actor.

            How to Steal a Million is a little long and got a little boring during the heist but for the most part it is fun to sit through.

            If you are wondering what I would steal if I was an art thief I would steal Madame X by John Singer Sargent in the Metropolitan Museum. That is my favorite painting. I would also steal Sargent’s copy of the painting from the Tate Britan as well a ton of Edward Steichen’s prints. 

My Favorite Wife (1940)

“I came here with my wife... hum... my bride really. Now my wife, not my bride... my wife... Why should I bore you with details?” 

            There is no way on earth I believe Cary Grant could ever have bored someone with any details of a story he wanted to tell. The details are definitely not boring in his 1940 comedy My Favorite with three time costar Irene Dunne.

            Nick Arden (Grant) has just gotten remarried to Bianca (Gail Patrick). His first wife Ellen is believed dead in a shipwreck. Ellen luckily survived on an island for all those years and just so happens to return the day Nick has gotten married. Ellen returns to the home she shared with Nick before she left. Her two children with Nick do not recognize her so she does not tell them who she is. Through Nick’s mother Ellen finds out that he has gone to the same place for his honeymoon with Bianca as they did. Ellen decides to surprise him and shows up on the hotel.

            Nick cannot believe what he has seen as he and Bianca are in the elevator heading up to their room. Once in the room Nick becomes a nervous wreck. He tries with all his might to make an excuse to go down to the lobby but everything he says backfires until he just leaves. When he sees Ellen they hug and kiss. Nick gets her the sweet they shared on their honeymoon. The hotel clerk is not happy with that he sees because he believes that Nick is cheating with his new wife or whatever wife he has.

            Ellen returns to the house. She has not told her children she is their mother even after taking them out for the day and spending time with them around the house. When Nick and Bianca come home Ellen pretends to be an old family friend from the south. Of Bianca does not like Ellen and with good reason because Nick keeps sneaking off to see her.

            Just as Nick is about to tell Bianca that Ellen has returned he finds out that Ellen was not alone on the island for all those years. She was shipwrecked with a man named Burkett (Randolph Scott) and they called each other Adam and Eve. Nick tracks Burkett down and sees that Burkett is a tall, muscular, handsome man. To make matters worse when Burkett and Ellen get together he plans on marrying her. Now Nick has no idea what to do all the while Ellen only want to be with him.

            As you can guess Nick and Ellen get back together and do so in the craziest way.

            There are not enough words to describe how perfect Irene Dunne and Cary Grant were together. I love Cary Grant in his comedies way more than his dramas. He is so charming and I think much more handsome in his comedies. Irene Dunne was just a fantastic actress she could do anything. There was such a great balance between them in their comedies because Grant could be really silly and Dunne would be such a lady then it could go the other way around at some moments. Grant and Dunne looked fantastic together and they had such fantastic chemistry… then again either one of them were such great actors they could have chemistry with stick. Both of them made acting look so easy and I think that is another reason they were perfect on screen as a couple. Besides William Powell and Myrna Loy, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne are my favorite screen and comedic couple.

            Gail Patrick played Bianca and I had to say felt so bad for her character. Bianca had no idea what was going. She was not playing her usual slinky, man eating character she was just a woman who unfortunately got thrown into a complicated situation.

            Randolph Scott was gorgeous. Most of his scenes had him in a bathing suit and he looked amazing! Haha. Scott was a good actor as well. His character was so sweet and so nice he fit the part. Scott played such a nice guy that I would not have minded at all if Irene Dunne wound up with him in the end instead of Cary Grant. 

            My Favorite Wife is one of my favorite comedies. I watched the film for the first time in many years since I had originally seen it and I did not remember it being so enjoyable. It is funny and most importantly the situation never gets to be too much and go overboard. There are so many aspects and moments that make this film funny but it would not be fair to give away anything for the readers who have not yet seen it. My Favorite Wife is one those perfect films where every character and every actor just work and they make a crazy comedy that could have gone all over the place so much fun to watch.

 

Silent Sundays: The Red Dance (1928)

“If Russia in revolt were as kind as you… I would have no fear for its future.”

                        Like many silent films The Red Dance is melodramatic and could have ended much sooner than it did. It is also a perfect example of how Hollywood takes events from history and twists them to the breaking point for entertainment.

            The story takes place during the October Revolution in Russia at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. Grand Duke Eugene (Charles Farrell) is given orders to retreat during a battle. He asks his superior officer why he was given the orders to retreat. The superior officer tells him he was given the wrong orders by someone looking to sabotage them. To receive his real orders Eugene is sent to Petrograd. In the city he meets the queen and her daughter Princess Varvarra. The princess tells Eugene that she is afraid of a peasant uprising. He tells her the peasants are most likely being lead into it by someone. Turns out the czar’s advisor is behind the revolt. The advisor thinks Eugene has learned too much. Eugene wants to learn all he can about the peasants so he can help them. Someone tells him the best thing he can do is marry Princess Varvarra which will help him learn about the peasants.

            Tasia (Delores del Rio) is a young peasant girl. Her father has been put in jail for life because he was taught teaching children. Her mother was killed in front of her years ago when she was also caught teaching. Now she lives with friends in a house on farm. Tasia wants to bring her people out of the insufferable oppression they are in. While working out on the farm a lusty soldier named Ivan Petrov comes after Tasia. He wants to marry her and so do her friends. Tasia does not want to marry the soldier she wants to wait to find her true love. The friends have Ivan sign a marriage contract.

            Tasia was reading a book in the house. The one friend caught her reading and starts smacking her. Eugene, on his way to Petrograd, sees Tasia being beat. He stops the old woman from hitting Tasia. Eugene observes the farm. The old woman says that the czar takes their food and the Cossacks attack them. Eugene tells the woman he needs a guide to the czars lodge, if Tasia can be his guide he promises to have the Cossaks stop attacking them. The rebels hear about Eugene wanting Tasia as his guide. They think she can be very useful to their cause. That night Tasia runs to Eugene at the lodge in the middle of the night. They forget about class and enjoy each other’s company. When Tasia returns to the farm the following morning Ivan has gotten totally drunk and forgot they were supposed to have been married the night before. They both decide they were not right for each other and forget about getting married. Ivan still loves Tasia and remains loyal to her.

            Eventually the peasants revolt and the attack the government. Tasia has become a chorus girl in a show. The peasants find Eugene and plan on killing him. Ivan finds Tasia and tells him about Eugene. She tries to save him before he is killed. Luckily Ivan also helps since he knows how much she loves the Grand Duke.

            I got bored with the story pretty quick. I also had a bit of a hard time following the story but that is nothing new for me. not being able to follow the story probably had something to do with the fact that it was boring and, as I mentioned, being a melodramatic romance.

            Delores del Rio and Charles Farrell were good together. From what I did pay attention to I liked their characters. The best character was Ivan Petrov played by Ivan Linow. His character was funny and sweet. The first time I saw Petrov I hated the character I hated him because he attacked the main character and he wanted to marry her right away when she did not want to. But as the film went he was one of the best.

            Raoul Walsh did not do a bad job directing the film but this is not the type of story you would expect from him.

            The Red Dance is an alright silent film it is definitely not one of the best. You cannot watch it as a true historical piece it is so dramatized. Watch The Red Dance only if you are a fan of either Delores del Rio or Raoul Walsh. 

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

“The world will break your heart ten ways to Sunday. That's guaranteed. I can't begin to explain that. Or the craziness inside myself and everyone else. But guess what? Sunday's my favorite day again. I think of what everyone did for me, and I feel like a very lucky guy.” 

            I have wanted to see Silver Linings Playbook for some time now. I adore Bradley Cooper and I have been curious to see Jennifer Lawrence in a movie (I refuse to sit through The Hunger Games) especially now that she has been winning so many awards for either The Hunger Games or this movie. I had no idea whatsoever what this movie was about before sitting through it. I am glad I did not know the plot it made it more enjoyable to see how everything would unfold.

            Pat Solatano (Cooper) has just been released from being institutionalized in a Maryland hospital into his mother’s custody. He father Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro) had no idea his wife was picking his son up and is surprised to see Pat home. On the way home Pat had his mother stop at the library. His wife is an English teacher and he wants to read all the books on her syllabus. He spends the day reading Ernest Hemmingway’s A Farewell to Arms. Early the next morning he finishes, freaks out the ending, throws the book out the window, and roars into his parents’ room complaining about it.

            While out on a run he sees his friend Ronnie. Ronnie’s wife Veronica (Julia Stiles) invites Pat over for dinner the following night. Before Pat goes over to Ronnie’s for dinner he sees his psychiatrist. When he enters the office “My Cherie Amour” by Stevie Wonder is playing. Pat freaks out when he hears this song. The psychiatrist played purposely to see if the song was still a trigger for Pat. The song reminds Pat of when he found his wife cheating on him with a history teacher from school. The teacher told him that he felt Pat should leave. Pat then proceeded to beat him almost to death. At Ronnie’s house he meets Veronica’s sister Tiffany (Lawrence). Almost as soon as they meet Pat asks her about her dead cop husband and how he died. The two eventually get talking about the meds they are on for their mental disorders. Tiffany wants to leave and has Pat walk with her home. When they get to her place Tiffany tells him any time he wants to come over she has a place above the garage at her parents’ house and that it is alright if they sleep with each other. Pat still thinks he has a chance with his wife and tells Tiffany so.

            For the sake of keeping this review short and not giving away too many details: Tiffany even though she has just as many issues to work through as Pat does helps him out; Pat Sr. wants to spend time with Pat and feels bad that he never really paid too much attention to him growing up and thinks they can bond over football; Tiffany and Pat enter a dance competition which help Pat Sr. win some money from a friend.

            This is one of those films where even the smallest extra was cast perfectly. Jennifer Lawrence is the movie. I cannot gush enough over her and her brilliance in the role. I can see why Lawrence has been winning so many awards for this movie and she deserves every single win and nomination. From the moment Lawrence comes on screen she commands your attention and keeps it. If there is a scene that is shown for her nominations it is the scene where she yells at De Niro’s character. Lawrence just yells at this iconic actor (of course I know it they are playing characters) and keeps her cool the whole time. After Tiffany is done with her yelling she nonchalantly picks up a beer bottle and drinks the beer. You have to see the scene to understand why Jennifer Lawrence was so amazing. I have been done sitting through the movie for half an hour now and I am still floored by Jennifer Lawrence’s performance. Bradley Cooper is so good. With every movie he makes he just gets better and better. I have been a fan of his since he played Will Tippin on Alias… I think I always mention that but I have to I have to show how back my love for him goes because he is that good and has been for that long. I think I may be jealous that Jennifer Lawrence got to hook up with Bradley Cooper in this movie because I kept thinking of their age difference and it bothered me. She is two years younger than me… yes I am extremely jealous of her at the moment! I do not think Cooper and Lawrence had good chemistry in this movie. They looked great together but I think maybe their non-chemistry might have been part of their characters.

              De Niro was good. He played a father wanting to do what he thought was right for his sick son and honestly Pat Sr. was doing a lousy job. If anything he pushed his son away. You can see the anguish and wanting to help on De Niro’s face, that is De Niro and that is one of the reasons why he is one of the greatest actors ever. Julia Stiles is in the movie for a few minutes as Veronica. She looked great. Stiles was not in the movie for very long to say much more about her.

            Silver Linings Playbook was very good. The story has a lot of heart to it and it really makes you feel for the characters and makes them likable. As someone who has gone through some mental health issues (nothing at all as extreme as Pat’s issues) I felt bad seeing Pat’s parents and his brother just wanting him to get better because that is how my family has been for me. It was painful to go through what I went through and I am sure it was even more painful for my parents to see me go through everything. I wanted to yell at Pat that his parents are just trying to help him and to take his damn medication even if they make you feel like crap. I enjoyed sitting through Silver Linings Playbook. It was different than all the usual garbage that has been released lately. I highly recommend seeing Silver Linings Playbook it was perfectly acted, written, cast, and directed. 

Elektra (2005)

“Some lessons can't be taught, Elektra. They must be lived to be understood.” 

            I know I am being judged big time for having seen Elektra. I know that this and Daredevil are considered two of the worst comic book movies ever made. I am a huge Jennifer Garner fan. When Elektra came out eight years ago Alias was still on the air. Me and Alias have a very nice history together. I can remember seeing Daredevil with my family when it came out. When Elektra came out I of course had to see it. I remember Jennifer Garner on Alias in season three when she cut her bangs since she was getting ready or was all ready for Elektra (I remember it was season three because I remember the scene when Sydney popped her head up and she had bangs all the sudden… and Lauren Reed was still a threat…boo hiss!!). When I saw the movie I thought it was good and for the life of me could not see why everyone thought it sucked. Well eight years later and having not seen the movie in years I can see why it did not do too well.

            Elektra kind of picks up where Daredevil left off. Elektra was apparently killed at the end of the other movie. She was brought back to life by a sensei named Stick (Terrence Stamp). She was kicked out of Stick’s camp because she was too angry and aggressive. To make ends meet she has become a hired assassin. Elektra is given a job that will pay two million dollars. The client wants her to go to a house and stay there before they give her the details of the job.

            Elektra has been at the house for some time. She tells her agent that if she does not get any details she is walking away. After a swim Elektra comes back to find someone in her house. She finds a girl named Abbie in the house. Abbie had taken Elektra’s necklace that used to be her mother’s. Later that afternoon she runs into a man named Mark who is looking for Abbie his daughter. Elektra gets her targets to eliminate. Unfortunately her targets are Mark and Abbie. She decides to save them both. When Elektra does not take them out a group called The Black Hand comes after them. The Black Hand is a criminal organization with supernatural assassins.

            After Elektra saves their lives she takes them on the run. It turns out that Abbie has supernatural powers and The Hand wants them on their side. In between trying to save Abbie and Mark and getting revenge against The Hand Elektra has to overcome her own demons of seeing her mother killed when she was young.

            So many things are wrong with this movie. The whole story about Elektra seeing her mother dead and her assassin was pointless. It is obviously what drove her but it was not very well played out. There are so many aspects of the story are not well thought out.

            Jennifer Garner despite a bad story and not a very good screenplay was excellent. I love her as a badass. Elektra was more angry and aggressive than Sydney Bristow. Nowadays Jennifer Garner is playing sweet characters which are alright but she will always be a badass HBIC to me. I am not just saying this because Garner is my hero and idol but there is not one else who could have been better in this role. At the time Garner was the best female action hero and even eight years later I still adore seeing her kicking ass and feel like an impressionable seventeen year old.

            Elektra has several flaws and looking at it now as a more mature movie watcher it is definitely not the best movie I have ever sat through. But thinking back to when I was so into Alias Elektra brings back great memories. Seeing Jennifer Garner kick ass still makes me happy and excited.