Rating of
2.5/4
Hobo With a Shotgun
Harley Lond - wrote on 02/20/12
The winner of the Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez SXSW Grindhouse Trailer Competition, "Hobo With a Shotgun" was transformed into a full-length horror thriller that won accolades as a double-barrelled killer of a film. Rutger Hauer stars as a hobo looking to start a new life by saving money to buy a lawn mower. But he finds himself in a new city run by a psychopathic crime boss, his two sadistic murderous sons and a corrupt police force. There's so much violence around him that the Hobo gets a shotgun and, instead of mowing lawns, mows down the bad guys in an effort to clean things up. This boodbath of a movie gives new meaning to the word gore. Forget your 'Saws' and 'Hostels,' this is the real deal -- and it's got a sense of humor to boot. Hauer is perfectly low-key as a man who just gets fed up with all the violence and chaos around him and decides to take the law -- and justice -- into his own hands, adding to the violence in his own way. Brian Downey (the weaselly Stanley H. Tweedle from the late, great "Lexx") gives an over-the-top performance as the nasty crime boss. The takes are too long and the acting is stilted at times, but hey, who needs perfection when you're having so much fun. And there's this one scene with bumper cars ... well, just try to get us on one of those rides ever again.
