DRIVE ANGRY

(director/writer: Patrick Lussier; screenwriter: Todd Farmer; cinematographer: Brian Pearson; editors: Devon Lussier/Patrick Lussier; music: Michael Wandmacher; cast: Nicolas Cage (John Martin), Amber Heard (Piper), William Fichtner (The Accountant), Billy Burke (Jonah King), Todd Farmer (Frank), David Morse (Webster), Charlotte Ross (Candy); Runtime: 110; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Rene Besson/Adam Fields/Michael De Luca; Summit Entertainment; 2011-in 3-D)

“High-octane trash.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

High-octane trash. It tests your tolerance for crappy filmmaking. It stars Nic Cage at his bat-shit craziest. Mediocre Vancouver filmmaker Patrick Lussier (“Dracula 2000″/”The Prophecy 3-The Ascent”) is the writer-director of this crazed nonsense pic that’s obsessed with grindhouse sleaze and of telling a story that thrives on its stupidity, gratuitous sex, cartoonish violence, bad acting and inane dialogue.

It’s a film to test how good your weed is. The imprisoned in Hell, John Milton (Nicolas Cage), the felon not the poet, is pissed his daughter, the one he abandoned as a teen, is slain by the psychopath religious cult leader Jonah King (Billy Burke), of the group she joined, and his granddaughter is snatched by the group. So he breaks out of Hell and starts searching in Laughter, Colorado for their compound. After mucho carnage, Milton is joined by the feisty waitress Piper (Amber Heard ), who quit her job and left her unfaithful redneck boyfriend (Todd Farmer, also the co-writer). The pair go on the road driving her ex-fiancé’s souped-up ’69 Dodge Charger that has the license plate DRV ANGRY until they catch up with the cult. Milton will not be stopped in his effort to rescue his baby granddaughter, who the cult leader plans to sacrifice and unleash hell on Earth. On Milton’s tail is a low-key witty mysterious man, sent by Satan, to bring the escapee back to Hell, a nut job who calls himself The Accountant (William Fichtner). There’s also a couple of dumb troopers and the entire cult in on the chase.

Some might call it a guilty pleasure film, I would just call it a bad film filled with hate and disgusting characters.

REVIEWED ON 5/1/2019 GRADE: C-  https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/