Title: Cheap Thrills<\/p>\n
Screened at: SXSW 2013<\/p>\n
Directed By: E.L. Katz<\/p>\n
Starring: Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, David Koechner, Sara Paxton<\/B><\/p>\n
It\u2019s one thing to show blood and brutality, but it\u2019s another to earn it and E.L. Katz\u2019s \u201cCheap Thrills\u201d is a prime example of a piece that\u2019s exponentially more impactful courtesy of quality characters and a well-calculated build that justifies its gore.<\/p>\n
Craig\u2019s (Pat Healy) having a rough day. Not only does the guy wake up to an eviction notice on his door, but then he loses his job. While drowning his sorrows at a bar, Craig bumps into an old friend from high school, Vince (Ethan Embry). While playing catch-up, the guys are approached by Colin (David Koechner) and his wife Violet (Sara Paxton) who invite them over to their table for a drink, a very expensive drink. After enjoying a $300 bottle of tequila, Colin opts to use his endless pile of cash to have a little fun, offering up challenges to see how far Craig and Vince will go to earn a quick buck. Taking shots, some innocent ass-slapping and even a broken nose is one thing, but Colin\u2019s eager to test their limits and see what they\u2019re willing to do for the big money.<\/p>\n
Ten minutes into the film, you\u2019re sure \u201cCheap Thrills\u201d is any old family drama. Craig\u2019s a loving husband and desperately wants to provide for his baby boy, but life\u2019s just got him down for the moment, and that\u2019s all that\u2019s necessary to have compassion for the poor guy. By the time Craig hits the bar, you\u2019re desperate for him to just stumble upon a truckload of cash or perhaps just the right benefactor, making for the ideal opportunity for Vince to walk right in. Vince seems like a good guy and all, but when he\u2019s unable to dig Craig out of the hole, we\u2019re back on the hunt for another solution and in come Colin and Violet. It\u2019s clear they\u2019re shady characters, but again, high hopes for Craig\u2019s well being is more than enough to give them a shot, follow them blindly into the night and see where this whole scenario takes Craig.<\/p>\n
Trent Haaga and David Chirchirillo\u2019s script moves along at an ideal pace with a prime tonal shift all the way to the end. It\u2019s a bummer when Craig loses his job, but it\u2019s also crazy that he bumps into a guy like Colin who\u2019s ready to shell out hundreds to whoever gets a girl at the bar to slap them in the face first. It\u2019s outrageous and the filmmakers let us have some fun with it. However, the film eventually takes a darker turn and while relationships are strained and things get quite serious, that fun still remains, but in a new form.<\/p>\n
The game at the core of \u201cCheap Thrills\u201d comes with two major assets \u2013 Craig and Vince feel like real people and you\u2019re curious to see who\u2019s capable of what. Then there\u2019s the natural inclination to wonder, would I do that? It\u2019s the sick and twisted kind of fun that\u2019ll make you squirm at the thought of Craig or Vince going to an extreme, but will also make you laugh and even cheer at the excitement of one of the two completing a mission.<\/p>\n
And of course, there\u2019s no selling a concept like this without highly convincing performances and the entire quartet delivers just that. Koechner is absolutely ideal as Colin. There\u2019s something goofy and loveable about him, but at the same time, he\u2019s a smooth talker and very clearly always has the upper hand. Paxton lies low as Violet, but Colin is so boisterous and \u201cCheap Thrills\u201d is packed with so much testosterone that her presence alone helps ground the scenario.<\/p>\n
Embry is almost unrecognizable as Vince. As someone who\u2019s used to seeing Embry portray meeker, sweeter characters, save for \u201cVacancy,\u201d he plays rough and tough incredibly well. And that\u2019s not even all there is to Vince. Even though Craig is our main man and perhaps the more deserving of the two, Embry does manage to earn Vince a degree of sympathy, something that\u2019s key to making the film\u2019s third act as explosive as it is. As for Healy, the guy\u2019s done it again. \u201cThe Innkeepers,\u201d \u201cCompliance,\u201d this, you name it, he\u2019s incredibly skilled in losing himself entirely in a character. Emotions, actions, the slightest facial expression \u2013 Healy\u2019s got Craig down to a tee, easily offering up a grand picture, but also using the tiniest nuances to make him feel like a real person caught up in a crazy situation, and that is essential to the success of \u201cCheap Thrills.\u201d<\/p>\n
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