Pawn (2013) Reviews

• Better than I Expected

  claudio_carvalho2013-07-07

  Nick Davenport (Sean Faris) is released from prison for robbing a car and his wife Amanda (Nikki Reed) waits for Nick to bring him home. She tells that she is pregnant and leaves him at the Be Brite diner since Nick has scheduled an encounter with his brother Patrick Davenport (Jordan Belfi). When the police officer Will (Forest Whitaker) comes to the dinner, he notes that something is wrong and he goes to the toilet. He contacts Lieutenant Barnes (Marton Csokas) and tells that a heist is taking place before the scheduled hour. Then he sees Nick hidden in the room and he tells that he has called the police, and Will gives his name to Barnes. Out of the blue, Will is shot in the head and Nick is brought to the diner where there is a hostage situation. The British criminal Derrick (Michael Chiklis) and the gangsters Billy (Max Beesley) and Aaron (Jonathan Bennett) have stolen clients and a safe and Derrick has taken an HD from the safe. When the negotiator Jeff Porter (Common) arrives, Lieutenant Barnes tells him that Nick is responsible for the heist. Nick becomes a pawn in a deadly game where the award is an HD. What is the secret of the wanted HD? "Pawn" is a low-budget thriller better than I expected, with a non- chronological screenplay with many twists. Unfortunately, the rushed conclusion with happy-ending does not fit well to the story and I believe that it is lack of budget associated to commercial interests. My vote is six. Title (Brail): "Crimes Cruzados" ("Crossed Crimes")

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• Low Budget Thrills

  filgray842013-04-07

  Pawn is a low budget crime thriller set in a diner which is robbed. But the robbers have bitten off a little bit more than they can chew and events quickly spiral out of control as it turns out the diner they have robbed is owned by a mafia guy. That's all I can tell you without spoiling the plot and that's the best way to go into this movie - knowing as little as possible. The opening sequence sets the movie up nicely for what later unfolds to be a highly entertaining watch full of deception, conspiracy and twists aplenty. It's tense and keeps you hooked right through until the closing credits. The best part of this film is the fact that just when you think you're getting to grips with what's happening, you're hit with another twist. The cast is strong with quite a few recognizable faces putting in good performances to contribute to a solid and well constructed script. The majority of the movie takes place inside the diner but there is enough going on within those walls to mask this fact. Overall, I enjoyed this film. I went in knowing very little and came out very impressed. I was entertained from start to finish which is all you can really ask for. Pawn will not win any awards, but if a good entertaining thriller is your thing then you will not be disappointed 3.5/5

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• Suspense at the start

  kosmasp2013-12-25

  But unfortunately as things unravel, the movie loses its touch. There are quite a few good actors in it (Chiklis, Reed to name a few) and they're trying their best. For a low budget movie this is fairly well shot too. Of course it's almost entirely one location (with a few exceptions) and you'll either like that or not. For a low budget movie, it's always better to have a few, but interesting locations. So that's a positive side aspect, until you realize there could be more to it. The story, especially towards the end, loses its drive and motivation a bit and gets a little too tricky for its own good. Sometimes simpler is better, if well thought trough ...

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• Good

  IMDBer1005752013-04-27

  I watched this movie on one of those "lazy" days (it was the last day of my week-long vacation). I was bored and didn't want to do anything so I popped in a movie. I quite enjoyed the movie until the ending. I think the writers ran out of weed or something and just got bored writing. The movie tried to build up all these possibilities and then in the end, it just abandoned everything. I found that I just sat there asking, "what about the..." The rest of the story was fine: acting was good, lighting / atmosphere was quite pro, make-up / wardrobe was excellent. I think Michael Chiklis is a fine actor and in this movie, he really got to show how bad-ass he can be as an antagonist. Also, Jessica Szohr is nice eye- candy. :) If you're bored on a lazy day with nothing else to do but entertain the mind, or if you're out conquering Pandaria, pop in this movie for a go.

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• Pretty good

  Wizard-82013-05-10

  This movie is evidence that you don't need a large budget or a ton of action to keep an audience interested. I thought this movie was captivating from beginning to end. It isn't a perfect movie - there is a little bit too much coincidence in the story that prevents the audience from completely swallowing the story smoothly, and the end seems a little unfinished in some details. But other than that, the movie is very well done. It's a little strange to hear Michael Chiklis speak with a British accent, but he manages to sell his character. In fact, all the actors do a good job. While low budget, the movie looks slick and professional in every shot. The real star of the movie is the script, which has a lot of twists and turns, enough that I could not see where the movie was heading. If you like independent cinema, this is one example that is very pleasing to watch.

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