Review: Hell's Gate (2007)

[Jerry Saravia]

HELL'S GATE (2007)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Two stars and a half

A few weeks ago I saw "Lucky Number Slevin," which had style to spare
but no story to tell. "Hell's Gate" is just the opposite - it has some
style to spare but it also has a story with a surprising twist.

Kevin Kinney (Brian Faherty) is an ex-con and former stock broker who
is in desperate need for cash. He owes money to the mob but his past
friends refuse to give him a nickle. Kinney's loose cannon pal and
former cell-mate, Ben Deardon (Jeremy Cohen), has a meeting with a
certain British gentleman named Mr. Nobody (Teddy Alexandro-Evans) who
has a profitable job for them - to kidnap a billionaire's daughter
(Chelsea Miller)! For Kevin, this is a long way from Wall Street but
he reluctantly takes the job. The kidnapping is successful, thanks to
good old chloroform. Unfortunately, the two ex-cons and the
billionaire's daughter, tied to a chair, have to stay in some hideout
until Mr. Nobody comes back from delivering a ransom note! Are these
protagonists doomed? Will Mr. Nobody actually double-cross them and
kill them? Inevitably.

The comparisons to Tarantino's edgy, postmodernist crime flicks are
also inevitable. There is a pungent discussion on the singers Jewel
and Alanis Morrisette and their respective love songs. I also caught a
reference to Man From U.N.C.L.E. And the movie zigzags from flashbacks
to flashforwards to intertitles. The idea of two ex-cons with a
hostage inside a building can find its roots as far back as John Ford,
concluding with John Carpenter and Quentin Tarantino. I could say
that, folks, the thrill is gone. We have seen interminable gangster/
crime flicks and, more often than not, there is little variety among
them. Still, I have to give debuting writer-director John Cecil for
trying to make this more than just passable. The script can be weak
but there are some inspired moments. Notably the opening scene, where
Kevin is confessing about a past girlfriend, could be set in a
psychiatrist's office or at a police station (we find out later the
actual location). I also liked how these two criminals have no idea
how to conduct themselves with a hostage, or how to properly prepare a
ransom note (the hard-edged guys in "Reservoir Dogs" could eat them
for breakfast).

Since this is an independent production and I understand limitations
in terms of budget and cutting corners, I will say that two actors
could've been better cast. Teddy Alexandro-Evans as the mysterious Mr.
Nobody lacks charisma and hardly seems threatening, even with a calm
demeanor. Chelsea Miller doesn't lend her part any real weight and is
summarily unsympathetic and unlikable - sure, it is hard not to wince
seeing a woman beaten down by two thugs but I barely cared.
The stars of the film are Brian Faherty, the straight shooter who
wants a change from his current lifestyle, and Jeremy Cohen as the
cokehead who is far more dangerous than anticipated. Both of these
roles reminded me of Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn's characters in the
fantastic "The Falcon and the Snowman" - characters as two polar
opposites who may be both doomed in this kidnapping scenario (they
even wear the same clothes that seem to come from a vintage 70's
shop).

Though it has nothing new or refreshing to say about the so-called
"honor among thieves" crossed with a kidnapping/hostage tale, "Hell's
Gate" still zips along with a clever ending and two ex-cons who are
unable to escape the inevitable.


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