Blown Away

 1.5/4

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Tommy Lee Jones, Forest Whitaker, Lloyd Bridges, Suzy Amis, Stephi Lineburg

Rated R for Violence and Some Language

Where to begin with this movie?

"Blown Away" is one of the dumbest action thrillers I've seen in a long time, and that's the least of its problems.  Almost nothing goes right for this film, and that leads to boredom.  Not a good quality for a wannabe adrenaline cocktail.

Jimmy Dove (Bridges) is the hero of the Boston bomb squad.  He can defuse any bomb with a wink and a one-liner.  His first assignment is saving a pretty college student whose vengeful boyfriend rigged a bomb that's set to go off if, I kid you not, she either stops typing or the machine runs out of memory.  He succeeds and his name and face are plastered all over the news.  It's seen by Ryan Gaerity (Jones), a madman who was "too crazy" for the IRA and has a bone to pick with Jimmy.  Now he's rigging bombs and killing off members of the bomb squad to get his revenge.

This is a "turn off your brain" movie.  By that I mean it has no higher aspirations than to be a simple action yarn, and that's fine.  Even if it's assembled from spare parts from other movies like it.  The cocky hero, the love interest, the colorful supporting crew, the dastardly villain, the ridiculous special effects.  But these elements, beloved as they are, just don't pay off here.  The characters are paper thin, there's no chemistry between them, and they're all unlikable.  I thought of "Twister" while watching this movie, and was reminded at every turn just how much better it was at this sort of thing.

There are other problems.  Tonally, it's all over the map.  One minute we have Tommy Lee Jones ominously making bombs and the next a U2 song plays over the proceedings.  It goes from serious to silly to absurd at random, a telling sign that the director has lost control of the project.  Also disappointing is the film's handling of Irish culture.  I'm not holding its superficial look at The Troubles,  That's not the subject of the film so the decision to leave it as background material is fair.  But the director clearly wants Irish and Boston culture to be a big part of the film, but neither comes alive on screen.

It goes without saying that Jeff Bridges is not an action star.  Bridges is a fine actor, but he lacks the screen presence and machismo, not to mention the humor, to head an action movie.  Watching him as Jimmy Dove is like listening to an out of tune piano.  Tommy Lee Jones does better, but even he can't save the ludicrous character he has been given, or the equally ludicrous things he is forced to do.  There is no consistent character for him to play, so I felt nothing about Gaerity.  Suzy Amis projects more intelligence and warmth than she's allowed to show.  Lloyd Bridges is a scene-stealer as the Irish drunk who lives next door.  Amis and Bridges Sr. are the high points.  Even the actors playing bit parts (such as Dove's crew) are awful.

Stephen Hopkins is in over his head (his lackluster handling of a film about a pair of man-eating lions shows that he probably shouldn't be tapped to direct another film).  Energy is a must for an action movie, but "Blown Away" feels lifeless.  The pacing is sluggish; high-octane scenes lose their luster because they go on for too long.  Other times his foreshadowing is obvious rather than ominous.

You see what I mean.  The bottom line is that this movie just isn't very good.  If you're in the mood for a 90s style action movie, there are plenty of options.  The aforementioned "Twister," "The Rock," "Face/Off," "Broken Arrow."  Or "Speed," whose surprise success ensured that "Blown Away" was entirely forgotten.  Just as it should be.