“The Son Of No One”
Directed by: Dito Montiel
Written by: Dito Montiel
Rated: R for violence, pervasive language and brief disturbing sexual content
Release Date: November 4th, 2011 (limited)
Review by: Sean Kayden
Dito Montiel’s latest outing, a NYC police drama starring Channing Tatum is about as useless as a Christian Slater television show. Respectively speaking, the film does have an interesting concept, but the navigation of the plot is both tedious and not very compelling in the slightest bit. Montiel broke out in the scene a few years ago with his Sundance movie, “A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints”. He then directed the studio picture, “Fighting”. Both films feature Channing Tatum, who seems to be Montiel’s go-to-guy. I don’t really have a problem with Tatum as an actor, but the guy isn’t someone who has the capacity of drawing me in. He doesn’t have the strongest screen presence either. However, I’ll give the guy a fair shot if the material is worthy enough. Unfortunately, once again, Tatum is only as good as the script in front of him and the screenplay for “The Son Of No One” is as soulless as they come by.
Tatum plays a young NYC police officer assigned to a precinct in the Queens neighborhood where he grew up. He continues to stay on the right track by providing for his wife and daughter, but a haunting secret from his past is back in the forefront. His life is threatened when news starts surfacing about an unsolved double murder by two boys and the possible police cover up that took place 16 years ago. With little to go on, Tatum must stop a tough female journalist from revealing this potentially damaging clandestine past. Al Pacino pops in for a quick paycheck as Tatum’s father’s old police partner and his godfather (revealed later on). He’s mostly seen in flashback scenes when Tatum’s character was merely just a boy. Ray Liotta, another actor slumming it, plays the police captain who’s trying to protect all the boys in blue. Katie Holmes, who portrays Tatum’s wife, is absolutely wasted of any talents she may have. Lastly, Tracy Morgan takes on the persona of Vinnie, Tatum’s old childhood friend that is schizophrenic and now gay. He quickly becomes the prime culprit of who may be leaking this vital information to the journalist. After Pacino, Liotta, and Tatum have a sit down conversation on how things are going to go down, it’s clear that Pacino and Liotta are trying to protect themselves more so than Tatum. Since Tatum is one of their own, they’re not going to throw him under the bus. Toward the end, things unravel on the rooftop of Tatum’s old apartment complex with Pacino, Liotta, Morgan, another cop and Tatum appearing in the heat of the action. Let’s just say, the events that take place are simply ridiculous and ludicrous. The movie will leave you undeniably empty with the motivation to ask one self, “Did I really just spend 90 minutes sitting through this garbage?”
In the end, you discover who’s really behind the leaked information, but by that time, you really don’t give a damn. In retrospect, there’s very little to care about at all pertaining to the story itself. I doubt anyone will show any regard about the murders that occur. There’s nothing insightful or intriguing about what’s going on and frankly, the film is just lackluster. “The Son Of No One” closed out the 2011 Sundance festival to an array of walkouts and negative reception by critics. Anchor Bay took the liberty of “cutting” and “tightening” some sequences, but the finish result is an utter mess. The major notable change has to do with that rooftop scene I mentioned. However, the tweaked conclusion is still deeply unsatisfying. I have deep reservations that the original cut provided anything remotely significant to the abysmal plot, anyway. The hope that a Queens native such as Montiel could offer an unique perspective on the old police drama story is quickly dashed and abandoned soon after the movie is underway. “The Son Of No One” is only getting a very limited theatrical release and that alone is more than generous.
Grade: 1 out of 5
Published on November 5th, 2011 by Mountain Views News
http://mtnviewsnews.com/v05/htm/n45/p11.htm
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