Eric Bana

Olivia Wilde

Charlie Hunnam

Kate Mara

Kris Kristofferson

Sissy Spacek

Treat Williams

Patrick Kerton

Jason Cavalier

Allison Graham

Alain Goulem

Kwasi Songui

John Robinson

Job Daniel

Jocelyne Zucco

Maxime Savaria

Kyle Gatehouse

Tomomi Morimoto

Nobuya Shimamoto

Cheryl Diabo

André Kasper

Anie Pascale

Andrew Johnston

Sarah Booth

Teale Hansen

Victor Cornfoot

Warona Setshwaelo

Teale Bishopric

Catherine Colvey

Dennis Lafond

Kevin Desfosses

David Goff

Benoit Priest

Tom Jackson

Marco Beltrami

Zach Dean

Arthur Tarnowski

Stefan Ruzowitzky

Dan Zimmerman

Bruno La Haye

Travis MacKay

Wade Barnett

Louis Piché

Christopher Eakins

Miguel Rivera

Brian Dunlop

Katia Kim Depatie

Ron Halpern

Carl S.G. Moore

Mathieu Berube

Nicolae Ilies

Maxime Lapointe

Milaine Gamache

Adam Kolbrenner

Cedric Charron

Serge Harvey

Gina Gallego

Brent Radford

A. Josh Reinhardt

Sébastien Chartier

Jean-Martin Desmarais

Olivier Courson

Josette Perrotta

Louis Craig

Andris Pakalns

Louis Marion

Daniel Coupal

Māris Āboliņš

Philippe Desiront

Winfried Hammacher

Luc Therrien

Nathalie Lagacé

Yves Desjardins

Jean-Francois Hall

Valérie Binette

Alex van der Hoek

Eric Fitzgerald

Gaétan Landry

Catherine Gélinas

Jean Frenette

Rosalie Clermont-Bilodeau

Corald Giroux

Fanny Vachon

Bethan Mowat

Annick Chartier

Stéphane Byl

Todd Wagner

Jay Duerr

Nadia Venesse

Odette Gadoury

Jean-François Ferland

P.J. Burch

Thomas O'Neil Younkman

David Esparza

Mandell Winter

Shane Hurlbut

Rick Cranford

Michele Laliberte

Gabriel J. Serrano

Jan Thijs

Réal Hamel

Ryan Collins

Ben Cosgrove

Paul D. Austerberry

Félix Larivière-Charron

Chris David

Maarten Kroonenburg

Jonathan Wenk

Puelo Deir

Randi Hiller

Alexis Lamoureux

Shelly Clippard

Daniel Matthews

Michael Buster

Angelo Palazzo

Gary Levinsohn

Julie Amyot

Karim El Fassi

Daniel Sauvé

Curtis Roush

Simone Leclerc

Michael Svitak

Lorette Leblanc

Tim Limer

Tamara-Lee Notcutt

Mark Cuban

Marc Larose

Alain Moussi

Crime

Drama

Thriller

Deadfall

Magnolia Pictures

StudioCanal

Madhouse Entertainment

2929 Productions

Mutual Film Company

France

United States of America

Like an angel come down from the storm.

Deadfall is directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky and written by Zach Dean. It stars Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Charlie Hunnam, Kate Mara, Treat Williams, Kris Kristofferson and Sissy Spacek. Music is by Marco Beltrami and cinematography by Shane Hurlbut.

Siblings Addison (Bana) and Liza (Wilde) are fleeing a casino heist that’s gone badly wrong. Deciding to split up, they arrange to meet up at a later point and go their separate ways. Liza hooks up with ex-convict Jay (Hunnam) while Addison has a date with an abusive father. All while the police, led by a father and daughter pairing who have their own family issues, close in on them along with a blizzard.

Ruzowitzky’s snowy neo-noir may not have the most brainiest of plots, but it makes up for that elsewhere with genuine thrills, spills and wintry chills. Shane Hurlbut photographs it in steely cold metallic blues, piercing whites and bloody reds, then laying an ethereal sheen over the night time sequences. This is perfect tonal accompaniment to the characterisations fronting the story, Addison and Liza have definite incestuous leanings, with the former capable of brutal violence when required. Jay, out of prison, is a big disappointment to his father (Kristofferson), but more pressing concerns are a deadly confrontation he is forced into, and that he’s falling for Liza, who appears to be damaged goods and whose motives are unclear.

On the supposed good side of the snowy fence is Hannah (Mara) and Becker (Williams), daughter and father cops, she strives to make her daddy proud, he resents her for not being a son, even chastising her with cold venom in front of other officers. It’s a whirlpool of troubled characters battling it out in the snowy wilds of North America. Ruzowitzky inserts some quality action sequences as the protagonists/antagonists snake towards their date with destiny, which arrives in a classy film noir trope way at Jay’s parents house. The air is pungent with fatalism and the link of all characters having kin problems gives the narrative some bite. Very well performed by the cast, this is comfortably recommended to neo-noir lovers. 7.5/10

_**A hell of a Thanksgiving in northern Michigan**_

After a heist in Michigan, a killer and his little sister (Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde) take different paths in the snowy wilderness just before Thanksgiving. An ex-con (Charlie Hunnam) who happens to be fleeing authorities in Detroit meets the girl on the way to his parents’ remote farmhouse (Kris Kristofferson & Sissy Spacek). Meanwhile the cops are on their trail (Treat Williams & Kate Mara). Who will survive the holiday?  

“Deadfall” (2012) is a wintery crime thriller in the mold of “Fargo” (1996), “A Simple Plan” (1998) and “Wind River” (2017). It’s the least of these due to contrivances and occasional bad scripting, like the police chief’s eye-rolling verbal abuse of his daughter (I’m not saying mistreatment like this doesn’t occur, just that it could be written & executed more convincingly). 

Yet the snowy, sylvan landscapes are great and the thrills are constant. Plus there are some interesting neo-noir dramatic threads and you can’t beat the notable cast, including the striking Olivia (who looks like she needs to eat some hamburgers).   

The film runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot in Quebec, in areas outside Montreal.

GRADE: B-/B

English

Official Trailer