Inside Is A Good Movie Just Trying To Get Out..."Term Life"

Term Life (2016)

Rated R

Starring Vince Vaughn, Hailee Steinfeld, Bill Paxton, Jonathan Banks, Jordi Molla, Terrence Howard, Jon Favreau, Mike Epps,

Directed by Peter Billingsley

The Story:

Nick (Vaughn) is a planner. He does the research on how to pull off the perfect crime, then sells that information for a price, and everybody wins. Except this time, when the people that bought the plan are murdered, Nick finds himself on the run from the police and the mob.  And the worst part, they're coming after Nick's daughter (Steinfeld) so he has to try and protect her and stay one step ahead of everyone else at the same time.

On paper, this probably looked and sounded amazing.

Well, I suppose it really did, as apparently it started off as a graphic novel before it was adapted into a movie.

:)

But something is fundamentally amiss in the film, and it's hard to know exactly what's not clicking.

It seems to center mostly on the story itself, or at least the actions of the characters as the story unfolds.

There should be tension and energy that just doesn't come through on the screen, but on occasion, you get a glimmer of the thriller/heist this film wanted to be.

Good, not great.

That seems to sum up a lot of movies lately.

It's an amazing cast, many of whom are onscreen for but a moment, their talents kind of wasting away in the roles they were given.

And the less we say about Vince Vaughn's hair in this film, the better.

:)

Final Grade:  C