Summary
A man seeks revenge after being wrongfully put away for 19 years.
My Thoughts
A Score to Settle is the newest fodder from the Nicolas Cage (“Leaving Las Vegas”) cannon, and this time...he's out for revenge…
Like we've never seen that movie before.
Cage plays Frank, a man who spends 19 years of his life in prison over a crime in which he did not commit, and also has a life threatening disease that does not allow him to sleep unless he has medication. The film starts off strong with a solid flashback sequence showing the crime that Frank was framed for, unfortunately the rest of the movie doesn't follow as strongly. Vengeance is all that's on Frank's mind, he will vindicate himself even if it kills him, this thought is the only thing that has consumed him over the years behind bars. Frank, after completing his term, is released at one in the morning (for some odd reason) and met by his estranged son Joey (Noah Le Gros) who instantly lashes out on Frank even though he didn't put any effort into seeing his dad over the course of 19 years, it's a silly little piece of conflict that resolves itself with two lines of dialogue.
Despite having his son back in his life Frank still decides to get revenge, so he treks across town almost immediately after being released finding the men involved from decades ago and picking them off one at a time. He finds a bag full of money from before his imprisonment, and proceeds to go on an absolute bonkers spending spree as if the IRS doesn’t exist in this world. And that medical condition he has barely comes into play at all, not even at the end, it's like the filmmakers completely forgot that this character flaw existed, only one rushed scene brings his sleep disorder into the narrative which is easily remedied and then never comes back into play.
Nicolas Cage is really the only reason to throw this one into the DVD player, it will satisfy anyone's Cage fix as he gives a typical over the top Cage Rage performances, full of strange freak outs and yelling, distorting his face in ways only he could do, it's pure enjoyment on that factor. Any scene between Frank and Joey is awful, from the frequent line jumps to the rushed editing it almost falls into amateur territory but luckily there's not enough substance to really carry the scenes on, so they're over quickly.
Overall A Score to Settle really has nothing new to offer in this already way too bloated genre, it follows every convention of the genre, never straying far from the safe path and giving us a dull, run of the mill revenge film, one that Nicolas Cage can't save, but does make it worth watching. The story is generic and the action is muddled, besides a couple decent kills the rest are forgettable. Joey doesn't provide any depth of character and is only there for the trope of a beseeched son. The writing is haphazard and forgets its own rules at times, it's lazy and feels like a first draft. The ending is laughable in all the wrong ways, but does leave the viewer with mocking smile when the credits start to roll, so unless you're a diehard Nic Cage fan I would pass on A Score to Settle.
I give A Score to Settle 2 stars out of 5.
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