Men, The |
USA • 2017 • 97m •
  • Directed by: Michael G. Cooney. • Starring: Neil Arnote, Aaron Behr, Tate Birchmore, Kyle Gallner, Graham Hamilton, Joshua Lang, Mary McCormack, Brett Newton, Richard Schiff, Noah Scott, Azura Skye. • Music by: Vincent Oppido.  After deciphering a message found in a satellite, brilliant cryptographer Alex Jacobs finds himself being stalked by government agents and otherworldly beings.
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Review:
There is no action in this movie - it's basically a too long look at a "What if time weren't linear?" science fiction question that that has been argued over and over among hardcore science fiction fans - ones too geeky to be cos players but who argue minutia of irrelevant questions in sci-fi chat rooms fueled by Red Bull until dawn and still haven't answered the question. "Groundhog Day" gave a terrific depiction of this idea - watch it instead. (seriously!)
Zero character development - very one dimensional (ha-ha, After you see the movie you'll understand that's a joke)
Kyle Gellner and Azura Skye play two cryptographers, Alex and Beth, who are hired to decrypt a message that's discovered in a satellite that has been sent back in time possibly hundreds of years ago, just waiting for mankind to evolve technologically to the point where man can decrypt the message, which turns out to be what at first is thought to be a machine to let us contact the aliens who left it there in the first place. Coincidently, they are also both dying of brain tumors. Alex, played by Gellner, gives a weak, but still the best performance of the movie. Beth on the other hand, is a one dimensional character who has very little screen presence, it's like she actually was dying and had no energy to play her role.
The agents of the super secret corporation subcontracted by the the government are a joke - Mary McCormack who plays Rebecca, the person who recruited Alex and Beth is the very definition of a secret agent who won't reveal anything to Alex about the job until he signs a no disclosure agreement, gives a performance that would be OK for a high school play, but utterly lacking in the movie. Her two henchmen are caricatures of Agent Smith, who don't utter a single line, but stand there in dark sunglasses and gloves trying to look threatening.
So, poor acting, and a plot that had some potential, but was poorly written and doesn't inspire any emotion at all in the audience. (me). Richard Schiff is a good actor - he played a convincing scientist Man of Steel - Superman, and has played numerous characters well with feeling, must have had a payment due on his vacation home or something, because he has a part in one scene lasting maybe 4 or 5 minutes, and seems to have read the script for the first time about 30 minutes before shooting his scene.
The "Aliens" - who don't come from outer space by the way, look like nothing other than actors hired to play the Slender Man part, but got lost and wound up on this set instead.
Don't waste your money on a rental, I'm sure it will be in Amazons "Prime" catalog very soon and you can watch it for free, even then, you could be doing something more entertaining, like watching paint dry, or waiting for water to boil.
Review by kwq_e_500 from the Internet Movie Database.
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