It's a Jason Statham movie where he plays a
troubled balding badass with razor stubble. There's a
scene where his character actually shaves and still has razor
stubble. How is that even possible? Nonetheless,
do you think Jason Statham can play this
character? Yes he can. He's the constant in
whatever movie he shows up in. I've said it before, like
yesterday in regards to 'Homefront', whether a Statham movie
is good or bad is rarely his fault, but the things supporting
him. This time however, with 'Redemption', originally
titled 'Hummingbird', things are a little different.
Yes, Jason plays pretty much the same character we are used
to, but there is a little variation on the theme. And
this time the elements in support actually lift this one up
towards something that might actually be a good movie.
When we first stumble onto Joey Jones (Statham), the
Afghanistan war veteran is not looking too good. He is
homeless on the streets of London, unshaven, unkempt, and
slightly deranged, but he does his best to look after his good
friend, a homeless teenaged girl named Isabel (Victoria
Bewick). Some thug looking types walk into Joey's alley
completely roughing up the downtrodden, and I just know when
they get to Joey they are going to get seriously f'd up, but
no, Joey does what he can to protect Isabel, then turtles,
then flees in terror. What is this mess? In time
my friends… in time.
Joey manages to stumble into the flat of some artist who, as
it turns out, is going to be in the states for an extended
stay, so Joey makes himself at home. The guy has liquor
in his cabinet, a Benz in his garage and a new ATM card that
has come in the mail, so Joey and his enormous set of demons,
which includes crazed hummingbirds for some reason, is very
happy.
Still, despite Joey's windfall, his thoughts
remain on Isabel who he left on the street, and who he must
find. To this end, he often returns to the good nun
Sister Christina (Agata Buzek) who seems to be about as
damaged as Joey, to assist him in finding Isabel. Joey
has also decided to get himself right, get off the sauce, help
his estranged wife and young daughter, and find a decent
job. Recognize that a sober Joey becomes the Joey we
thought we going to be, as the baddasery has returned and Joey
has gotten a plum gig cracking skulls for the Chinese
mob.
On one hand things are going pretty good for Joey. He's
making money hand over fist, he's clean, and he and Sister
Christina have developed some kind of uncomfortable
relationship. On the other hand, things are as bad as
they've ever been for Joey. His demons from the war
still torture him, his job is less than honorable, and he's
found Isabel. And his relationship with Sister Christina
gets even more uncomfortable. It's called 'Redemption'
but from where I'm sitting it looks like there's more
'Retribution' being dealt out than 'Redemption'.
At the end of the day, I did enjoy this movie written and
directed by Steven Knight, but by just describing it, I do
realize that it has a narrative that is somewhat
unfocused. From one angle we have this bizarre 'Harold
and Maude' styled love story, then from another angle we have
the tortured PTSD elements of 'First Blood', then from yet
another angle we have a revenge / class warfare battle going
on, and of course we have the traditional Jason Statham /
supreme badass / Transporter thing going on. Think Frank
Martin with a much lower social conscious. That's a lot
of different kinds of narratives folded into one movie, and it
always doesn't blend.
Fortunately for us, despite these various disparate elements
that never completely come together to form a cohesive unit,
the constant that is Jason Statham does his darndest to keep
everything in motion. I don't know if Statham is
something someone could call a good actor or not, but he
certainly has figured out how to do that thing he does, and
this time his character does stretch a little further out than
the typical razor stubbled badass we've seen from him
before. Joey Jones is not a 'good guy', and he's
probably doesn't even qualify as an anti-hero. The
character does some reprehensible things in this film, looks
the other way more times than not, but he does exist by a code
and shows loyalty to those close to him. It's a fairly
complex presentation that Statham has to deal with.
Basically what we're saying, in regards to this film, is that
all the various elements of this film do work by themselves,
mainly because of the performance put forth by Jason Statham,
it's just when you stitch them all together is where the seams
don't always fit so snugly.
Regardless of all of that, 'Redemption' is a tough, gritty,
sometimes difficult to watch story that eschews a lot of the
typical action, though there is still enough there, in favor
of complex characterization. It's not a perfect movie,
sometimes faltering under its own complex narrative, but it's
an engaging film, in no small part to its star slightly
stepping out of his comfort zone.
