MovieChat Forums > Midnight in the Switchgrass (2021) Discussion > Cool title, awful movie...

Cool title, awful movie...

posted 2 years ago by [deleted]
4 replies | jump to latest

Everything about this movie is bad.

i. The acting is bad. Emile Hirsch and Lucas Haas make half-assed efforts to be engaging, but it doesn't overcome the stench of Bruce Willis and Megan Fox. Willis can't even act interested for the ten meaningless minutes of screen time he has here. Megan Fox doesn't so much do dialogue as recite lines that she seems to be reading off camera.

It says something about your movie when Machine Gun Kelly's five minutes of screen time have more impact than the rest of the cast combined.

ii. The directing is bad. Although it's about two cops chasing a serial killer, not one scene has an iota of tension in it.

iii. The story is bad. Megan Fox is supposed to be this Taekwondo trained bad-ass FBI agent, but she spends half the movie chained up doing very little. My wife and I laughed hard near the end when she is dangling at the end of a chain in a collar choking to death. She clutches frantically at the collar.
Why is she clutching the collar? Why doesn't she just reach up and grab the chain above her to take the weight off her neck... and then lift her leg and climb up on the damn dresser that is RIGHT FREAKING NEXT TO HER? Sheesh! Musta been a short line of applicants for FBI agent on the day she applied.

iv. The soundtrack is bad. Specifically the generic no-name ballads that play at random times, drowning out the dialogue.

I'd rate this a 3/10 at best.

[–] Wuchak (8287) 2 years ago

Everything about this movie is bad.

Everything? While there are a couple issues due to its $15 million budget, let's not negatively overreact.

Responding to your points:

I. Emile Hirsch and Lukas Haas do turn in convincing performances -- as you basically admit -- not to mention a few peripherals (e.g. the little daughter, her mother and the captured teen girl).

Meanwhile Willis was hired for name-recognition and did all his scenes in one day, which is obvious. But, since his part is so small, it's not a major drawback.

As for Megan Fox, no producer hires her because she's Meryl Streep, but rather because she's stunning. That said, I think she did a fine job, except for a couple scenes with Bruce (where they were obviously pressed for time).

II. The last act does create some good suspense. Did you not want the girl to escape? Did you not want the FBI woman to survive? Did you not want the serial killer to get his comeuppance? While it's understandably a grey flick that focuses on the seedy side of life, the ending leaves you with a good feeling.

III. She wasn't chained up for half the movie, just the last act. Megan Fox is only 5'4", 119 lbs. So even though her character knows Taekwondo, it doesn't exactly make her Wonder Woman when dealing with people significantly bigger and stronger. Besides, the serial killer drugged her in order to take her captive. And then kept her and the other girl drugged in order to keep them.

Also, why complain about a story that doesn't play out as expected?

Why is she clutching the collar? Why doesn't she just reach up and grab the chain above her to take the weight off her neck... and then lift her leg and climb up on the damn dresser that is RIGHT FREAKING NEXT TO HER? Sheesh!

Have you ever been drugged up & chained for over a full day in that manner? Until you do, these criticisms sound like nitpicking.

IV. The soundtrack is serviceable for this kind of flick. Do you think "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is a masterful work of art?

I'm not saying this movie's great, but to say everything about it is bad isn't accurate. For one thing, Fox and Caitlin Carmichael are exceptional on the feminine front.

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

4.4 on IMDB.

Still I guess you're a better man than I am to have thought this was anything more than bad.

[–] Wuchak (8287) 2 years ago

I understand some of your misgivings, but I'd watch it any day over “Kiss the Girls” (1997), which cost three times as much (if you factor in inflation), yet contained eye-rolling implausibilities and a predictable 'big reveal' at the end.

[–] GreenLantern (188) 2 years ago

Because IMBb ratings are so accurate of course. I agree with the other poster. You wanted her to pull herself up the chain while exhausted AND drugged. Not an easy feat whatsoever (add in the fact she was gasping for air). And there was definitely tension when the older lady hid the teen girl in her house.
The movie wasn't stellar by any means, but I enjoyed it. Worth a watch.