Summary
Glen Powell first started gaining traction with a string of indie movies, and he has since transformed into one of the most exciting stars in Hollywood. After hits such asTop Gun: MaverickandAnyone But Youput Powell on the map, he is in prime position to enjoy a long and successful career. Powell has the kind of intelligent charisma that evokes an older generation of movie stars, and his characters are often easy to spend time with.
Powell’s career has seen him take on a surprising variety of roles. His most notable successes have come in romcoms and action movies, but he spent many years working in indie films of all genres. This is what first drew the attention of Richard Linklater, who has become one of Powell’s fiercest advocates and most important collaborators over the years. Powell has successfully transitioned from low-budget indie movies to starring alongside the likes of Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington in critically-acclaimed blockbusters.
30Wind Walkers (2015)
Sonny Childe
Steeped in Native American mythology,Wind Walkersis a somber horror movie set in the murky Florida Everglades. The story follows a group of friends who are stalked by a strange malevolent energy while out on a hunting trip. There are some interesting ideas thatWind Walkersthreatens to explore, but it decides instead to stick to predictable scares with rapidly diminishing impact.Wind Walkersends up as a forgettable, dreadfully slow horror story. There’s plenty of paranoia and confusion, but this quickly turns to boredom.
29April Apocalypse (2013)
Dickie
All zombie movies have to bring something new to the genre, or else they simply aren’t worth watching.April Apocalypsepitches itself as a teen romcom that just so happens to be set during the zombie apocalypse. While it’s light on the usual gore and frantic horror,April Apocalypsetries instead to charm audiences with a deliberately disconnected tone.The humor never cuts through, however, and what’s left is a formulaic zombie movie, but without the relatable characters needed to raise the dramatic stakes beyond the obvious.
Glen Powell made his film debut in 2003 inSpy Kids 3D: Game Over,and he isn’t the onlysurprising star to feature in aSpy Kidsmovie. Elijah Wood, Sylvester Stallone and George Clooney all have roles in the franchise’s third entry, but they can’t do anything to rescue the critically-maligned children’s movie. The first twoSpy Kidshave plenty of fun gadgets, but they still parodyJames Bondand other spy thrillers. The third movie, by contrast, uses too much shaky CGI as Carmen and Juni travel into a video game world. Powell plays just one of many wacky characters they meet along the way.
27Barrio Tales (2012)
Jack
Barrio Talesis an uneven horror anthology about the inhabitants of a Mexican border town. Since each story is told by the same mysterious character, it’s never revealed how much of it, if any, is supposed to be true. The three stories each show the harsh conditions of the town and the prejudice of the white Americans on the other side of the border, so it’s perhaps more interesting to believe they are nothing more than ghost stories. As is the case with many horror anthologies,the different segments are patched together poorly, and they aren’t interesting or scary enough to hold water on their own.
Whit
The Bad Guysis an all but forgotten indie comedy-drama about an aspiring filmmaker who attempts to reunite some old friends to mine material from the predictably chaotic time that they will spend together over the course of one alcohol-fuelled weekend. Glen Powell plays one of the film’s more level-headed characters, and he finds himself surrounded by ludicrous dysfunction everywhere he turns.The Bad Guysdoesn’t strike the right tonal balance between comedy and drama. The humor is injected randomly to provide levity, but it doesn’t fit with the setting or the style.
25Best Friends Forever (2013)
Nick
Best Friends Foreverwas shot on 16 mm film, which casts the wide, yawning deserts of the American west in the perfect light. The story follows two best friends who embark on a cross-country road trip right at the moment that a full-scale nuclear apocalypse kicks off. Oblivious to the chaos unfolding all around them, Harriet and Reba are more occupied by the cracks in their relationship. Ultimately,the tedious friendship drama overshadows the movie’s more interesting qualities, and what could have been a unique apocalypse movie fails to use its setting for anything more than a flimsy metaphor.
Many people will only ever see Haley Joel Osment as a child star, thanks to his critically-acclaimed performances in movies such asThe Sixth SenseandA.I. Artificial Intelligence. Sex Edplays with this reputation, as Osment plays a man who has struggled to grow up. Ed is a teacher who takes it upon himself to teach his students about the birds and the bees, despite the fact that, as a virgin, his knowledge comes exclusively from textbooks and anatomy charts.There is plenty of raunchy humor, naturally, butSex Edtries to balance this out with an endearing sweetness. Glen Powell shines as Ed’s confident best friend.
23Pig (2011)
Johnny the Teacher
The obvious touchstone forPigis Christopher Nolan’sMemento,and it’s hard to imagine that this indie film was not inspired by it in some way. Both movies feature a man trapped in a criminal conspiracy trying to solve the mysteries that lie beneath his amnesia, and both movies make use of a non-linear structure to keep things interesting. These comparisons don’t helpPig,which doesn’t reach the boundaries of its interesting premise. What makesPigunique is the sci-fi element, although this too doesn’t get the payoff that it teases.
22The Wendell Baker Story (2005)
Paper Boy
Luke Wilson casts himself as lovable loser Wendell Baker in this indie comedy he co-directs with his brother Andrew. Owen is on hand to complete the trio of Wilson brothers, andThe Wendell Baker Storydoes, for better or worse, feel like a movie made by a group of men who have had their whole lives to develop their own secret language of comedy.The Wendell Baker Storyluxuriates in its slow pace, taking in the sights on the long road to nowhere. For a story about the monotony of a retirement hotel, this is entirely apt, although whether it’s entertaining is another question.
21Misconduct (2016)
Doug Fields
Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins should have enough quality to make most movies work, butMisconductis not one of those movies. The legal thriller stumbles through a nonsensical plot, and it tries to generate too much drama with a booming score and plenty of showy camera tricks. The effect is minimal, however, andMisconductfalls pitifully short of the potential that its cast offers it. Hopkins plays it cool as a slimy, power-obsessed suit, while Pacino turns up his cartoonish eccentricities. Both actors have found success with these styles, but they scrape each against each other horribly.
