A troubled man survives a suicide attempt. He calls an old friend to rescue him in the middle of the night. Their journey is just beginning, and by daybreak, a tragedy will surface.
Genre : Drama
Country : USA
Cast :
George Katt : Billy
Waylon Payne : Perry
Rosebud Baker : Sherri
Director :
E.B. Hughes
My opinion on “Turnabout”
“I can’t believe you.
You haven’t seen or heard from this guy in ages,and he calls out of the blue and you’re off to his rescue?”
Perry’s (Waylon Payne) wife sounds surprised when he stops his nightly activities with her in bed to help his friend Billy (George Katt). I was also as much surprised about some developments in this crime-con indie movie. The story didn’t impress me. However, the performances of both the leading actors was of such high level, they deserve a new collaboration in another film with a better and well-thought-out script. Here the story was so weak and predictable that even their acting performance couldn’t tip the scales to the positive side.
Was it really a suicide attempt or was it part of a bigger plan?
Perry and Billy are old schoolmates and haven’t seen each other for 15 years. Both have taken a completely different direction in their lives. Perry ended up as a (seemingly) happy married family man who earns his living as an optician. Billy on the other hand has chosen a criminal and dissolute life. No steady job and no place where he settled. As the story goes on, you can conclude that a nightlife full of liquor, drugs and women is his territory. And then there’s that particular night. He’s standing in front of a lake and tries to commit suicide. It might be that he stumbled across a stone while watching the two nighttime fishermen. Who knows.
Only one drink. Sure.
And yet, Perry leaves in the middle of the night, to help his long forgotten friend. So maybe Perry wasn’t happily married. Or he’s suffering from insomnia. Or did he just want to take a step in the unknown. After an akward, hesitant conversation in a road restaurant and an argument with a couple of youngsters, Billy can convince Perry (in an easy way just by making him feel guilty about the situation) to have another drink in a local stripclub. And before they know it, the night ends in a shabby motel, acompanied by two busty, handsome strippers.
Gosh, Sherri’s seductive smile is a real treat.
The movie isn’t really bad. Although the budget wasn’t so big, the made images generally look really professional. The interaction between Wayne and Katt is magnificent and at times extremely enjoyable. And you have to admit that the strippers Sherri (Rosebud Baker) and Candy (Sayra Player) are pleasant to look at. Particularly Rosebud Baker. With her charming and lovely smile she can melt any guy’s heart effortlessly. But still there are some facts that really amazed me.
Some weird and strange facts
Billy drank a lot of alcohol and took a lot of sleeping pills at the beginning of the film. So it’s likely that’s the reason why he ended up in the water. But what a surprise. After a while you see him acting as if nothing happened. Astonishing. Also Perry’s behavior is kind of strange. According to him, his drink at the club was spiked. However, when burying his face in between Sherri’s Big ‘Uns, I guess his condition miraculously got better. And the way he’s being hustled in the end although he’s an intelligent, realistic man, was rather laughable. And finally, I thought that the scenes in the stripclub and the motel were a bit too monotonous.
Anyway, if someone would call me in the middle of the night, who I haven’t seen for over 15 years, asking for help, I would hang up after shouting “wrong number”. And when you’re planning on watching this mediocre crime film, better not watch the trailer. To be honest, the trailer is the complete movie in a nutshell!
I’m Peter.
Born in 1966.
And living in Belgium.
I’ve been married to Veronika for 10 years already.
And together we have two lovely kids , Karolien and Filip.
And guess what ….. I’m a big movie-fan. Who could have guessed that!
As long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by the medium film. And the number of movies I’ve seen till now, is even unknown to me.
I couldn’t disagree more. I felt like this movie was a thought-provoking beautiful little indie. I felt like it had some twists, especially the ending. I think you nit-picked it a little too much- perhaps overanalyzed it. The acting was very realistic- I felt like we were just hanging with these two guys all night, experiencing what they experience. The writing, directing and the cinematography are top notch. This film is way better than more than half the indie films I come across on Netflix, and for less the budget.
I totally agree about the acting part. That’s why I wrote “The performances of both the leading actors was of such high level”. And yes, at times the cinematography was way better than the budget allowed. But scriptwise it wasn’t such a highflyer. And I watch more indie than healthy for me 🙂 To be honest “Bottom of the world” and “My father die” for instance I thought were much better. But still that’s a personal opinion.
You really missed the mark. This movie deserves way more than 2 stars. The directing was excellent, as was the camerawork. I saw it at a packed house in New York. This director is one to watch out for – and his new film looks even better than this one. Seriously, this got better reviews from even seasoned critics. You’re just some guy with a silly website.
Indeed a silly guy. Perhaps a silly website. But it’s an honest opinion. Guess you didn’t read it completely though. I thought the leading actors were magnificent and the made images generally look really professional. But storywise it was meaningless. Oh well, it’s just an opinion. Nothing life threatening 🙂 Had I rated it with 4 stars, I bet you’d say I’m an expert when it’s about movies. But someone else would say I’m a dumbo because he thought it was a crappy movie …. An endless debate. I’ll survice 🙂
The fact that you use emojis doesn’t even make sense. Matter-of-fact, it makes me feel like you are just young and dumb. And YES- you did miss the point. The film had a great storyline. I work in the world of independent cinema, I see garbage movies all the time. This isn’t a garbage movie, it deserves more credit than you are giving it. The fact that it wracked up numerous awards, picked up distribution and that 7 top critics on IMDb- way better known than you’ll ever be all gave it great reviews- proves my point. END OF STORY.