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ELEPHANT WHITE (5/17/11; Action, Thriller) Kevin Bacon, Djimon Hounsou, Jirantanin Pitakporntrakul SCR: Kevin Bernhardt DIR: Prachya Pinkaew MPAA: R for strong violence, language, sexual content, some nudity and drug material. 1 hour 31 mins |
Sometimes you see a movie with established filmmakers and actors that goes straight to video and wonder why nobody had enough faith in the project to release it theatrically. But when a movie like Elephant White comes along, it’s pretty obvious.
Imagine Taken (2009) crossed with The Sixth Sense (1999) but with jittery camerawork, bad dubbing and awful accents.
Hounsou plays Curtie Church (no kidding), an assassin hired to avenge the murder of his daughter by white slave traders in Thailand. Bacon plays Jimmy the Brit, a wily arms dealer who sounds like Russell Brand and has a penchant for getting his ass kicked. Hounsou looks mildly embarrassed throughout, especially once we reach the “surprise” ending.
The movie attempts to justify its own sleaziness by informing us how bad human trafficking is. You bet it is. But I didn’t need to suffer through this misguided mess to figure that out. (Nu Image)
— DENNIS WILLIS
