Bad Turn Worse

Bad Turn Worse (2014)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Simon Hawkins, Zeke Hawkins

Starring: Mackenzie Davis, Logan Huffman, Jeremy Allen White, Mark Pellegrino, William Devane

From: Rough & Tumble Films

This is another messageboard recommended film. I won't go into details on which board or thread I am referring to, but someone there admitting to liking it, even though he thinks that not many others do. From looking around it's more a film that critics like than Regular Joe & Jane film fans. Go figure. The Letterboxd review is below and well, I agree with the regular folks.

In recent years, Texas-based neo noir films have become more popular. While there are old ones like Blood Simple (I need to watch it again to give it a better review, but it's a rare Coen Brothers film I actually like) it's become more prominent in recent years, with such examples as Killer Joe and Cold in July, which I have seen before and enjoyed. Then there's this movie, another dark tale set in the Lone Star State.

The movie centers around a trio of teens: BJ (an ironic name considering his role in a scene involving that sexual act), his girlfriend Sue and their mutual pal Bobby. They live in a small southern Texas town. Sue and Bobby are about to go to college and BJ wants to party with them and celebrate this occasion... he does this by stealing cash from his boss. Things go downhill from there... both for the characters and for my enjoyment.

Getting stupidity right away from the event that starts the plot (the theft of a lot of cash from your boss) is not a deal-breaker; it is just a film, after all. However, when you have most of the main characters act like muttonheads and do dumb things just because the script says so, that starts to become a problem. Things like that have rankled me for awhile now and I am always disappointed when it happens.

But the biggest beef for me is how it starts to become relentlessly ugly and mean-spirited in tone. It's just unpleasant. That alone isn't a deal-breaker either; after all, Killer Joe isn't the easiest film to watch as most of the people in that are awful human beings... yet due to other factors that's a quality film. Here, even with her following her two idiot guy friends, I did feel bad for Sue (and I wish the character would have had more to do, as Mackenzie Davis delivered the best performance in the entire picture) but the rest... I wouldn't urinate on them if they were on fire! That's how much I legit didn't care for them and I certainly wasn't invested in their plight.

You mix all that with racism, homophobia and sexism (in the 80's, when such things happened you shake your head viewing it now, as they didn't know any better back then; now... ) and it was not a fun watch overall, which is unfortunate as there were some inspired moments. Not even a small role from William Devane could improve my mood. Maybe others will get more out of this; I realize this was low-budget but that has nothing to do with the story. Me, I say that other dark Texas tales (like the ones I mentioned already) do it better.