Bad Seed (2001)

Luke Wilson stars in this above-average thriller with complex morals. Bad Seed starts off with a bang, with an affair and two murders in the first 15 minutes. Preston, the wronged husband (Wilson), is soon on the run, with both the police and his wife's lover hot on his trail. Norman Reedus, while good as Preston's nemesis, is faintly miscast; he's so creepy that you never quite believe he could lure anyone into romance. Dennis Farina, on the other hand, gives an engaging performance as Dick, the private eye who takes on Preston's case. Bad Seed has a few dodgy plot points, but it is far more thoughtful than most movies of its genre. Preston is far from perfect and he wrestles with his flaws throughout the movie. Most interestingly, Bad Seed refuses to end when most thrillers would, taking a surprising amount of time and care with its denouement. Well worth a look. --Ali Davis Amazon.com

What a Stinker!!

Do not waste your time with this piece of trash. PEEE U. This movie made no sense. It's hard to believe that it was ever released in the theater!! Borefest. So many holes in it. Didn't make sense--especially the ending. I'd like to know where the title came from...Bad Seed? the only thing I could think of was maybe they were referring to the retarded brother who was killed and buried, I guess that could be considered a big rotten stinking bad seed. This movie should've been called Bad Movie! February 21, 2006

PLAIN STUPID

Oh, my God! This is one of the most idiotic movies I've ever seen, and I'm not prejudiced. It's advertised as a psychological thriller with a message, but I haven't seen any psychology or thriller or message here. First, the film is full of plot holes and they are not unnoticeable - they jump into your eyes! The acting is very poor (except Dennis Farina) although Luke Wilson is a good actor and I used to see him in good pictures. The storyline itself is very hitchy, different things happen that are difficult to understand (I mean motivation), characters' behaviour is also totally unmotivated. I'm not going to retell some scenes not to spoil them for you, although there's practically nothing to spoil here, I'll just give you some examples.
As the movie goes, guy #1 is chasing guy #2 willing to kill him. At certan point guy #2 starts chasing guy #1 and the latter tries to escape. Why?! He just wanted to catch and kill guy #2! During the other persuit guy #1 is firing his gun at guy #2 being at a long distance. He misses. Then, when he's at arms length, he doesn't shoot. Why? There's no chance to miss! In another scene two of them arrange a rendezvous at a remote gas station at night. Guy #2 knows that guy #1 wants to kill him. They meet, guy #1 has a tire lever in his hand. If you were guy #2 would you turn your back on him? I guess not, it's stupid, but apparently guy #2 doesn't think so... Then one guy's clothes is sopping with gasoline and the other chases him with a lighter. He throws the lighter and the other guy's clothes ignites. I doubt that, if thrown, a lighter (even Zippo) doesn't extinguish itself, and even if it doesn't, I doubt you can ignit a person throwing a lighter from ten or fifteen yards. Dennis Farina's character is a very harsh and impudent private investigator who'd make his own mother pay him for preparing coffee for her. You wouldn't expect some warm attitude from him toward other people. But suddenly we see his character is a very sympathetic person who wants to help Luke Wilson with open arms. Why? I didn't see him changing slowly. Just in a blink of an eye he turned out to be caring and kind person. And such episodes happen throughout the whole movie. I was asking myself all the time: why? is that possible? how did he do that? what for? along with many other questions.
I felt like the movie was falling apart in front of my eyes, it seemed so impotent and helpless. Maybe it was a good story once in the head of the director, but he proved himself to be absolutely uncapable to put it on celluloid. And the worst thing is that the picture tries to be something more than just ordinary thriller, it tries to seem thoughtful and serious work. But it can't. It's just like elementary school pupils decided to stage some serious play and - yes, they are doing it with all their seriousness, but to us it all looks just hilarious. Hence it leaves the feeling of a terrible disappointment.
The only reason I kept watching it to the end was Dennis Farina. He was like a glue, trying to stick all the parts of the movie together and working for everybody else involved. He's a brilliant, extremely talented actor, real professional, it was a true pleasure to watch him here, but sometimes I felt pity for him, because he somehow wound up being in this horrendous film. I think Farina is the only reason also why I gave the movie two stars. If it was not for him, there'd be one for sure. December 26, 2005

DARK THRILLER

BAD SEED is one dark movie, complex and intriguing in its concept. Luke Wilson plays Preston Tilton, a man who discovers his wife is having an affair; after an argument, he comes home and finds her dead. Wilson is sure that her cast off lover, played by Norman Reedus, is the culprit. He finds out where Reedus lives, and after breaking in, is attacked and ends up killing the ex-lover. Wrong! He has killed the lover's retarded brother instead. Loverboy has a videotape of Wilson committing this murder, and from there, we are spun into a brooding and complex maze of mystery. Wilson does okay in the role, but there are key scenes where he seems to be struggling with his character; Reedus is almost too sleazy to be credible as a lover; but, and this is a big but..DENNIS FARINA steals the movie as PI Dick, who helps Wilson find out the truth. Farina brings a lot of passion and conviction to a role that could have been secondary. But as the movie winds down, Farina's performance is what keeps the movie floating. A no-compromise ending also makes this a different film.
Interesting and worth a view. March 25, 2004

Good performances, interesting concept

The concept of this film deals with what a normal person would do under extreme circumstances. In this case what would you do if your spouse has an affair and is then murdered. Luke Wilson gives a nice performance as Preston husband of the murdered woman. He plays Preston as a well rounded character never too nice and never going too far over the top as to make it unbeleiveable. Denis Farina also gives a great performance and he and Wilson work well together. The best thing about this film is the relationship between Preston and Jonathan played by Norman Reedus. Both characters remain realistic throughout their extrodinary situations. This DVD is worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of Luke Wilson or, the director, Jon Bokenkamp. There is a very interesting and entertaining commentary track with Wilson and Bokenkamp as well as a production featurette and behind the scenes production photos. There is also a second commentary track with Bokenkamp and the producer, but I have yet to listen to it. January 30, 2002

Making the best out of nothing

Highly simplistic storyline made into a damn good "B" movie! Preston's wife Emily has an affair with Jonathan and from there on, EVERYTHING goes wrong! At times, this movie has that "L.A. Confidential pulp-type" feel to it which make it quite right especially when Preston goes to visit a private investigator. He turns out to be, well, let's say, not too conventional in his techniques. A non-Hollywood ending which, of course, will give it that "flop" status. Could be better but I must commend Jon Bokenkamp on his efforts. Flick stars Luke Wilson, Norman Reedus, Dennis Farina & Mili Avital. Worth a watch! July 12, 2001

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