The new BMW film is, as these things go, wildly energetic and bizarre. It stars James Brown as himself, Clive Owen as his soft spoken driver, and Gary Oldman as the devil. Now, any time you can get either Brown or Oldman to mug for eight whole minutes, it's great stuff...but here we have both actors flat out going nuts onscreen, and brother it's the stuff that cult film magic is made of.
BMW films tend to be short and sweet, and Beat the Devil is no different. Tony Scott brings his usual hyped up style to the proceedings, which contrasts nicely with Clive Owen's downplayed lead character, a guy who doesn't say much, but when push comes to shove, he will kick the devil's a** in a drag race down the Vegas strip. Brown, once again, is over the top, but Oldman is way out of control, playing the prince of darkness as a wired nut in tights who sports a British accent. As usual, though, Oldman's hamming is the highlight of the proceedings.
All in all, Beat the Devil is a terrific waste of 8 minutes. It didn't make me want to buy the new BMW but it did make me want to take on Lucifer himself in a street race.
BMW films tend to be short and sweet, and Beat the Devil is no different. Tony Scott brings his usual hyped up style to the proceedings, which contrasts nicely with Clive Owen's downplayed lead character, a guy who doesn't say much, but when push comes to shove, he will kick the devil's a** in a drag race down the Vegas strip. Brown, once again, is over the top, but Oldman is way out of control, playing the prince of darkness as a wired nut in tights who sports a British accent. As usual, though, Oldman's hamming is the highlight of the proceedings.
All in all, Beat the Devil is a terrific waste of 8 minutes. It didn't make me want to buy the new BMW but it did make me want to take on Lucifer himself in a street race.
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