The Victim (2011)

Load of rubbish!!

Just perfect...

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I agree with what some of the negative reviewers have said that this was obviously made so that Biehn could have sex on screen with his middle-aged wife who could show off her boobies. I didn't know they were an item until I read the reviews here after the film, but it was clear watching it that he chose her for reasons other than any ability to act and gave her so much screen time for no reason.It was also obvious that this was an ego-stroking exercise for Biehn who was very careful to show himself off as nude as possible, which I felt was for him his last hurrah to show the world his bod as he teeters on the brink of proper old age when there's nothing that can be done to maintain any appearance of the body we had in our youth. So he made the most of this opportunity - and so did his wife, because saggy-bagginess hits ladies far sooner than gents; so she also made the most of the opportunity while they had completely unnecessary sex every which way (and it's not even sexy).She kept telling him how great he looks for 54 - I actually thought he looked 64 in a lot of the scenes and that's me being honest rather than cruel.The film is very disjointed, which isn't helped by the pointless flashbacks that added zero to the plot and were simply time fillers. All through watching it I was expecting what I was seeing/hearing to mean something somewhere along the line, but nothing did - the whole thing just tumbled along in a very flabby way.But probably the fact that I was waiting for things to gel and/or mean something as the story flubbered along to its end was the only reason I stayed with it, because I thought that it was going to get better and come good... but it never did.I'd watch it again actually, because it's one of those films when after a few days I think, "What the heck was that? Did I miss something important, or was it really that bad?" So I'll take another look at least halfway to check my judgement. I wouldn't tell anyone NOT to watch it, because it's a 'curiosity' - though I can't imagine anyone genuinely thinking this is anything more than a mediocre film; and I'm a big fan of Biehn!

For a thriller, then "The Victim" was as predictable and 'by-the-book' as they come. Everything that happened in the movie, you saw it coming a mile away - well, except for the ending, which I found to be really great, especially as Michael Biehn delivered it so gracefully.The story in "The Victim" is about Kyle (played by Michael Biehn) who lives isolated as a hermit in a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. Then one night a Annie (played by Jennifer Blanc) comes banging on his door, pleading for help, claiming that she is being followed and that the men killed her friend Mary (played by Danielle Harris). Following that, two officers of the law, James (played by Ryan Honey) and Jonathan (played by Denny Kirkwood) shows up at the cottage to ask Kyle some questions. Something is not adding up here, but what? The acting in the movie was alright, nothing extraordinary or remarkable though. But people did alright with their given characters and roles.Despite being very predictable, then "The Victim" was actually entertaining and had a nice ending. There was a good and constant pace to the movie, which was alright, and the movie never slowed down and became dull. It was just a shame that the movie suffered horribly from its predictability.As for the soundtrack to the movie, well personally I didn't find it the least bit interesting or suitable, but of course, we all have very different taste in music. I just found this soundtrack unsuitable and the songs didn't really fit into the mood of the movie.There are far better thrillers out there on the movie market, but still, "The Victim" is good for a single watching, as it just doesn't have the contents to support more than a single watching.

Well, what should be said about this movie? A low budget movie, half horror, half drama with psychological moments that wants to be good but fails it. The idea on which the script is based may not be bad, but they fail at developing it into the plot. The rape scene doesn't feel real, the lines are sometimes pronounced like a poetry a kindergarten kid tells Santa for a pressie and the fighting scenes simply do not convince me. Of course, when you make independent movies it is not easy to get a blockbuster. If they made Titanic with a few hundred thousand dollars or a million, it would have been a story about a boat sunk on a big lake when spring sun rays got the evil glacier melt.

I'm not a big fan of movies like this one, but it's pretty solid for what it represents. It is a surprise that Michael Biehn would do something like this, but he's open about this movie. It's not supposed to be taken seriously in any way. I get it that people were not pleased by it, but I'd hope some reviews wouldn't be so personal. I don't think Jennifer Blanc does a good job in this, but insulting her with foul language is really not a good way to express that.The movie itself is pretty predictable, has some sex, some violence in it and Michael Biehn does also play in his own movie. This was shot quick and as gritty as possible. It's not for film purists and it won't satisfy gore hounds either (most of them anyway). But while ill-advised flashbacks do not add anything to the story, you're wasting your time being angry at a movie, that never pretends to be anything else than it actually is. If this is the worst movie you've seen, you should call yourself lucky or watch more movies. In any way, this curiosity is worth a look, but don't bother watching more than 5-10 minutes, if you feel that it doesn't work for you.