Wheelmen (2010)

Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely brilliant

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

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

Wheelmen really should be rated higher than it is here on IMDb. Don't get me wrong, this movie is not award-winning material, but it is a fun movie for the whole family (there are some brief sexual references that may not be appropriate for the very young, but nothing worse than "The InCredibles"). I imagine it would have been a fun movie to see at one of those discount theaters, and it is a great movie to watch at home if you enjoy action-comedies. Think of Wheelmen has a a B-Grade version of Blues Brothers or Rush Hour. Given that the movie was never even released in the United States (perhaps direct to DVD), it also has superb audio and video quality (really top notch that you would expect out of a big-budget shoot).

Great combination of a comedy and a feel good movie. There is never a dull moment in Wheelmen. The jokes are rock solid and there is tons of action and beautiful women. The actors have great chemistry with one another and the cinematography is especially sharp.

Finally a movie that is just good old too much fun with a wacky host of characters and a crazy story to send them on a weird journey. I didn't think limo drivers could ever be entertaining but these guys and their even wackier antagonists make for a strange and entertaining adventure.The two villains are more like "dumb and dumber" and could spin off their own movie which would be entertaining in itself. Anyway it is worth the time to watch if you get a chance.

While the concept was an interesting idea, the execution left a lot to be desired. Most movies, if not all, has a main storyline (the A story) followed by one or two (sometimes more) subplots (B story, C story, etc). This had two A stories. I am not sure if the main idea of this story is supposed to be the Vice-President visit (and attempted kidnapping) or the little boy who befriends the main character (Nick Torino). Both stories run parallel to each other in a storyline that tends to be both confusing and annoying. So much so that it is really hard to quickly describe what this movie is about. One story follows the drivers of the Ventura Limo service who have been picked to drive motorcade for the Vice President's visit to Los Angeles. Alternately, one of the drivers, Nick Torino, befriends a boy whose life he saved several years ago as an ambulance driver. While Nick is making friends with the boy and his pretty social worker, Gwen, he and his brother find themselves entangled with an insane ex-Secret Service agent who may or may not have proof that the Vice-President will be kidnapped during his visit to the City of Angels. The director and writers spend much too much time with both storylines, thereby, neglecting them both in the rush to bring an end to the movie.