Armed and Deadly (2011)

Wow! Such a good movie.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

In 1994 Janis is in military intelligence and has sat behind a desk. But she is happier being assigned to Kuwait. Her first job: investigate a supposedly deserted area, since there are rumors Saddam Hussein will invade again, as he did four years earlier. Janis takes Bernie Schwartz with her. The area is not deserted, and the two find evidence something is going on. Then five Middle Eastern men show up and Bernie is shot. To stay alive, Janis has to shoot the others. She is assured all five are dead, but we have seen that Kadir was only faking.Meanwhile, Janis has flashbacks to the time her twin brother Jamey threatened to kill their parents and then did it.For four months, Janis is in a military hospital because of what happened. Only Captain Rogers cares enough to visit, and while a romance is possible, he disappears.Ten years later in Sarasota, Florida, Janis is a free-lance photographer. She can't work for any company, as much as they want her to because she is so good, because she needs to be free. Looking like Heather Locklear and wearing a tank top, shorts and flip-flops, she is taking photos for the Oak Club's brochures. She will dress more professionally (though still casually) later, but we will get to see more of her in sexy outfits.Carol is a perky Texas native in charge of making sure Janis does her job. She's really nice and they become friends, later meeting at a bar where Boomer is bartender. He's quite a character.Janis is nearly hit by a red SUV several times. She suspects her brother, who is up for parole and vowed revenge after she testified against him. Though we know who it could be. Carol, still unaware of Janis' military background, sees Janis may need help and refers her to a friend Diane who is a psychologist. Given what Janis went through, that may be a good idea.Janis gets another job involving clown statues. But one of those clowns isn't a statue ...After this terrifying experience, Carol calls on her ex Abe, a cop. Something isn't quite right. Could Janis be imagining things? It is true that Jamey is out to get his sister, and we do see the bumbling idiots Mickey, and the other guy whose name I don't remember, he has put in charge of this. But what we believe may not be the truth.Meanwhile, Janis has other jobs which give us more reasons to enjoy the movie. Two are at zoos, one of which has flamingos (at least I think they are) but also lots of pretty trees. There is another zoo specializing in big cats. And a park with a statue resembling the famous photo of a sailor kissing a woman after World War II.And the threats just keep coming. We are left guessing until the end. Will Janis get out of this mess unharmed?No, this movie, despite its brief celebration of our military, had nothing to do with The Fourth, but it was appropriate to watch on that day. It just happened to be one I had recorded months ago.This is a pretty good movie, but nothing that special. What makes it work for me is that there are just enough pleasant scenes mixed in with all the seriousness, and plenty of comedy, even in Kuwait. And occasional action and excitement. Especially toward the end.You have to like Lisa Varga as Janis if for no other reason than her looks, but of course the character is tough and intelligent yet likable and mostly well-adjusted despite what she has been through.The real standout performer is Ken Stellingwerf as Jamey. When he explains why he is in prison, you could call him demented or darkly comic. And he has more scenes like that. And he must deal with the Three Stooges, who point out that there are only two of them, so how could they be three? I won't say the stooges are necessarily good actors but they are entertaining.Toni Ann Rossi as Carol and Alan Roberts as Boomer also impress.And David Mackey as Captain Rogers. We will see more of him.This is not a family film, though I found it curious that it had a TV-PG rating with the brutal violence in a few scenes. But the fact is there isn't that much actual violence.I think it's worth seeing.

I am stuck in Kuwait and was running out of movies to watch on Netflix. I would have been better served watching the sand shift. The only thing entertaining about this train-wreck was that the video, acting, and plot are so bad, it gets comical, at times. The trailer seemed promising and the cover of the movie seemed as though it would be low-budget, perhaps, but not necessarily terrible. But, right from the start, it is terrible and never gets better. I would recommend watching cheese mold before watching this movie.Well, I guess I should be thankful, at least I am I am 1 hour and 40-some minutes closer to being back home, so that is something.

Without doubt one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Poorly written, hopelessly acted and the storyline was terrible. I found myself from the opening scene cringing and only watched it to see how bad it would be, I was not disappointed. This movie just got worse and worse and as much as I hated it I sat through it horrified that I was even watching this drivel. Everyone involved in this movie should be extremely embarrassed and consider finding a new career. Absolute garbage. Recommend aspiring film makers watch this and learn how not to do it.A complete waste of my time and money. Do yourself a favor and give this one a miss.One star is generous.

Someone wrote, "Bravo!!! Bravo!!! Bravo!!!" Perhaps the person who wrote that was watching a tadpole race.At not much more than two minutes in there's the worst acting I've seen in years. Some guy playing a character named "Sergeant Carlyle" was desperately trying to put on some kind of weird accent, only he was making a complete dog's breakfast of it. Perhaps he was trying to sound like a Kiwi (New Zealander). Anyway, whatever accent it was, that scene sets the top bar for the rest of the actors in this boring tripe. Sadly, none of the large cast get close to doing any better.If you want to completely waste one hour and forty minutes of your life then this movie is for you. But mark my words; at three minutes in you'll be hoping that Corporal Janis McKenzie clambers aboard a military aircraft and jumps out from a great height... with a concrete parachute.