Everly (2014)

Sorry, this movie sucks

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

First of all…SALMA HAYEK KICKS BUTT!I'll be honest; I had never heard of this film before being asked to review it but I watched the trailer and was instantly interested.The story gets started pretty much straight away, with action scenes that escalate gradually throughout the film and even some funny scenes and some that pull at the heartstrings.Two things I loved most about this film is that Everly is just a normal woman, who just happens to be stuck in some bad circumstances. So she's no weapons expert and you see that in the beginning. I also loved that the whole movie takes place within Everly's apartment. In a couple of small scenes we venture out into the hallway, but other than that there are no big flashy sets, just one quaint apartment.Salma Hayek is amazing in this, probably the best thing I've seen her in - Dogma is a close second. The cast is large but aside from the main star, Hayek, and save for a handful of others, the cast is mostly unknown or smaller actors. No one is on screen for too long but all still manage to deliver an awesome performance, no matter the size of their roles.It does contain some dark themes and does include some gruesome, yet pretty awesome death scenes with tons of blood.An awesome action filled, kick-ass movie everyone should go see! Everly is one film that I will most certainly be buying on Blu-ray!

I was in my local video store (yes, there are still some around!) when the clerk rewarded my loyalty by giving me a free rental. My top picks were all out, and in desperation I picked up the Blu-ray of this movie. I wasn't expecting much, to be honest, just the hope that the movie would quench a little of my thirst for B movie action.Well, I wasn't expecting this! "Everly" blew away my modest expectations by being a top grade action movie. It has an interesting set-up, that being that almost all of the movie takes place in one basic location (a penthouse suite and the outside hallway). That would hamper many filmmakers trying to avoid monotony, but these filmmakers managed to do so. The action is not just plentiful, but it is filled with variety, so it never gets dull. Another reason why the action doesn't get dull is that there are some breaks in the action here and there, breaks that do things like add new twists to the plot.Speaking of the plot, I will admit that the script has some things that are hard to swallow. Although the script has Salma Hayek's character losing the upper hand several times, it eventually becomes hard to believe that for the majority of the time this initially wimpy woman again and again defeats the bad guys coming in to kill her. Also, if she has access to a telephone, why doesn't she call the FBI or the media to tell them what's happening? (For that matter, why don't the building's neighbors notice all the noise coming from the explosions and fired guns?)But if you are willing to overlook script weaknesses such as those and simply want to be thrilled and rocked by action, suspense, and mayhem, the movie does deliver. It's too bad the movie got into the hands of the Weinstein brothers, since once again they had a potential blockbuster that they didn't give much of a theatrical release (if any, that is.) But I think that with DVD, cable, and Netflix, "Everly" will build a solid cult audience over the next few years.

My dad likes to ask me sometimes regarding action movies: "Is there a purpose to all this?" There IS no purpose. The whole movie is one big, fat excuse to slam a bunch of crazy action scenes at you. As an exercise in brutal violence, it succeeds. It's got style, and it's even got some genuinely funny moments of black humour to go along with it. The movie's premise is absolutely ridiculous and stupid, and laughably insane, but it plows through it with an almost completely straight face. In that respect, the movie is a deadpan masterpiece.Anyway. Salma Hayek's acting, along with Joe Lynch's neat direction, are both too good for this type of movie. This is a modern-day exploitation film at its most blatant. This is Die Hard with Salma Hayek and the Yakuza. It's limited to one floor of an apartment building as a setting, and it's set during Christmas, and the main character is trapped in one room. Only unlike Die Hard, this movie has some truly cruel material to make you squirm in it. I mean wow.Despite its flaws (and it has a lot of them) it was an entertaining movie. It's shallow, it's not all too smart, and for people with weak stomachs, it's pretty much unwatchable. Its low- budgetness isn't all that obvious unless you REALLY look for it, and most of its effects are refreshingly practical. It's nice to see blood squibs in action movies this day and age, instead of the regular old CGI clouds we're stuck with eighty (or ninety?) percent of the time. Salma Hayek hasn't been this good since Desperado, and that was freaking 1995.

Has its moments but mostly quite unoriginal and mediocre.A woman, Everly (played by Salma Hayek), is attacked in her apartment by a gang of thugs. She manages to turn the tables on them but a crime boss is determined to make her pay for this, sending wave after wave of assassins. Soon she is not just fighting for her own life, but those of her mother and daughter too...Well, that's what I could ascertain about the plot. It really is all over the place, plot-wise. The storyline, for what there is, seems quite contrived and nonsensical and is really just a device for a series of action scenes.The action scenes aren't that bad, but ultimately it all seems predictable and unoriginal. Like a bad ripoff of a Tarantino movie, if Tarantino didn't believe in plot and character depth.Salma Hayek must have been desperate to do this. Though, maybe on paper it seemed like a good movie... This said, she is about the only reason to watch this movie.