Beat the Devil (2002)

Simply A Masterpiece

Really Surprised!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The Plot: Clive Owen ( before he was in "The Bourne Identity," "King Arthur," "Elisabeth: The Golden Age," and "Sin City" ) plays a "hire" who drives people places they desperately need to go. Often times, they are working for something "top secret" and can only give our protagonist limited information. Also, this is meant to show off the BMW car and is executive-produced by Tony Scott, Ridley Scott and David Fincher ( Panic Room, Alien 3 ).In this one directed by Tony Scott ( who should have worked a little on his editing for this episode ), our hero must help James Brown win a "race" against his album producer ( portrayed hilariously by Gary Oldman ). Just watch it because it's worth it!Included are cameos by Danny Trejo and "Gothic" singer Marilyn Manson.

When you've got Gary Oldman wearing a red spandex and red lipstick in the role of the devil and James Brown, godfather of soul himself, complaining that the deal he got with the prince of darkness needs to be renegotiated because he's gotten too old to do splits, you know you've divided everyone who hears about it into two clearly marked, separated groups; those who reject it and those who are intrigued. Those that belong in the latter category probably wind up watching this commercial, are once again divided into two groups; those who love it and those who hate it. This is a clear-cut short film; either you love it or you hate it. But that doesn't mean that it's bad... just that it's limited. I don't know exactly why, but I'm thankful it is. Maybe it's because that allowed it to be what it wanted to be, what it had to be. What is that, you ask? Well, bizarre as hell, first of all. But also funny and stylish, not to mention quite intense. The race in the commercial is cool and exciting. The humor is very good... again, limited, but very good if you're into exactly that sort of thing... and I am. To an extent, at least. I laughed out loud at the 'twist' in the end. The editing and cinematography is very stylish, very typically Tony Scott. I liked all of the puns and jokes, both those concerning the devil himself and those concerning James Brown. The acting is good. Clive Owen once again delivers a perfect performance. All in all, just a very weird and bizarre yet entertaining little commercial. I recommend it to any fan of the commercials or any of the actors... and possibly fans of Tony Scott. 8/10

This is a very amusing piece which is quite a bit out of the ordinary. It makes you think a lot about certain scenes of Natural Born Killers and U-Turn - and if you can actually make it in the world of show business without having to sell your soul... well, only few knows, I suppose... A very decent picture, but the total and absolute best part of the picture is a short appearance by shock rocker #1 Marilyn Manson in the end. The Devil himself, in the shape of Gary Oldman, saying "It's that creepy guy from downstairs..."...I recommend this little piece, it's downright hilarious.... even if you're a poor little sod who's NOT into Marilyn Manson ;-)

No matter what Gary Oldman does, he is simply the most exciting actor in the world to observe! And, not only is he marvelous as the devil in this little thriller - but he looks good enough to digest! This man can NEVER do anything wrong; Bravo to his making yet another movie HIS!