When adults who have children have other adult friends who also have children, those children will inevitably be thrown together on a regular basis. If you’re one of those children and you’re lucky, then you might get along with this other child. Or, if you’re Robert, in director, Volker Einrauch’s Der Andere Junge (The Other Boy), you’re lucky if you make it through an entire evening without your forced friend, Paul, beating you repeatedly. Your parents barely know you and rarely listen to what you have to say so you can’t go to them with your troubles. You try reasoning with Paul but his antics only become worse when he smells your weakness. You are alone and no one is coming to your rescue. The results can be very isolating. Before long, you feel cornered and you do what it takes without thinking about what will follow.
It’s being referred to as the B-movie with A-listers. New Line Cinema's feature, Shoot 'Em Up, begins with a baby being delivered amidst a bloody shoot-out in a warehouse and doesn’t let up before dozens more are tortured and killed, a visit is paid to a lactating prostitute and a carrot is shoved through the back of a man’s skull. It’s the kind of well-choreographed, blood-splattered action that usually finds a home as a direct-to-video release or at festivals dedicated to the genre. Only this time, thanks to a cast that includes Clive Owen (Children of Men), Paul Giamatti (Sideways) and Monica Bellucci (Irréversible), Shoot ‘Em Up will be blasting into North-American theaters shortly. I had the pleasure of catching its Canadian premiere at the 31st edition of the Montreal World Film Festival.