Review: A Perfect Getaway
A honeymoon in paradise is a newlywed's dream ... unless you're newlyweds in writer/director David Twohy's latest chiller, A Perfect Getaway.
The needy Cydney (Milla Jovovich) is ecstatically in love with Cliff (Steve Zahn), as they explore Hawaii. Their bliss is disturbed when they encounter a suspiciously pushy couple (Marley Shelton and Chris Hemsworth) trying to hitch a ride, and shortly after learn of a double murder in Oahu, from where they'd just come. Unsettled and with only sporadic cell reception, a chance encounter with braggart Nick (Timothy Olyphant) seems to be a welcome salve, only to find out Nick didn't mention his girlfriend, Gina (Kiele Sanchez).
Twohy, who wrote and directed the underrated Below and Pitch Black, has a fondness for twists, and has so many red herrings in the script that it includes a discussion about them. Combined with the tendency for characters to adopt a threatening gaze, it seemed like it would quickly fall into the conventional traps of most slasher flicks.
Most slasher films rely on just a certain core devices; isolated locations, hormonal youth, and a stealthy, inhumanely persistent killer bent on mayhem. Few films in the genre bother to stray from those conventions, with a few notable conventions, such as Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, which deconstructs the genre, and Scream, which fully embraces them in a Brechtian manner.
A Perfect Getaway can be added to that very short list, although it barely qualifies as a slasher film. Most characters are well past the collegiate age bracket. It's got more in common with films like Wolf Creek that rely on slow builds versus a body count. When the violence does occur, it's more organic than gadgety.
Olyphant and Sanchez have great chemistry as enthusiastic near survivalists. Sanchez, most likely known to most audiences as the unpopular Nikki in the Paulo/Nikki story arc on Lost, is an actor to watch. Zahn proves (again) he deserves more roles where he's not the comedic relief, although he does provide plenty of that in A Perfect Getaway. Jovovich is grating with her over-emoting, but the blame is mostly on the character.
The reveal is a surprise, and for some audiences, may feel like a betrayal. There wasn't enough ambiguity earlier on in the film to avoid a letdown. An an extended black-and-white exposition really needed a trim. Despite that, it was refreshing to see a film that didn't whore itself to conventional, predictable horror/slasher devices.