“Who do you think you’re talking to? You don’t talk to me, I talk to you.” —Dragna
Today’s quick review: The Bag Man. Hired to deliver a bag without looking at the contents, hitman Jack (John Cusack) travels to a seedy motel in the middle of the night to wait for his employer, Dragna (Robert De Niro). But Jack is not the only killer at the motel, and he is forced to take drastic measures to protect the bag and his life. His sole, unlikely ally is Rivka (Rebecca Da Costa), a troubled woman swept up in the night’s events.
The Bag Man is a crime movie with a mysterious plot. The Bag Man tries to weave a mystery around the unknown contents of Jack’s bag. The bag is pursued by everyone from dirty feds to local pimps, raising questions Jack cannot answer. Unfortunately, The Bag Man falls well short of its potential. The movie is crippled by slow pacing, overly dark visuals, and a confusing script, flaws that not even the talents of John Cusack and Robert De Niro can overcome.
At its core, The Bag Man is too mysterious for its own good. In addition to the bag itself, the movie plays coy about who its characters are, what they know, and what their true objectives are. The mystery is almost impossible to follow, let alone anticipate, and the conversations that are supposed to advance the plot are maddeningly vague. As a result, the plot twists feel arbitrary and the mystery is uncompelling.
There are other issues as well. The movie has a tendency to backtrack on itself. Later confrontations play out similarly to earlier ones, and Jack repeatedly changes his mind about whether Rivka should stay or go. None of the characters are particularly interesting, a problem worsened by the impression that each one is hiding something. To top it all off, the plot logic does not hold together well, even when the movie finally gives answers.
Those invested in the premise may still get something out of The Bag Man. The individual confrontations are fine, apart from where they tie into the plot, and Cusack and De Niro give the movie some star power. But the writing is badly mishandled, and most viewers would be better off with another film. For a John Cusack horror thriller set in a motel, check out Identity. For a better crime mystery with a dash of comedy, check out Lucky Number Slevin.
5.3 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 5.5 for a good cast and a decent premise let down by poor writing and presentation.