Give 'Em Hell, Malone

If you make a movie set in the present day about a private detective who wears a fedora and trenchcoat, drives a roadster, and does voice-overs, you’re walking a fine line to start with. Throw in a plot that I swear makes no sense and a lot of highly stylized violence, and you’ve got GIVE ’EM HELL, MALONE, a movie I had hopes for since I’ve liked other films directed by Russell Mulcahy. This one looks good and has an occasional funny bit of dialogue, but it just never worked for me. That fine line I mentioned is the one between brilliant and stupid. GIVE ’EM HELL, MALONE reminded me a little of SHOOT ’EM UP (and not just because of the ’EM in the title). That’s another film that walks the same line, but it falls on the brilliant side. Not this one, unfortunately. But I suspect that’s a matter of personal taste, and if there was ever a “love it or hate it” movie, this is it.