The actors of the new movie ‘Stolen’ shared their thoughts on director Simon West: Josh Lucas declares, “I think a lot of times with action directors there’s a sense that they are very difficult people, not the nicest people, and yet they get great images; so part of it is a tradeoff that you go into it knowing it’s going to be a difficult experience. With Simon, He’s got a reputation as being real, in a sense a really friendly actors’ director who happens to also make wonderful, big, playful action films.”

He continues, “It was big bold dangerous filmmaking in many ways which is part of the thing that Simon brings to it. Mostly it comes down to the fact that Simon is a director who understands action, and understands the entertainment playful form of action.”

Mark Valley offers, “I really love working with him. He comes from an editing background.

He makes decisions quickly, he knows what he wants, and somehow he’s still got this Woody Allen quality about him as well, like he really can appreciate these small little bits of humor and little moments that some of us manage to throw in… or sometimes it can happen just by accident!”

Malin Akerman reflects, “You know sometimes you meet people and it feels like you’ve known them for a really long time?  It was that feeling immediately. We had the same views on the characters and the script, and I’m a fan of his work in the past, ‘Con Air’ being one of them, which is great.”

She elaborates, “The director sets the tone, and the tone that Simon sets is just super laid back. I haven’t heard him raise his voice, not once. He’s super calm. He’s so great with his actors, he’s so open and ready to try new things and he’s also very clear on what he needs and what he wants.”

Image Courtesy of  Jaguar PS / Shutterstock.com

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Danny Huston plays FBI agent Tim Harlend in the new Simon West action flick ‘Stolen’. He explains why he was drawn to the project by stating; “When I first read the script I felt it had a combination of action, dialogue, and strong characters that made for an interesting kaleidoscope and an array of colorful characters.”

Director Simon West describes his decision to cast Huston. “I was looking for somebody that could put a very eccentric twist on this. I didn’t want the usual boring FBI agent who is tracking these guys and immediately make people think, ‘Oh, very staid kind of traditional kind of cop,’ he explains. “I approached Danny and he loved the idea of playing this FBI agent and he had some great ideas: The main one was his hat – he tried on all these hats.  And we picked one that became a major part of his character, this hat that he always wears.”

He adds, “Whenever Harlend needs to give anyone any advice he always quotes his grandmother, grandmother Harlend. And so he has a very dry sense of humor, and he’s a very eccentric, quirky kind of FBI agent.”

Harlend’s right hand man Fletcher is played by Mark Valley, who Huston pays compliment to by stating, “He’s a wonderful actor, and it was interesting to start work with him without really knowing him beforehand. So there was sort of a quick relationship that we had to figure out. But he was really able to help me in that regard. I felt immediately at ease with him,” he explains.

Huston elaborates on their partnership, offering, “Harlend and Fletcher are a little bit like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, or a Sherlock Holmes type of situation. At times I must say I think they’re a little slapstick, but what’s fun about their relationship is that my character Harlend always sort of expands on these sort of antidotes, these words of wisdom that are practically riddles. And Fletcher really is more basic in his approach and just wants to stop the whole philosophy and get the criminal.”

Malin Akerman reveals the moment her character is introduced in the film. “We meet Riley while she is robbing a bank with her buddies!” she laughs. She’s a pretty tough girl, she’s one of the boys.”

Describing her first impression after reading the script for ‘Stolen’ she exclaims, “I loved it!  I’ve done a lot of comedy in my past and I’ve been searching for something like this.”

Director Simon West elaborates, “I’ve always been a fan of Malin Akerman’s work and I’ve seen her in a lot of romantic comedies. I always like to take people from one genre and put them in another, and so I thought it’d be great to try get someone like her, who can hold her own her own out in a group of guys like hard talking bank robbers.” He adds, “And she’s very cute and very funny as well, and for her to interact with those tough guys I thought would be a great combination.”

The intensely challenging role of Montgomery’s teenage daughter, Alison, proved to be very difficult for director Simon West to cast. That is until he met with actress Sami Gayle.  He explains, “I looked at a lot of girls for the part and it’s one of the hardest parts in the film to cast because it has to be a balance of vulnerable child, but also one strong enough to be put in these terrible situations and not traumatize the audience. She has to look like she’s going to handle all of this stuff.” He adds, “She could be Nic’s daughter, and she has this attitude.. She’s a tough New York kid, and she does have that tough outer shell, but because she’s such an accomplished young actress she can go to that emotional place that I needed in the story. So I’m very lucky to get someone like that.”

West reunited with actor M.C. Gainey after many years to cast him for the role of Hoyt. He compliments, “I’ve been trying to work with M.C. Gainey for quite a while since ‘Con Air’. I had him in my mind as I was developing the script and his part started to become written for him. A lot of the dialogue and the lines I knew would sound great coming out of M.C., and again he delivered in spades.”

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Danny Huston describes Nicolas Cage, his co-star in the new movie ‘Stolen’. “He’s an utter gentleman, an absolute joy to work with and a serious actor, but once we’ve got the scene down it’s a lot of fun to kid around with him. Its great to know that he’s got the humor after we do a scene that’s maybe quite tense.”

Mark Valley comments, “Honestly I think the quirky thing about this film is Nicolas Cage’s character, Montgomery. He just has such a raffish quality and he’s sort of an underdog, but then you kind of want to follow him and you want to watch him and be with him. It’s a really wonderful part for him.”

Malin Akerman sighs when she says, “It was so great to work with Nicolas, and he is lovely. I’ve grown up watching a lot of his films so it was really amazing to be working side by side with such a great talent. And you see why, he’s such a generous actor, he’s so respectful. That’s what’s most important, there’s definitely no diva attitude and he’s just full on, he’s great.”

Josh Lucas ponders, “Part of my whole joy of this film and the reason I wanted to do it was because any time you get to work with an actor of Nic Cage’s caliber you jump at that opportunity, and the reality is there’s only a few actors on earth who I’d put up in Nic’s category. I mean he’s one of the true greats.”

Director Simon West describes working with Josh Lucas, stating, “Josh really embraced this character. He came up with some great ideas and it was so fun to work with him on it. Every day he’d come in with another idea and a video he’d found or piece of music that he liked and I just took all these ideas and put them on film basically. It was a great character to start with, but Josh really took it to another level.”

Lucas enjoyed the collaborative effort to develop his character, recalling, “It became a lot of conceptual ideas of what about this, what about this, what about this? And throwing them back and forth between Simon, and me and the makeup people, me and the design people; and how you create basically, hopefully, one of the memorable villain madmen to be on screen in a little while,” he laughs.

Malin Akerman compliments, “What I like about a lot about this film is that one of our friends and colleagues, Vincent, who’s played by Josh Lucas ends up really becoming crazy. Usually there’s a bad guy and a good guy from the very beginning, but this is one of our friends who ends up ‘turning’ and becoming super crazy and kidnapping Will’s daughter. So it’s really a great twist and a really wonderful arc to watch Josh go through as an actor; to see that sort of difference. I think that’s going to be really interesting to watch.”

Producer Rene Besson states, “The most important thing in a thriller is its villain. And we searched long and hard for a capable, intelligent cold hearted villain and we found that in Josh Lucas. And I think everybody is going to be immensely surprised at what he’s able to do in this film.”

He adds. “Josh is a very unique talent, and very sharp: There’s an edge to him a lot of people have not yet picked up on yet that really comes through in this project. I think we’re all going to be really surprised by what Josh brings to this.”

When asked about Sami Gayle, Nicolas Cage affirms, “Sami is first of all a lovely person.  She’s a real, kind, good person, and you just feel that when you meet her. Lovely smile, and just a charm about her that is 100 percent authentic, and you can’t help but love her. So that comes through in her character, and also she’s a hard worker; she really is very professional. She always comes up with something that is like no acting- you feel it’s almost effortless. In every take there’s almost something instinctual and intuitive about her work.”

Josh Lucas was initially concerned about the challenging scenes he would play with the young actress. He reflects, “Most of my experience with this movie was working with the actress Sami Gayle. When I first asked Simon about her I said, ‘Is she tough, is she strong?’ And he kind of chuckled and said, ‘You’ll see!’”

Malin Akerman describes how she was in awe of Sami, proclaiming, “I always am fascinated when you get young actresses like Sami who’s a 15 year old girl who plays in such a really heavy really intense scenes. It’s amazing to watch her!”

Producer Rene Besson maintains, “Sami Gayle is an amazingly capable young actress.  The emotional range that she displays and the places that she has to go in this film…it’s a challenge for anyone and she really knows how to pull that off. She’s just so intuitive with what she does that you just truly believe that this is a person who is in incredible peril and you have great sympathy for her.”

Nicolas Cage and Mark Valley were equally impressed with Danny Huston. Cage exclaims, “Wow, you cant help but just love his voice and the way he chooses to deliver his lines. There’s a real musical quality to Danny Huston’s delivery.”

Mark Valley reflects, “Danny’s a lot of fun, he’s a real prince. He’s just a really talented guy who comes into a scene with his own perspective of things and he also has a really wonderful directors’ perspective of a scene and how it will play out.  It’s been interesting watching him work and looking at how he takes the scene. Danny kind of comes around through another entrance…”

Nicolas Cage also admired Mark Valley, confessing, “Mark is wonderfully funny, he has a great sense of humor and he’s a very impressive man. He’s a graduate from West Point and a total athlete, and it’s hard not to be impressed when you’re dealing with somebody who has those kinds of honors in his background!”

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Director Simon West and Nicolas Cage team-up for the first time since the 1997 blockbuster ‘Con Air’ for ‘Stolen’, a unique fast paced action thriller that takes place during 10 frantic hours on Mardi Gras day in New Orleans. The film also stars Josh Lucas, Danny Huston, Malin Akerman, Sami Gayle, Mark Valley and M.C. Gainey.

The story follows Will Montgomery (Cage), a master thief who has been sent to prison for 8 years after being double-crossed in a heist gone awry. Upon his release, he’s ready to leave his criminal past behind and rebuild his relationship with estranged daughter, Alison Loeb (Gayle).

Montgomery’s former criminal cohorts and FBI agent Tim Harlend (Huston), are all convinced that the loot, totaling $10 Million dollars worth of bonds, was hidden away by Montgomery before he was sentenced. In order to get his hands on it, former partner in crime, Vincent (Lucas), kidnaps Alison and demands the loot as ransom; keeping her in a soundproofed trunk of a taxi cab on Mardi Gras day where she is nearly impossible to be discovered.

Montgomery has only one day to deliver the $10 Million ransom, but much to the disbelief of both Vincent and the FBI, he does not actually have it.

Montgomery is left with only one choice: To trust his instincts and join forces again with another old partner in crime, the beautiful, sexy and smart Riley Jeffers (Akerman).  Together they must pull off one more heist so he can get his daughter back… before its too late.

Nicolas Cage recalls why he jumped at the offer to play Will Montgomery. “I would say yes to Simon West on almost anything because I feel one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with, and I had a great experience working with him on ‘Con Air’.” He asserts, “He’s a gentleman and he’s an artist and he knows what he wants. He’s supremely confident, he comes in and he sculpts, and then you have a new way of looking at the scene.”

“The core of the story is really about a father’s love for his daughter,” explains Cage, “and Josh Lucas’ character Vincent, who kidnaps her and creates this horrible set of circumstances where I have to find ten million dollars.”

Josh Lucas offers, “Nic Cage and I play old great friends who have been doing this game together for a while, and in this process there’s a betrayal between the two of us and lives shift very badly and very intensively.”

He continues, “After what goes down between Nic Cage’s character and mine, we cut to eight years later where you have a character that’s not only lost his mind but lost his dreams and is self destructing on such a level that he is beyond damaged.”

Lucas, who immediately grasped the challenge of playing the complex role of Vincent, describes his character by stating, “He is a pretty incredible creation, in that very rarely in a movie do you see a character go with not just such an arc, not to use actors terms… but with the sense of seeing him in one part of his life, and then absolutely the transition to what ends up happening to him.”

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‘Wrath of the Titans’, the action-heavy sequel to ‘Clash of the Titans’ (2010), hit theaters March 30, 2012. The trailer boasted more monsters, more fighting, and more special effects and while it delivers on those areas, it fails in every other category that would qualify for a good film.

Spoiler alert!

‘Wrath of the Titans’ begins with a common mistake of most bad films: revealing a major character’s death off screen in the first five minutes. Roughly a decade has passed and the demi-god Io, who fell in love with Perseus (Sam Worthington) in the first film, has died after having a son named Helius (John Bell).

Perseus has retired from the hero business to raise his son as a fisherman. One night, his father Zeus (Liam Neeson) comes to his home to tell him that since mankind has stopped praying to the gods, they have all lost their powers and have begun dying off. In addition, Tartarus, the Underworld, is falling apart and so Zeus and Hades’ evil father Kronos will be able to break free from his prison and wreak havoc on the world.

Zeus wants Perseus to come with him and his half-brother, Ares (Edgar Ramirez), the God of War, to bargain with Hades (Ralph Fiennes) to help keep Kronos imprisoned. Perseus refuses on the grounds that he will not leave his son and so Zeus travels with his brother Poseidon (Danny Huston), God of the Seas, to Tartarus.

When they arrive, they are ambushed by Hades and Ares, who want to release Kronos to rule over the earth in exchange for keeping their immortality. Poseidon manages to escape and tells Perseus to find his son, Agenor (Toby Kebbell), who can lead them to Hephaestus (Bill Nighy) who can help them find their way into Tartarus to save Zeus.

The overcomplicated plot is the first flaw of the movie. In both this film and its predecessor, the audience is told that the gods run on prayer and worship. However, no one thinks to start praying to Zeus in order to increase his powers. Furthermore, the entire conflict is caused by Perseus’ refusal to come with Zeus, Ares, and Poseidon to bargain with Hades.

It made perfect sense for him to go, but he didn’t on the grounds that he didn’t want to leave his son. However, moments later Perseus leaves his son to go fishing and a Chimera attacks their village, almost killing the both of them. Furthermore, Zeus is a god. If Perseus had asked him to place his son somewhere safe while he went on the journey, the conflict could have been avoided.

There are plotholes the size of canyons in this film and they get bigger by the minute. The first film, while not good, at least had the decency to explain everything to avoid confusion. ‘Wrath’ does no such thing and it prevents any enjoyment of the movie.

The second biggest flaw of the movie is the lack of character establishment. There is little to no attempt to humanize, develop, or explore these characters. They are basically paper cutouts running around in a well-rendered environment with nothing interesting to say or do.

The worst offender is Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), whose entire presence is useless. First of all, she bears the same name of the princess from the first film whom Perseus rescued from the Kraken, but in the sequel she is blonde and played by a different actress. This is never referenced or explained in the film.

Is it the same character? Is the first princess considered non-canonical? Second of all, she goes on the journey to Tartarus with Perseus and Agenor, thus abandoning her post as Queen of the Grecian armies, and does absolutely nothing but get rescued by Perseus. Any feminists in the audience will immediately be angered by the lack of strong female characters in the film.

At least in the first film, Io was helpful and Medusa not only managed to be a legitimate threat, but she kills nearly all of the heroes on their quest. Andromeda’s character is pathetic and bears no relevance to the plot at all other than to add an x-chromosome to the cast and to moon over Perseus in a half-hearted attempt at a romance.

The third biggest flaw is the script. The characters have the absolute worst dialogue I’ve seen in a film this year so far. Most of the dialogue is either anachronistic, pointing out obvious things, or poor attempts at sarcasm.

The only person with amusing dialogue is the talented Mr. Bill Nighy, whose slightly insane character and hammy acting at least puts a smile on your face for the twenty minutes he appears in the film. Liam Neeson is at the very least trying to emote, but he has little to work with other than Ralph Fiennes.

However, the worst actor by far is Edgar Ramirez as Ares, the God of War. He looks like a homeless man who stumbled onto the set and was given the script.

Throughout the history of movies, video games, and literature, Ares is supposed to be an intimidating force of power but in this film, he is nothing more than a whiny adult child who is jealous of Perseus and spends every waking moment complaining about how he is the least favorite son. This is made worse by the fact that we are never shown these relationships, so there is no emotional weight between Zeus, Ares, and Perseus.

The only thing of merit in this mess of a film is the special effects, which are well done and create great environments for fight scenes. Everything else about ‘Wrath’ will inspire you to take out your own anger on the filmmakers for making such a poor recreation of Greek mythology. Save your money and sit this one out unless you want to really understand what wrath is all about.

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