Nobody believes a liar... even when he's telling the truth.
Don’t believe the misleading marketing campaign behind this baby; they’re flat out lying to us (how ironic). Cry Wolf is a
“faux slasher” (I’ve been waiting for years to use that term…yeehaw!)…one that’s more along the lines of the underrated
“Gossip” with James Mardsen than
Friday the 13Th or any other dead zit/cherry popper jamboree.
With that cleansed off my knife; I will admit in being swiftly slam dunked onto this one's sticky "bleak thriller" web, which went on to constantly challenge my grey matter while being an overall hoot
and a half to sit through too boot! I so grooved as to how the film itself acted just like its lead teens (and all of my ex-girlfriends); it kept competently lying to me, making me question the presented reality while somewhat playing the whodunit card with clever red herrings all over the place.
The result was that my wits (or lack of) were pleasurably working overtime. How refreshing! The actors in this 3 ring circus were a big part as to why this B.S. injection worked as well. The young leads were talented and mostly looked/acted their age, hence involving me deeper in this sea of deceptions. Tag to all that, razor dialogue, polished directing choices, a deliciously oppressive atmosphere, a quick fix pace, a sly use of today’s technology (instant messenger/cell phones that take pictures etc.), a couple of gnarly stalk sequences and final frames that had me shout to the heavens
“f*cking kool” on my way out and you get a riveting & testing little ditty that was worth the sit down and then some.
On the dull side of the blade, I did find the initial premise (a liar’s club) a tad childish, even for kids’ of this age. I mean at 18 I was playing put the sausage in the donut hole, not patty cake who can out lie the other, boo-boo, you’re a better fraud than me… but that’s just me. As the film moved forward, I did wind up buying it though, so not much harm
was done in that regards. Then there was the slasher angle which wasn’t emphasized enough for my liking. I needed more graphic violence (make the quick cuts, less quick, show more),
craved added suspense (I was rarely on the edge of my edge) and extra action/stalk bits (the mental warfare started to get redundant at times; more physical get-downs would have washed it down). All of the previously mentioned ingredients would have upped the shock of the narrative in my pointless opinion. Lastly, yup I did see through most of the movie’s tricks, which affected my “tension” level in regards to what was happening. Actually, I pretty much figured it all out fairly quickly except for the final twist. Thank the all mighty “Mysterio” for that last turn! It back handed me like the jerk that I am and gave the whole of the film so much more jazz.
All in all Cry Wolf was an ambitious genre take on “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. It was smarter than the norm, well acted and gorgeously shot. Yup, I would’ve needed more brutality/suspense
spices in my soup but at the end of the lie, I could safely say that I boogied fine to my time
spent with this con artist. Word on the street is that rapper “Nellie” is the one that actually came up with the premise for this movie…seriously….he sold the story to the Wadlow team which explains why one of the lead’s wore a Band-Aid on his cheek like a freaking moron in the film…or am I lying?
Episode #34
