Title: The Entitled
Directed by: Aaron Woodley
Starring: Kevin Zegers, Ray Liotta and Victor Garber
Running time: 91 minutes, Rated R, available on standard DVD
Struggling college student Paul Dynan is working a dead-end job while trying to help support his family, when times just keep getting harder. When he’s out of options, he devises a plan with the help of two friends to extort $3 million out of the parents of the more privileged students who don’t take their education and futures as seriously. When the plan goes off track, Paul has to improvise while still staying in control.
Every few years or so, a caper movie like this gets released. Sometimes it’s captivating, and often times it’s drawn out and stupid. The Entitled is somewhere in the middle. Maybe because the movie’s length, there were a lot of people to get to know in such a short period of time.
The three dads (Ray Liotta, Victor Garber and Stephen McHattie) are obviously a bunch of rich a-holes who care somewhat for their kids, but care about their money maybe a few millimeters more. The three rich kids (Laura Vendervoort, Dustin Milligan and John Bregar) are the epitome of loathsome wasted youth, and nobody really gives a damn if these kids survive the night. Because of these them, the audience most likely wants Paul to get away with it; this aspect makes this movie interesting – but the ending kinda sucks. The kids don’t really learn their lesson, they’ll just continue being little privileged a-holes, but maybe a tad more humble.
The character I couldn’t stand the most is Paul’s girlfriend Jenna (Tatiana Maslany). It wasn’t the acting, it was just the character. Why do they make the person sleeping with the ringleader an insecure, impulsive dumbass? It’s so cliche it’s frustrating as hell to watch, and you just want to slap the crap out of her.
With that aside, it’s a decent thriller/suspense flick. The acting is satisfactory and the cinematography is well done for the modest budget.
Total rating: B
Reviewed by: JM Willis
