Paradox Effect
Director: Scott Weintrob
Year:
2023
Rating: 6.0
Once again, Olga
Kurylenko takes center stage in a low budget action film. She has nearly
cornered that market and that is fine by me. She is Ukrainian, so you know
she is tough. I have enjoyed most of these B films of hers that I have seen
- High Heat, Momentum, Courier, Hitman 47 were all low brow fun with some
decently staged action. Others like Erased are just kind of stupid. This
falls into the stupid category. None of this feels believable. A plot cobbled
together by monkeys at a type writer. That doesn't necessarily mean its a
bad movie; but just one that you have to watch with your brain in neutral.
Olga plays Karina, an ex-junkie working
in a restaurant in Italy and expecting her young daughter to arrive from
America at 5am. As she leaves work, she sees a man shoot another on the street
and she gets in her car and drives out as fast as she can. And the killer
chases after her shooting all the way. Why? And when we know his backstory,
it really makes no sense. But the writers had to get Olga into the story.
It gets stupider. His car hits a bus and explodes destroying a briefcase
inside. But not him. He catches up with Karina and at the point of his silencer,
demands that she help him replace what was in the briefcase. Because it was
meant for a mafia boss played by Harvey Keitel. Again, that makes no sense
other than to keep Olga in the film. And that is a good thing. Turns out
she is pretty handy with a gun like all ex-junkies are. And eventually of
course as we could have all guessed, save her daughter.
