Have you ever wondered how some films come to be?
Well, if you took a couple of 13-year-old boys put them in a room with a good supply of snacks, fizzy drink and video games and then asked them to share all their favourite movie elements –cops and robbers, aliens, growing up with struggles, brother pacts, gang warfare and guns that only they can use that will really blow shit up– then you would have the film Kin.
Seriously as you suspend belief to watch this film, your mind’s eye can see directors (and brothers) Jonathon and Josh Baker kicking back with producer Shawn Levy over a game of Fortnight chatting excitedly about their all-time favourite movie scenes, and Levy shouting out “Here’s a lazy $30 mil, make it happen boys!”
This movie has a lot packed into 102 minutes. It centres on adopted teenager Eli (Myles Truitt) and his recently released ex-con brother Jimmy (Jack Reynor) who are on the run from hardened gang leader Taylor Bolek (James Franco) after a robbery goes terribly wrong and his brother gets killed along with their father Hal (Dennis Quaid).
Despite the brothers hitting the road with enough money to comfortably lie low, Jimmy is a magnet for trouble and it is not long before he adds more drama and people to the list chasing them across the country. These altercations run parallel with a secondary story where two mysterious humanoids are chasing Eli because he has found and kept one of their high powered sci-fi weapons.
Both stories meet in a pulse-pounding climax at a Nevada police station, where it looks like game over for the two runaways.
For a film that has so many different genres, Kin is a surprising pleasure. It has realistic and sophisticated graphics and all of the cast are solid in their characters. Truitt and Reynor are both comfortable in their respective roles of honour and stupidity, so much so that the audience can feel empathy towards the pair. After all, haven’t we all looked up to a family member who is essentially an idiot?
Although it must be noted the film is rated PG13; yet I don’t know how many parents would think it’s a good idea to take a kid into a strip club. This aside the violence is “movie violence” and it has the standard good guys prevail feeling that movie goers expect and love. Take your 15 year old brother or cousin to watch and you will maintain your street cred.
Check out the official site here.
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