Sick Product of a Sick System

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Things don't go so well for Paul. He didn't manage to get a job, his mother is ill and he doesn't have money for medication and he still lives with his parents. Troubles is his life has made him to do an extreme thing and together with two friends kidnaps three rich students and demands a ransom from their father in order to release them. But the plan is not going how they planned because one of the prisoners dies and the rest manage to escape. The fathers of the three are at a mansion taking a break to relax but one of them is late so this is the reason why he's don is shoot, it could not ensure the kidnapper that he will pay him the money. The two are able to reach their parents but also one of the guys involved who has his own plans to escape clean even if this means to betray his friends.The Entitled is an amateur movie in witch three inexperienced teens put up a plan beyond their powers and also this is the reason why it never worked. So, they keep them bound in the basement and instead of guarding them what are they doing? Playing on Playstation. Wow this is awesome. Also the girl that shoots that guy with a shotgun? That kind of weapon is not easy to handle but she had a very good accuracy and precision in her shot. Another Wow. And the three fathers didn't have so much responsibility since they never left the house, didn't contact the police, all they had to do is seat on the couch, wait for the telephone to ring, answer and write an account number and again to wait...but wait did I tell you already that this movie is idiotic?

A group of under-privileged kids starving for money and attention; a group of over-privileged kids starving for action and attention; a group of over-privileged adults trying to be content with their current state of life. That's "The Entitled." One group wants what the others have and the others just plain want. If you want an intelligent, thought-out thriller, you've got it.The film starts out a little pedestrian and juvenile with pointless scenes and then a few scenes continuously pointing out that our main hero was poor. But as it turns out, those scenes weren't pointless or over-done, you just had to wait until the end to figure it out. Everything contributes to the final result.Our main hero is Paul Dynan (Kevin Zegers) — broke, jobless, defeated, and almost option-less. A last ditch effort to save his mother and their house, he abducts three local rich kids, uses two misfit friends to torture them, and tries to get money out of their fathers.The brilliant aspects of this film which they did so well were the different relationship dynamics. The group of rich, entitled kids consisted of two males and one female. One couple but all three were friends. The group of poor, angry kids was exactly the same (just minus the money). The three fathers had the same relationships that their kids had, just a taller, older version.Continuing in the vein of brilliant relationship dynamics, the plot of the kidnapping was propelled forward by how everybody acted within their own group. Apparently the key to a successful crime (or not successful) is knowing how all the individuals will act. The key to a successful crime thriller is making sure that your characters act in interesting ways.The lead acting was very impressive, just as I was frequently in awe of how impressively smart the turns were in this thriller, I was amazed by how natural and creepy Zegers could be. Ray Liotta and the two other actors playing the fathers were equally as arresting.The minor actors couldn't overcome the sometimes awkward and painful dialogue. Now don't get me wrong, the screenplay by William Morrisey is actually pretty good story-wise, he just doesn't give a good voice to the over-privileged, entitled rich kids. But then again, who does? I still think the opening sequences could have been tightened up to help me realize how important they actually are to the story. But above all else, "The Entitled" made me think and I like watching films about some characters who do think and some characters who don't think. And I'll let you figure out which groups they belong to.

This film is a huge disappointment. I was looking forward to it, reading critiques about how un-Hollywood this film was. The truth is, the scenario is so weak it isn't even funny.You plan on getting a USD 3 million ransom so who do you take to help you? Of course 2 dumb losers. And as a loser how dumb do you have to be to not question you being chosen for a 3 million dollar high risk kidnapping?Then you go on kidnapping people but of course without mask it's way better this way. It is certainly not telling your hostages that you intend to kill them in the end.You then expect the money to be wired in a few hours but of course this doesn't mean someone should guard the hostages: a million dollar an hour certainly is too low a compensation. Let's play video games very loudly instead so as not to hear anything.And when the leader is going to talk with the hostages he is wearing a mask but this doesn't surprise his 2 associates who were mask-less from start to finish? Nothing ticks in their minds that something could be fishy?And why not kill a hostage while being on the phone negotiating the ransom? Why not let the killed hostage where he is and not move it away from the other two? Also of course a shot in this neighborhood is very common and no one will call the police telling them they heard a gun shot.Why not being so dumb a leader that you allow the killer woman associate to wander as she wants? And sure she's got to taunt the 2 remaining hostages and explain the plan from a to z. because they're worth it. This smells like a bad scenario trying to insert a weak justification for later and of course it is.The money is finally wired and received, your leader tells you to meet him at a gas station (why not at the house you might ask) and let the hostages go. As 2 associates whose faces were never hidden you are happy to let the hostages go because the money was wired? You don't for a single moment fear the hostages will recognize you and you'd better kill them before? You don't ask yourself why the leader would come with such an order?But then your gun has fake bullets because your leader doesn't trust you. He did when you killed an hostage but not anymore. So he probably stealthily changed the bullets in front of everybody. Also in the forest as 2 hostages against a kidnapper without bullets you don't try to fight? And as an associate who hates rich kids and just understand you had fake bullets, you don't try to catch the kids or at least one of them and inflict maximum pain & kill? Or is it only possible to kill someone with bullets?It turns out the leader planned all along to kill the two antisocial dumb associates and planned the whole thing with his father, a majordomo to the rich people whose kids are hostages. The leader after explaining everything to his associate (to show how the screen writer was smart)shoots said associate point blank between the 2 eyes because it's the easiest way not to get blood on himself and also because people who want to suicide generally aim between their eyes.And now we discover even more incoherences. Why could the hostages escape through the forest? Why didn't they just run to the nearest neighbor especially when the kid knows the neighborhood so well because it turns out he was kidnapped in his father's home? The sub-story with the laptop that could explode isn't believable and even if it did, it wouldn't explain why the kidnappers wouldn't remotely explode it if the hostages escaped.The story with the leader coming to the ransomed's house doesn't add up either. If the wife really did worry after her husband, why did she not call? When the police analyzes the crime it won't be difficult to check that the wife neither called the house nor called his son to tell him she was worried after her husband but also to check that the son did call the ransomed. The leader will then have to explain why he lied and why he called the ransomed. He will also have to explain what he was doing at the gas station. And how he could hit an armed man and escape without the slightest scratch and why the armed man decided to commit suicide after that instead of running for his life.Finally checking many time the bank account status per internet makes it very difficult to locate the ransomer does it not?

That was a pretty decent movie. What makes it decent is a combination of usual Hollywood film that brings you the amusement by the amount of shock applied and good old drama school. The shocking atmosphere is mostly preserved by certain amount of brutality and twist. As for drama, I really loved the way the director used the theater stage in the house were fathers were gathered to imply tension and very involving plot development. Balanced and interacted with the core plot in the movie, it made a very watchable feature film. Also, the movie does not bring the usual American picture of good and bad guys, but leaving you think about that yourself. It might be just my impression, but I think that the senior actors were better than junior. I do not say that the young actors were bad, just acting of the fathers was more superb!