Deadfall
Stefan Ruzowitzky
The story: Two accidents set things in motion. Brother and sister Addison (Eric Bana) and Liza (Olivia Wilde) survive a car crash after their casino heist and split up to maximise their chances of avoiding the law. Just-released-from-prison Jay (Charlie Hunnam) gets into a scuffle and then flees from the scene. Eventually, everyone converges at the isolated house of Jay’s parents, June and Chet (Sissy Spacek and Kris Kristofferson), as a furious blizzard rages away.

Like crime drama Fargo (1996) and wolf thriller The Grey (2011), winter is not just a backdrop but almost a character in its own right.
The blanket of white cloaks the landscape and gives it an otherworldly feel and as the temperature drops and the winds howl, the tension ratchets up in this character-driven ensemble piece which deftly mixes black humour and lacerating violence.
Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky is probably best known for the World War II drama The Counterfeiters (2007), which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.
And for his English-language debut, he has assembled a top-drawer cast of character actors.
Eric Bana (The Time Traveler’s Wife, 2009) leaves a trail of dead bodies on his way to the rendezvous point and there is a fabulously vicious fight scene where he tries to get his hands on a snowmobile. While the sense of menace emanating from him could have been heightened in the finale, he does a great job being charming and even gentlemanly when he first encounters June alone at home.
There is also a fascinating bond between Addison and Liza, who seem to be unusually close for siblings. Olivia Wilde (Tron: Legacy, 2010) is confused and in need of protection one moment and then a sexy seductress the next. When she turns her big peepers on Jay, who happens to give her a lift on his way to his parents’ place, their sudden romance seems all but inevitable.
And Charlie Hunnam is all grown-up after his break-out role in the British TV series Queer As Folk (1999-2000). He brings a sense of vulnerability to his role as a scruffy and guarded ex-con who has fences to mend with his father.
Then there is also Sissy Spacek’s (Coal Miner’s Daughter, 1980) warm and loving mother and Kris Kristofferson’s (A Star Is Born, 1976) gruff father.
Adding more colour to the mix are Kate Mara (Ten Years, 2011) as a discriminated-against deputy sheriff and Treat Williams (from TV’s Everwood, 2002-2006) as her boorish father and boss.
The payoff is a deliciously twisted and tense dinner as criminals, lovers, family and cops come together for one unforgettable Thanksgiving.
(ST)