JOIN USWild Card
English (A) **
Cast: Jason Statham, Stanley Tucci, Sofia Vergara, Milo Ventimiglia
Director: Simon West
It’s got the punch, but lacks panache. In essence, Wild Card is an exercise in futility.
A jaded thriller styled on noir genre, Wild Card is vacuous, trying to showcase Jason Statham’s strengths. The fights are aplenty, and Statham does justice to his billing.
However, the film turns out to be a date with deja vu. Like Statham’s Nick Wilde — who goes about in a lackadaisical manner — Wild Card lacks verve.
Based on William Goldman’s Heat, the film has Statham trying to put his life back on track, weaning himself from gambling addiction. But an irresistible paycheck offered by a jackass billionaire to chauffer him around Las Vegas sees him suck up to it.
A man with quicksilver hands — with implements like credit card, spoon and fork — Statham is forced to pack a few punches, especially when gangster Danny Demarco roughs up his girlfriend. She wants to get the man’s b…s as revenge for her near-death experience.
Despite its nuanced narrative structure and Statham’s heroics, Wild Card is a desultory outing.