![]() It’s uninspired, often tasteless and awash in wasted potential. Kal Penn plays a store clerk in one scene, veteran character actor Christopher Macdonald shows up in a throwaway part, and for no discernible reason, there’s a David Arquette cameo.Īt once a terrible comedy and a terrible action flick, Once Upon a Time in Venice is excruciating to watch. Adam Goldberg plays a character named “Lou the Jew”, in one of several uncomfortable moments in which mild anti-Semitism is played for laughs. She has a sex scene with Willis, who is 30 years her senior, which is as awkward as it sounds. Janssen shows up for a couple of scenes, and swimsuit model Jessica Gomes is only in this movie so she can go topless. He spends most of Once Upon a Time in Venice lounging around, participating in very few action scenes. The dependable, talented John Goodman is completely wasted, and this movie makes poor use of Jason Momoa as well. Silicon Valley star Middleditch can play neurotic without being unbearably annoying, but in this movie, he’s saddled with dreadfully unfunny lines. One would think any filmmaker would be smart enough to play up that persona in an action comedy. Willis is a shadow of his former A-lister self but his declining clout notwithstanding, he still was John McClane. The cast that the Cullen Brothers has at their disposal is not too shabby. Even with swearing, nudity and violence, Once Upon a Time in Venice fails to generate even a scintilla of excitement. There are also shades of the far more energetic and innovative Keanu, in which a hitman’s missing cat was the linchpin of the plot. The premise and the posters try to sell this as a John Wick spoof, and Once Upon a Time in Venice would have been much better had it actually been an all-out parody of John Wick. The best set-piece, which involves Steve skate-boarding buck naked, takes place early in the movie, with nothing approaching that level of zaniness for the rest of its duration. This is listless, incoherent stuff which feels like it was rejected from a network TV comedy. It’s painful to watch Once Upon a Time in Venice strain so hard to be even remotely funny. The movie is written and directed by brothers Mark and Robb Cullen, who wrote the Willis-starring Cop Out. Willis has been absolutely slumming it in direct-to-DVD action movies, continuing that streak with Once Upon a Time in Venice. With the help of John and surf shop proprietor Dave (Goodman), Steve must retrieve Buddy by any means possible. The culprit, a drug lord named Spyder (Momoa), holds Buddy hostage, demanding that Steve run several errands for him before he can have his dog back. ![]() ![]() The house of Steve’s sister (Janssen) is burgled, with Buddy, Steve’s beloved Parson Russell Terrier, among the stolen items. Steve’s domain is the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles, and with the help of his beleaguered assistant John (Middleditch), Steve helps track down missing persons. Willis plays Steve Ford, a disgraced former LAPD officer who has set up shop as a detective. In this action comedy, Bruce Willis is a dick. Cast : Bruce Willis, Thomas Middleditch, Jason Momoa, John Goodman, Famke Janssen, Adam Goldberg, Stephanie Sigman, Jessica Gomes ![]()
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