Review: ‘RUN THE TIDE’ dives into lost childhoods and abuse.

runthetide_posterSome if us had great childhoods. Others, perhaps a rocky road. Abuse in a family can cause rifts both seen and unseen. How far would you go to protect your loved one? In Soham Mehta‘s new film, RUN THE TIDE, a young man is faced with the biggest nightmare so far. The return on his abusive mother now threatens the life he’s provided for his younger brother. Can time heal everything?runthetide_1RUN THE TIDE stars Taylor Lautner (The Twilight Saga, “Scream Queens”), Constance Zimmer (“UnREAL,” “Entourage“), Kenny Johnson (“Bates Motel,” “Secrets and Lies”), Johanna Braddy (“UnREAL,” “Greek”) and introducing Nico Christou. Lautner gives a viscerally raw performance as the older brother who endured years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his mother, played beautifully by Zimmer. It’s a far cry for both, as we’re used to seeing Lautner is action roles these days. He easily wears his heart on his sleeve and proves we’ve been taking his acting chops for granted for far too long. Zimmer’s role is about as unglamorous a departure from the hit series UnReal as you can get also showing her immense talent. The chemistry between Lautner and newcomer Nico Christou is out of this world.  Their bond feels anything but forced and they make the film what it is. Christou’s natural abilities are vastly beyond what you’d expect from someone his age. The soundtrack is one of the first things that captures you in this film. The thoughtfully chosen songs are ones that make you want to close your eyes and breathe. Writer Rajov Shah takes the entire film to present the back story and it comes off as completely organic in pacing. Run The Tide is a nice film about second chances and the realities for sacrifice.runthetide_10

  You can catch it in theaters and On Demand/Digital HD this Friday, Dec 2nd. 

TITLE: RUN THE TIDE
IN SELECT THEATERS AND ON DEMAND / DIGITAL HD: December 2, 2016
DIRECTOR: Soham Mehta
WRITER: Rajiv Shah
CAST:  Taylor Lautner, Constance Zimmer, Kenny Johnson, Johanna Braddy, Nico Christou
SYNOPSIS: When their drug abusing mother is released from prison determined to rebuild their family, Rey kidnaps his younger brother Oliver and escapes their desert home for the California coast.
DISTRIBUTOR: Momentum Pictures, Orion Releasing

Michael’s Review: ‘Entourage’

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The Entourage boys are back with their first feature film with series creator Doug Ellin serving as director and it’s just what you would expect from the testosterone driven hit HBO show…women, cars, cameos, and Ari Fricking Gold. Eight seasons just weren’t enough to tell the tale of Vinny Chase and his boys as they conquer Hollywood and all the women in Los Angeles.

The film picks up six months after the show ended where we find Johnny “Drama” Chase (Kevin Dillon), Eric “E” Murphy (Kevin Connolly), and “Turtle” (Jerry Ferrara) riding a motorboat to a yacht party where their newly divorced friend, movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) is partying it up with the locals in Ibiza. Reunited and it feels so good for this brat pack-esque crew who now look to the next chapter in Vince’s career. Hearing that his former agent, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) has returned from retirement and is now a studio exec, Vince reaches out to Ari, who offers Vince a new project, a project that Vince says he will only do if he can direct. And this is where the story begins.

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The project is called Hyde, which is a futuristic take on “Jekyll and Hyde”. Starring and directing in the film, Vince recruits E to be his producer and Drama to be his co-star, but things go south when the blooming budget and rumors of a disastrous rough cut of the film reach Ari, who is desperate for this film to be a success. Vince reaches out to Ari to convince him to fund the project with more money so he can fully complete his vision. Reluctant, Ari reaches out to Larsen McCredle (Billy Bob Thornton), an oil tycoon and studio financier who refuses to give any more money unless his son, Travis (Haley Joel Osment) accompanies Ari back to Hollywood and sees a version off the film. Determined to see this project to completion, Ari and Vince try to convince Travis to fund the extra money, but complication arise when Travis and Vince can’t meet eye to eye on the film. With time running out and a studio hungry for a hit, can Ari, Vince and the boys find their way to the finish line?

ENTOURAGE

Director Doug Ellin elects for the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it approach” with his characters and creates a film that feels more like an over bloated, cameo filled episode of the television show. This approach isn’t detrimental to the film’s success, but limits the characters evolution past what we already know of them. As for the actors, they get to slip into a familiar shoe and do exactly what they did for eight years. Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Kevin Connolly all provide exactly what the audience wants and they do it fairly well, but there’s an empty feeling seeing these great characters not find anything new to do except drive around and talk about sex. Jeremy Piven is epic as always as the fast talking Ari Gold. Piven steals every scene he’s in and is the real star of this film as he was of the tv show.

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Overall, Entourage is for fans of the show and very few others. It is a fun trip down memory lane for many of us who invested close to a decade in these characters, but in the end, the film did little to expand the characters any further and left me wanting more from the plot.  Is the movie as enjoyable as the show? Sure, but not as creative. Let’s hope if the boys get another go around that they give us a little more substance than this.

Stars:

2 1/2 out of 5

After Credit Scene?

Scene during the credits

Trailer: