Edison Force (DVD)

...tell the world about it; Edison or Edison Force is one such movie. The film itself received a bit of controversy in the United States because initial viewings by test audiences did not rate it too highly; this caused the movie to go straight to DVD in the United States. But Edison is not your standard straight to movie fare; it's an incredibly well rounded movie that's a rollercoaster ride from the minute you turn on; budget wise its not too shy ...
...is an organization within the Edison police force, years ago when Edison was a hive of vicious and terrible crimes F.R.A.T. was formed to go undercover in some of the largest crime cartels and defuse the situation. But for years now Edison has been a much different place, crime is at an all time low and people can feel safe knowing that a consortium of businesses including the Edison police force are protecting the residents from the now minority ... more

Once every blue moon a film comes along that's so great that you want to tell the world about it; Edison or Edison Force is one such movie. The film itself received a bit of controversy in the United States because initial viewings by test audiences did not rate it too highly; this caused the movie to go straight to DVD in the United States. But Edison is not your standard straight to movie fare; it's an incredibly well rounded movie that's a rollercoaster ride from the minute you turn on; budget wise its not too shy either because besides the special effects it boasts some of biggest names in show business.

F.R.A.T. is an organization within the Edison police force, years ago when Edison was a hive of vicious and terrible crimes F.R.A.T. was formed to go undercover in some of the largest crime cartels and defuse the situation. But for years now Edison has been a much different place, crime is at an all time low and people can feel safe knowing that a consortium of businesses including the Edison police force are protecting the residents from the now minority crime.

As Edison begins F.R.A.T. officers Deed and Lazerov stage a raid on a small derelict office unit; in this unit two men are carrying a large sum of money acquired by illicit means. During the investigation one of the two men spits in Lazerov and he reacts by shooting the man at point blank range. Lazerov then persuades Deed to make it look like the other man (Isiaha) carried out the killing.

When Isiaha stands trial for murder Deed forms part of his defence and delivers a slightly varied version of events to the court. But as Deed leaves Isiaha thanks him, which strikes young reporter Pollack as suspicious.

Convinced that there is a bigger story Pollack goes to his editor Moses Ashford wanting to print a slight fabrication of events. The situation spirals out of control an Ashford fires Pollack. Still convinced he is in the right Pollack discusses the story with his girlfriend Willow; who causes Pollack great surprise by backing Ashford.

With every intention of apologising to Ashford and begging to get his job back Pollack pays a visit to Ashford at his home; but an unusual choice of wording opens up a whole new can of worms. Now Pollack is convinced that there is corruption within F.R.A.T. and suspects that Deed and Lazerov are at the heart of the corruption.

Pollack visits Isiaha in prison with some information regarding Isiaha's mother; this gives Pollack some much required evidence to push his investigation further forward. However F.R.A.T. are completely aware that Pollack is messing with something that could cause them great damage; the only way to cause a little damage limitation is to arrange for a few accidents. While Isiaha is murdered in prison, Pollack and Willow are attacked, the results of which leave her in a coma.

Now with Pollack having a real reason to pursue not just Deed and Lazerov but the whole F.R.A.T. organization he receives some surprising help from an officer within the police force, who tells Ashford and Pollack that Edison is slowly becoming a communist state and that F.R.A.T. and the major businesses of the city are at the very heart of this dictatorship.

Cast

Morgan Freeman .... Ashford
Kevin Spacey .... Wallace
Justin Timberlake .... Pollack
LL Cool J .... Deed
Dylan McDermott .... Lazerov
John Heard .... Tilman
Cary Elwes .... Reigert
Roselyn Sanchez .... Maria
Damien Wayans .... Isiaha (as Damien Dante Wayans)
Andrew Jackson .... Ives
Piper Perabo .... Willow

I was rather reluctant to watch Edison as it was originally titled; a quick glance at the reviews on the internet movie database told me that it was not well thought of; however the reviewers did not seem to be reviewing much further than the end of their noses; but they did all have one thing in common and that was Justin Timberlake. And it seems that wherever you look Justin Timberlake is being pretty well slated for this role, and it's easy to see why because he is just plain awful.

Despite third billing in this movie Justin Timberlake is undoubtedly the lead role; and this is a dreadful mistake because Timberlake simply cannot act. While Timberlake's performances start ok; when you venture past the initial story and the attack on Willow (Piper Perabo) progressing into the action it all goes wrong. Timberlake would play a phenomenal leading man in a romantic teen chick flick, but in a multi million dollar action thriller it's just implausible. When the action start his performance drops down top the lowest standard I have possibly seen, and I'm reminded of a school play or possibly something worse. When Timberlake first comes face to face with an action scene I'm reminded of his dancing in one of his music videos, he almost spontaneously flips into a Michael Jackson moonwalk. Worse still your kind of left with the impression that before being confronted by a deadly force he may very well have been masturbating; whether this is true or not I guess we'll never know but it looks suspect.
The movie is supposed to have elements of light humour, most of which involve Timberlake. In one scene he is escaping Lazerov on a girls BMX. It's clear that this was meant to be funny, but because Timberlake looks very much like a little boy the humour is lost.
One other badly thought out part of the movie involving Timberlake shows that in about five minutes Timberlake turns from being a man who has never held a gun into an expert marksman, On top of this a rather clever worker as he manages to cause an innocent that even the most vicious serial killer would have difficulty dreaming up.

Moving on from Timberlake and onto the good now and we have an incredibly well thought out story mainly led by someone who despite his years in the movie business I would not consider an actor LL Cool J. His character of Deed is obviously perplexed by events from the movies offset. He certainly spends much of the movie wrestling with his conscience; and this is convincing well done. Deed is presented with a deeper issue and that is that F.R.A.T. members do not marry and he is deeply in love with his long-time girlfriend; and can dream of nothing more than marrying her. Towards the end of the movie he tips Timberlake from his lead role position and takes over as the main player of the movie. Cool J looks like an action hero as he runs around brandishing an array of weapons ranging from a pistol to a bazooka and a flame thrower. But other than the action he can play the emotion too; he is a fantastic and very talented actor who really should be commended on carrying the lead role away from Timberlake.

Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey play very important parts in the movie and although both very good and very talented actors their performances are nothing different or unusual than they have played in the past. Although I will say that Spacey with his cowboy outfits and Elvis hair comes off as being a little bit sinister and creepy despite his characters obviously good intentions. The main thing is that he just looks "wrong" almost like he has been in receipt of a nasty amount of plastic surgery.

Two fantastic bad guy leads come from the very talented John Heard and Dylan McDermot. Heard who I always think is highly underrated in Hollywood plays the head of F.R.A.T. a character called Tillman; Tillman is F.R.A.T. through and through, he is obviously benefiting from the perks that the organization awards him. He comes on screen like the price of darkness ready to drink the blood of anyone who will get in his way.
McDermot shocked me by his performance; his character of Lazerov had obviously been with F.R.A.T. since its heyday and the effects of being involved with something so corrupt have obviously got to him. Lazerov loves the power that his role gives him; he loves being able to eliminate anyone that gets in his way without fear of comeback. However for Lazerov a combination of power mad resilience, drugs and alcohol prove too much; everything he does in the movie points to failure and he cannot help but shift his failings on to those around him. Dylan McDermot really does look like a man on the edge, who might fall from his long established perch at anytime.

The person you see the least of in respect of acting is Piper Perabo as Willow, although scarcely on screen for three minutes her presence is felt throughout the movie. Her role also includes the movies second big failing; and this is that you never find out what happens to her. Shortly after the film begins she is kicked in the head and left in a coma; this is never resolved. An image of her is seen right up to the end of the movie but she is not mentioned or referred too at any point during the last 45 minutes of the film.

Should Edison be granted a Cinema presence in the UK then it will certainly in my view be a controversial movie that will split audiences. It's got that big epic look; helped by the fact that with some powerful cinematography and a great musical score performed by Machinehead. On top of this you can easily say that large portions of the film seem like a big budget music video; it's during these "limbo" moments that Timberlake's real value is felt. He is filmed in some very powerful images and with the combination of the musical score it's clear to see the inspiration for the change of direction with his music career.

I have spent much time over the last week watching really bad films; so when you get a movie like Edison come along it feels you with joy. Although not along the same storylines of movies like The Constant Gardener and Syriana; Edison does have that epic gritty feel about it that can only be delivered by a great director and an excellent screenwriter. If I had to make a list of new movies I have enjoyed this year then Edison would certainly make my top ten; it's nice to see a movie that focuses on police corruption that does not get dragged down by things that you find difficult to understand. But a much more impressive achievement is the flow of the movie, your never clock watching or distracted by other events, the movie maintains your attention; and that music video feel of the movie does help to keep your attention. If you love movies like Heat or The Usual Suspects then Edison (Edison Force) is a movie for you.

Edison is available on Region 1 (US Format) DVD now; which you can get from Amazon for around £8.98. I suspect that this movie may get a series of cinema screenings over here in the UK, if so you can expect to see this on DVD early next year. If however it goes straight to DVD in the UK then expect to see this in your local video store any time now.
 

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