Many years ago, the Croatian public was shocked by a real-life horror story whose protagonist was a girl trapped in a car boot, left there by her violent and possessive ex-boyfriend. The most disturbing detail was that she had managed to hide her mobile phone and call the police, only for the duty officer—using an exceptionally creative interpretation of legal regulations—to inform her there was no basis for intervention. While the incident was widely condemned on internet forums as a deeply shameful act, there was little discussion about whether the officer had been motivated by his own or his colleagues’ experiences of being „burnt” after having done or attempted to do the right thing in similar past situations. Even fewer discussions addressed what an ordinary person would have done in such circumstances. The Bad Samaritan, a thriller directed by Dean Devlin, could serve as one attempt to answer that question.
The titular character is Sean Falco (Robert Sheehan), a young Irishman who moved to Portland, Oregon, with his mother. Though he appears to possess some talent for photography and his bohemian artist image was convincing enough to win over Riley (Jacqueline Byers), a sexy upper-class student, Sean attempts to achieve the American dream via the path of least resistance—engaging in petty crime. Together with his friend Derek (Carlito Olivero), with whom he works at a restaurant valeting guests’ cars, he devises a simple but effective scheme for extra income. While the guests, typically well-off, enjoy their dinner, either Sean or Derek uses navigation devices to drive to their homes, break in, and help themselves to valuables stored there. Everything functions smoothly until one evening when wealthy businessman Cale Erendreich (David Tennant) visits the restaurant. During the robbery of his luxury villa, Sean is shocked to discover that Erendreich is holding a woman named Katie (Kerry Condon) captive there in chains. Deciding to do the right thing, he first attempts to free her, but when this proves technically impossible, Sean flees and anonymously reports the incident to the police. However, Erendreich is more than prepared for such situations and, through smooth talk and a few tricks, successfully dispels all police suspicions. After Sean tries again to free the girl, Erendreich discovers who reported him. The petty Irish criminal soon realises that prison and deportation are not the worst things that could happen to him—he has drawn the ire of a wealthy, influential psychopath fully capable of turning his and his loved ones’ lives into hell.
For Devlin, long-time collaborator of Roland Emmerich and responsible for a string of spectacular though critically unloved sci-fi films, The Bad Samaritan represents an unusual foray into the thriller genre, featuring a budget far less characteristic of his oeuvre. The core premise of Brandon Boyce’s screenplay, however, relies on straightforward Hitchcockian principles of the 'ordinary man in an extraordinary situation'. Crucially, it doesn’t detract that the 'ordinary man' is actually a petty criminal—a segment of the audience, particularly from these geographical coordinates, can easily identify with his 'resourcefulness'. Sheehan, an Irish actor previously known exclusively for bit parts, is notably at ease in the rare opportunity to play the lead role. Yet the standout performance belongs to David Tennant, his Scottish colleague, who delivers one of the most striking portrayals of a villain on the big screen—a role made easier by the fact he previously played a similar psychopathic character in the TV series Jessica Jones. The rest of the cast is largely solid, particularly the relatively unknown Puerto Rican singer Carlito Olivero as Sean’s friend and co-worker.
Nevertheless, despite being markedly different from Devlin’s previous work, this film will not win over critics. The primary reason, as with many similar thrillers, is that a strong premise alone is insufficient when the screenplay is weak. The manner in which the protagonist’s situation unravels suggests precisely this. Viewers seeking a genuine thriller are forced to endure scenes and plot twists riddled with clichés and implausibilities that offend common sense. This applies especially to the main antagonist, who, like similar characters in poor thrillers, is endowed with almost superhuman abilities—whether it’s deceiving the police, covering his tracks, recruiting women to serve as alibis, or hacking someone’s life. The same holds true for the subplot involving the hero’s girlfriend, which, regardless of how pleasing Jacqueline Byers is to the eye (and she demonstrates this in a couple of clothing-free scenes), feels superfluous and merely elongates the film beyond its necessary runtime. There are hints that Devlin may have attempted to season the narrative with socio-economic commentary, linking the villain’s 'free activities' to his status as a member of today’s stock-trading mercantile elite, dominated by soulless, unscrupulous psychopaths. However, this is drowned in „political correctness”, i.e., agitprop that seems to have strayed from the Obama era, culminating in the deployment of an FBI agent—specifically a Black female agent (played by Tracey Haggins)—to confront the villain. Ultimately, the film concludes with a predictably melodramatic showdown in which hero and antagonist must measure their strength against each other in a lonely cabin deep in the woods. While the final shot is somewhat unusual for Hollywood productions of this genre, it will not dispel the generally poor impression of a film that could have been far better.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
(Note: The text in the original Croatian version was posted here.)
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