- EIFF 2019: ANIARA is a Deeply Haunting Sci-Fi Experience [Review]
- Darkstar Pictures Announces Free Online Film Festival!
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- SKYLINES Is Coming! [Poster Premiere]
- Who Hunts Who in HUNTER HUNTER? [Trailer]
- MONSTER HUNTER Coming for Christmas [Trailer]
- Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival Returns with In-Person Event [Line Up]
- LUNATIQUE Director Returns with WASTELAND 3 Promo [Short Film]
- Re: Occupation, Australian Sci Fi movie
- Slice of Life, Blade Runner inspired short
- Is Snowpeircer a sequel to Willy Wonka?
- Re: Yesterday
- Re: Yesterday
- Yesterday
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- BERLINALE 2021: TIDES Comes After Hell [Trailer]
- LUNATIQUE Director Returns with WASTELAND 3 Promo [Short Film]
- A Comet Destoys Earth in GREENLAND Trailer
- Interactive WAR OF THE WORLDS Adaptation Out Now!
- 8K Trailer for Train to Busan Sequel PENINSULA Drops Hard!
- Making a Bomb Shelter in a Funhouse is a Bad Idea in IMPACT EVENT [Trailer]
- Retro Slave: FOX's Post-Apocalyptic Sitcom WOOPS!
- TRAIN TO BUSAN Sequel PENINSULA Gets a Teaser Trailer
- New on Blu-ray and DVD for March 11, 2020
- The Apocalypse Kills Women in ONLY [Trailer]
- Trailer for TheWalking Dead: World Beyond Spin-Off Series
- SATOR is a Welcome Addition to the Folk Horror Canon [Review]
- Women in Horror Month: NEAR DARK
- SOUTHLAND TALES: The Cannes Cut [Review]
- A Woman's Mind Unravels in BIGHT HILL ROAD [Review]
- TIFF 2020: Vanlife Gets a Reality Check in NOMADLAND [Review]
- TIFF 2020: APPLES, THE WAY I SEE IT, PIECES OF A WOMAN & ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2020: The Truth Tellers Return with THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL [Review]
- TIFF 2020: NEW ORDER is Brutal, Violent & a Must-See [Review]
- TIFF 2020: ENEMIES OF THE STATE, Or Are They? [Review]
- TIFF 2020: HOLLER Explores Life in a Dying Town [Review]
- 2067 Director Talks Inspiration, Environment & Time Travel [Interview]
- THE STRANGERS Director Returns with THE DARK AND THE WICKED [Trailer]
- Michael Shannon is Crime Boss in ECHO BOOMERS [Trailer]
- Hair Extensions Get Horrific in BAD HAIR [Trailer]
- TIFF 2020: Vanlife Gets a Reality Check in NOMADLAND [Review]
- VIFF 2020: Sobriety, Reintegration & Telekinesis Come Together in THE CURSE OF WILLOW SONG [Interview]
- VIFF 2020: Revenge Thriller Re-Examined in VIOLATION [Interview]
- VIFF2020: Director Loretta Todd on the Making of Her Debut Feature MONKEY BEACH [Interview]
- TIFF 2020: APPLES, THE WAY I SEE IT, PIECES OF A WOMAN & ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2020: The Truth Tellers Return with THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL [Review]
- TIFF 2020: NEW ORDER is Brutal, Violent & a Must-See [Review]
- TIFF 2020: ENEMIES OF THE STATE, Or Are They? [Review]
- NO ESCAPE Director Talks Influencers, Escape Rooms & Writing [Interview]
- TIFF 2020: HOLLER Explores Life in a Dying Town [Review]
- The Funny Side of Alien Invasions: You have to SAVE YOURSELVES! [Trailer]
- Kodi Smit-McPhee Goes to the Future to Save the Present in 2067 [Trailer]
- First Look at Denis Villeneuve's DUNE [Trailer]
- Fantasia 2020: LAPSIS, THE COLUMNIST, MINOR PREMISE, FEELS GOOD MAN & HAIL TO THE DEADITES [Capsule Reviews]
- BUNRAKU Writer/Director Returns with LX 2048 [Trailer]
- BLOOD QUANTUM Writer/Director Talks Inspiration, Zombies & Representation [Interview]
Jack In
Latest Comments
Latest Forum Posts
PA News
Latest Reviews
Older News
Crew
Marina Antunes
Editor in Chief
Vancouver, British Columbia
Christopher Webster
Managing Editor
Edmonton, Alberta
DN aka quietearth
Founder / Asst. Managing Editor
Denver, Colorado
Simon Read
UK Correspondent
Edinburgh, Scotland
Rick McGrath
Toronto Correspondent
Toronto, Ontario
Manuel de Layet
France Correspondent
Paris, France
rochefort
Austin Correspondent
Austin, Texas
Daniel Olmos
Corrispondente in Italia
Italy
Griffith Maloney aka Griffith Maloney
New York Correspondent
New York, NY
Stephanie O
Floating Correspondent
Quiet Earth Bunker
Jason Widgington
Montreal Correspondent
Montreal, Quebec
Carlos Prime
Austin Correspondent
Austin, TX
Latest news








Year: 2011
Director: Nathan Morlando
Writer: Nathan Morlando
IMDB: link
Trailer: NA
Review by: Marina Antunes
Rating: 6 out of 10
I'm a total sucker for historical tales of real people I'm not familiar with so the appeal of Edwin Boyd, a WWII veteran and family man (and Canadian no less!) who is so disillusioned with his life that he turns to bank robbery, was immediate.
Scott Speedman stars as Boyd, a WWII veteran who has returned from the war and is eking out a living for his young family. Times are tough, money's tight and Boyd is at the end of his rope. On a particularly bad day he walks off his bus driver job and tries to crack the entertainment industry. That doesn't work out as expected and when his father steps in to help out the family, something in Boyd breaks and he takes matters into his own hands. The solution: bank robbery.
Things go well for Boyd whose good humour and showmanship come through in his robberies and when he gets caught, it's almost disappointing. While in jail, he meets up with another bank robber, the one footed Lenny Jackson (played by the severely underrated Kevin Durand) and along with Jackson's cronies, the group sets up another gang, this one hitting up bigger banks with bigger paydays. As Boyd's irregular day job brings in higher payouts and larger headlines, his relationship with his wife disintegrates and when Boyd is finally caught, after yet another escape, it's clear that his relationship with his family, the reason for the robberies to begin with, is finished.
There are some interesting things at play in Nathan Morlando's feature film debut, a passion project 10 years in the making, but it doesn't all work. Speedman, Durand and the rest of the cast, including Kelly Reilly as Boyle's wife Doreen, manage quite well with the script but there isn't a whole lot for them to work with. Much of writing is flat and uninteresting and there's very little emotion to the story. The film feels vacant and though I wanted to cheer for Boyd whose good looks, personality and skewed sense of morality make him a likable persona, but there isn't enough depth to the character to really cheer for.
There's also the film's distinct lack of tension. The heists themselves are played a bit tongue-in-cheek and there's no sense or urgency to any of the story. Even when the gang is dying of cold and hunger while hiding out after their second escape… it's almost as if they're just waiting to get caught and though we know that the police is after them and at one point even see them coming, I still didn't feel anything for any of the characters. There's no tension in any of the film – a real problem when the most of it centers on a group of criminals on the run from police - in one of the largest manhunts in Canadian history no less!
What's worse is that after a bit of additional reading, the film feels even more inadequate. It's not uncommon for biopics to change, sometimes drastically, parts of the story, but Morlando left out portions that could have served to develop Boyle and his relationship with his wife and father, something which the story returns to on various occasions but never fully explores.
I didn't care much for Edwin Boyd which feels overly long for the story it tells, not to mention that it lacks any punch, but it is a feature debut worth noting not to mention it features good performances from both Speedman and Durand. These two need to work together again. Soon.
You might also like






