Montana (1998)

just watch it!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I have NEVER heard of this movie but it turned out to be a fun view. Sure, it never made it big but heck, it has a good cast. Even John Ritter delivers the goods as a corrupt informercial man. I liked the way Stanley Tucci delivered the goods as a hitman. He was flawless and very confident everytime he shot that weapon. Kyra S (Kevin Bacon's Wife) was very good as a bold hitwoman. She delivered the goods as a woman who believed in her profession yet had a soft side for Tucci. The main BOSSMAN was played by that one fat wizard from Harry Potter. He was good and very ruthless as well. In once scene he threatened to cut the fingers off of a chinese man with a gardening tool! I would give this movie a 4 or 5 out of 10 but that's it.

I just saw Montana for the first time last night. The fact that my weak attention span was insistent that I finish it means I must have liked it at least reasonably well, but on a more conscious level I know this movie is not all that good. I really want to note that if the writing team and/or director stole from any director, it was probably much more Peckinpah than Tarantino. The story gives the violence a kind of nihilistic "this is the way we really are" quality that Tarantino has never addressed (nor does he need to; this is not a value judgement), but is Sam Peckinpah country. I think what kept me at it was outstanding acting all around, no wasted time editing (except for the one or two overly long firefights) and the possibility of new beginnings for very damaged people, which is neither Peckinpah or Tarantino in character. Just one more note, Robbie Coltrane's part does seem underwritten; one really irritating flaw in the movie.Gotta get back to tying the rebar. L

I had no idea what this movie is about, but a friend came to me once and said "I have a new favorite movie". "What?" I say. "Yes, Pulp Fiction isn't my no.1 anymore. Montana is". This was the only reason i watched this film. I thought it would be good, but it's a huge scam. It's full of uninteresting sequences or of scenes copied from other movies, the dialogue is dull and boring, the acting sucks. The good thing is that it's unpredictable and the ending is also good. But it's full of loose ends and plot holes. If this Leistes girl thinks an avalanche of "f*cks" and a scene copied from Pulp Fiction can make a movie good, well she must think again. (of course i am refering to the scene when 2 guys enter a room and shoot many times at poor Nick, but every bullet misses him). I couldn't give this title more than 4 out of 10.

Some movies are dragged down by weak performances, some weak movies are elevated by outstanding acting. This has a little of both pushing in each direction, with the director a little too eager to emulate Tarantino's ghoulish style. Stanley Tucci really puts in a fine performance as a highly intelligent, anal and laconic hit-man. But he's in the movie too little to really save it. Robbie Coltrane is utterly wasted as the mob boss, all he gets to do is growl a little and swill bourbon. Kyra Sedgewick does her best, but can't quite bring off the hard bitten hit woman (Kathleen Turner succeeded in Prizzi's Honor). She just seems out of place, watching her with a gun is like seeing a person who doesn't smoke trying to hold a cigarette--just looks awkward. In one scene she's digging a very large grave with a pile of dirt almost as big as herself. You can tell, though she's in very good shape, she's never used a shovel in her life and she looks remarkably silly. The vast quantities of blood that sprays and puddles everywhere gets boring very quickly--as if the director just bought stock in a fake blood corporation and figured to give it some business. Ultimately, not much happens in the movie, there's some blather about a conspiracy to topple the mob boss and missing money, but hardly worth the effort. The humor, such as it is, doesn't quite come off, and the "dishonor among thieves" theme is hardly a revelation. If stupid bloodshed, peppered with weak black humor, rent this -- it's a great example of beating to death a genre that wasn't that strong to begin with.