Famke Janssen | Geekscape

Geekscape Movie Reviews: ‘Asher’

by AnalogJonesTOFDecember 12, 2018

This Friday night I rented Asher – He’s a Hebrew hitman looking for love… and his retirement benefits.

Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Writer: Jay Zaretsky
Release Date: December 7, 2018
Runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes
Rated: R

Character Rundown
Ron Perlman plays Asher, a former Mossad member turned gun for hire.
Famke Janssen plays Sophie, a ballet teacher that takes care of her mother with dementia.
Richard Dreyfuss plays Avi, the man at the top who calls the shots.
Peter Facinelli plays Uziel, the younger hitman who was trained by Asher.
Jacqueline Bisset plays Dora, Sophie’s mother with dementia.

Quick Synopsis
2018 seems to be the tough old man year. We’ve got The Oldman with a Gun starring Robert Redford at age 82, The Mule starring Clint Eastwood at 88 and now Asher starring a 68-year-old Ron Perlman. I’m not complaining, in fact, I love silver-haired character stories where the main protagonist questions their existence.

Asher lives a lonely life in a quiet apartment, eating dinner and drinking wine by himself every night at 8 pm. Asher has a routine that is foolproof. He works alone, gets his usual rate, shines his shoes and takes out his target. It’s rather enjoyable watching Asher’s tactics of making the “hit.” He lights up a cigarette, sets off the sprinklers and waits for his victim to come out of their door and BOOM, they’re dead. He even grabs a new umbrella for every job.

One night while Asher is getting ready to take down another mark, he passes out from walking up the stairs and falls into Sophie’s apartment. Sophie is a beautiful woman with somber brown eyes. Famke Janssen brings a lot of soul to this character. Instead of only being the love interest, she brings weight to Sophie’s character with witty banter and puzzling looks. Once Asher sees Sophie, he has to make her dinner. Sophie resists at first but decides to surprise him one night and change up his routine.

The story hits a snag when Asher decides to break his own rule of working alone. He takes a job with a younger hitman, Uziel, which Asher mentored. Uziel’s team needs back up, and Asher must cover them while they take out a house of rival mobsters.

After the job, Asher finds his world-changing, and he must find a way to keep it together along with getting Sophie out alive.

Pros:

Perlman seems to keep getting better with age. He may be older, but it seems to make him more interesting to watch. His grizzled look carries so many small details in how he walks and talks as Asher.

An older cast. Jacqueline Bisset is 74, Richard Dreyfuss is 71, Ron Pearlman is 68, and Famke Janssen is 53, they still can bring it. Hollywood is a young man/woman’s game, but that doesn’t mean it’s always better. This movie proves it.

Cons:

It can get a little sleepy at times. The Noir look coupled with the long takes can drag, but it’s a small nitpick.

Final Grade: B-

Thanks for reading, and check out our podcast Analog Jones and the Temple of Film. We are a VHS Podcast that breaks down the box art, trailers and behind the scenes.

– Stephen M. Bay

SXSW Movie Review: This Is Your Death

by MCDaveMarch 13, 2017

Giancarlo Esposito may not be a household name, but for millions of Americans and fans of AMC’s Breaking Bad all over the globe, he will forever be known as “Gus Fring”. Yet, Esposito is far from a one-dimensional artist. His second directing credit belongs to This Is Your Death, another 2017 SXSW selection recently experiencing a world premiere at the festival.

After a deadly rampage is captured live on a reality tv show finale, the network head (Famke Janssen) and show host, Adam Rogers (Josh Duhamel), create a twisted new series where people take their own lives on air for the betterment of those they care most about in their lives. But as the fame and success of the show grows wildly out of control, Adam starts to lose a handle on why he wanted to go through with creating the show in the first place.

This Is Your Death begs to unveil a poignant message about the savage nature of our society and our fixation on exploitative reality television. Instead, Esposito’s muddled tale goes off the rails with illogical plot points and melodramatic writing. As a filmmaker, Esposito delivers fine direction that’s nothing spectacular, but completely adequate. Yet, the character development surrounding host Adam Rogers is both perplexing and drastically artificial. While the fault clearly belongs to co-writers Noah Pink and Kenny Yakkel, Josh Duhamel’s performance does nothing to improve the situation. Futhermore, Giancarlo Esposito steps out from behind the camera and offers a major supporting turn as well. While his role is executed slightly better than the film’s leading star, flawed writing once again tears down this emotional dynamic to the story. Due in large part to an influx of over-dramatization where you’re constantly being told how to feel rather than actually made to do so, This Is Your Death serves as a classic example of when a film’s premise far exceeds the overall delivery.

GRADE: 2/5

For other reviews, trailers and movie lists, vistit MCDAVE’s host site

Famke Janssen Unsure If She’s Returning For ‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past’

by Shawn MaddenJanuary 7, 2013

It’s been revealed that a number of the original cast from the X-Men trilogy will be returning for the upcoming X-Men: Days Of Future Past, however one cast member isn’t too sure about her return. It’s been rumored for awhile now that Famke Janssen (who played Jean Grey in the first three films) would have a cameo appearance in The Wolverine as well as return for the next X-film. While doing press for Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters actress was asked about her return to which she replied:

“I’m sitting by the phone waiting, call me up Bryan! I think their challenge is that I died as Jean Grey and I died as the Phoenix, so what else can they do. If they bring a younger version back, they’ll have to get a younger actress, so what is there left to do?”

Well, it looks like Janssen joins the list of cast members unsure if they’re going to be returning for the next X-film. With filming set to begin in a few months, expect to learn the full cast for the film quite soon. Seriously though, our fingers are crossed for James Marsden and Lucas Till both coming back.

X-Men: Days Of Future Past is scheduled to hit theaters July 18, 2014.

Source: ComingSoon

RUMOR: Famke Janssen Making Cameo As Jean Grey In ‘The Wolverine’

by Shawn MaddenOctober 21, 2012

There’s been quite a bit of talk and speculation lately wondering if James Mangold’s The Wolverine will tie into Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: Days Of Future Past as well as whether or not we would see characters from the first three X-films appearing in the flick. There’s a rumor that just hit, that if it turns out to be true, would show that Fox may definitely be connecting the two films.

We Got This Covered reports that Famke Janssen, the actress who played Jean Grey in the first three X-Men films, recently flew to Sydney to shoot a cameo for The Wolverine. Just recently Janssen had stated that she would be interested in reprising the role in Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming X-Men: Days Of Future Past, which could mean we may be getting some form of connection between the two films. There is no word however just how big of a cameo appearance it is.