Thriller

Mystery

Adventure

A Perfect Getaway

Tooley Productions

Rogue

Relativity Media

QED International

United States of America

English

Steve Zahn

Milla Jovovich

Timothy Olyphant

Kiele Sanchez

Chris Hemsworth

Marley Shelton

Holt McCallany

Anthony Ruivivar

Dale Dickey

Wendy Braun

Peter Navy Tuiasosopo

Jim Cruz

Isaac Santiago

Matt Birman

David Twohy

Robert Bernacchi

Bill Block

Robbie Brenner

Camille Brown

Mark Canton

Scott Fischer

Kimberly Fox

Ken Halsband

Ryan Kavanaugh

Tucker Tooley

Tracy Adams

Anne McCarthy

Jay Scully

Joseph C. Nemec III

Laura Goldsmith

Matthew W. Mungle

Christopher Kulikowski

Ines Mongil-Echandi

Brian M. O'Neill

Charlie Bonilla

Brian Murray

Mark Plummer

Zina Torres

Lisa Alkofer

Marta Ezal Colón

Regina de Lemos

Blanca Nieves

Christine Aquino

Elenia Peña

Jacqueline Jiménez

Ángel Omar Cruz

Annette Rodriguez

Christina Smith

Marielena Ramirez

Boris Elkis

Carlos Zayas

Michael Watson

Stephen Clancy

Frank Norris

Steve Koster

Danny Falkengren

Angel Pastrana

Gustavo Accetta

Alwayne Fletcher

Ralston Williams

Robert Smathers

Tim Arasheben

Earl Brown

Javier Cruzado

Cleveland McKenzie

Manuel Manny Rivera

Michael Milella

Raúl J. Marín

Anthony Zibelli

Manuel 'Tyson' Cintrón

Scott Beckley

Chris Browne

Javier Pesquera

Peter Zuccarini

Sorely Muentes

Oscar A. Colom Cruz

Amilcar Rivera

Derek Marengo

Juan Guallini Indij

Matthew Cavaliero

Carlos 'Carly' Antunez

Félix Caraballo

Jason George

Ron Bedrosian

Michael Miller

Greg Steele

Jay Petach

Greg Zimmerman

John Matter

Kevin McCullough

Greg Gardner

William Munroe

Edmund J. Lachmann

Jed M. Dodge

Guy Francoeur

Benoît Leduc

Jo Caron

David Baldwin

David Barbee

Edmond J. Coblentz Jr.

Gary Macheel

Steven D. Grothe

Josh Eckberg

Marc Fishman

Tony Lamberti

Scott Martin Gershin

George Haddad

Lea Guivas-Murphy

Natalia Collazo

Katalina Iturralde

**_Great island locations but the story is essentially a..._**

Two newlyweds (Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich) set out to enjoy their honeymoon hiking the incredibly scenic Kaua'i, Hawaii. Unfortunately they catch word that a crazy murderous couple is on the loose and they become seriously suspicious of other hikers (Timothy Olyphant and Chris Hemsworth, amongst others). Will they escape their honeymoon alive?

"A Perfect Getaway" (2009) is worthwhile if, like me, you enjoy island-adventure movies like "Mysterious Island," "Robinson Crusoe" and "Six Days Seven Nights." The film was shot at Kaua'i, Puerto Rico and Jamaica (the sea cave sequence) and these locations are spectacular. 

Also, the character played by Timothy Olyphant and his woman (Kiele Sanchez) are likable and you can't help but start to root for them by the time the third act roles around. Olyphant is "outstanding." Chris Hemsworth (Thor) is also impressive as a grim/laconic badaxx hiker in a glorified cameo. Marley Shelton easily wins the Best Beauty award, but her role is too small and the filmmakers fail to take advantage of her presence.

Everyone knows by now that this is a 'twist' film and consequently the story takes a jarring turn in the final act. I'm not going to spoil it for you if you haven't seen it. I recommend seeing "A Perfect Getaway" if you like island flicks or films with surprising plot twists (or both). See if you can figure out the twist before it happens. I did and will explain below why it was easy. However, let me humbly add that I didn't have it figured out 100%; I just suspected the twist and that's how it turned out.

The film is good for what it is, but there are a couple of things that turned me off. One has to do with the twist, explained below. The other has to do with the film being a whodunit thriller. By it's very nature the story has to cast suspicion on several characters and, as such, they are often portrayed in a negative or weirdo light, which doesn't change until the last act when the real murderers are revealed. In short, there's just too much negative energy amongst the players, but this is somewhat offset by the impressive redemption of a couple of the characters in the third act.

The movie runs 1 hour, 38 minutes.

GRADE: B-

**_SPOILER ALERT_** (Don't read any further unless you've seen the film).

We discover in the third act that the main protagonists played by Zahn & Jovovich are the murderers and that they're actually impostors of a recently murdered newlywed couple. The reasons I was able to figure this out was because (1) I knew beforehand there was going to be a plot twist and so was looking for it and (2) in a murder-twist scenario it's usually the most innocent/vulnerable persons who are guilty (e.g. "Howling V: The Rebirth").

Twist films like this have now become so common that they're no longer even surprising. What would really be refreshing and 'cutting edge' is if the film simply played it straight, i.e. the people we think are the protagonists remain the protagonists throughout and the suspicious/evil people get their comeuppance ("Cape Fear" is a good example).

My problem with the twist is that it makes the whole story a lie -- the very people we come to care about and root for in the first hour end up being despicable criminal scum of the lowest depth (at least Zahn's character anyway) and the suspicious characters that we're led to believe are the murderers wind up being the protagonists we should care about. To the film's credit we DO end up caring about Olyphant's character and his mate by the end of the story.

Yes, I realize that, in a way, the film isn't lying to the viewer once the characters played by Zahn and Jovovich are understood to be the murderers. When this is understood, most (maybe all) of their conversations are authentic as the impostors/killers but not as the innocent newlyweds, if you know what I mean. It's all a matter of perspective. But, still, this doesn't take away from the fact that the viewer has essentially been baited and switched -- the very people we think are the innocent/vulnerable protagonists end up being the guilty/malevolent scum bags. Consequently, the viewer can't help but feel hoodwinked at the climax.

A Perfect Getaway Movie Trailer HD

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A Perfect Getaway

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Cast

Steve Zahn

Milla Jovovich

Timothy Olyphant

Kiele Sanchez

Chris Hemsworth

Marley Shelton

Holt McCallany

Anthony Ruivivar

Dale Dickey

Wendy Braun

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