''Give 'Em Hell, Malone'' is a 2009 American

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by

Russell Mulcahy Russell Mulcahy ( ; born 23 June 1953) is an Australian film director. Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans. He directed music videos ...

and starring

Thomas Jane Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in the films Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987), ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), '' Deep Blue Sea'' (1999), '' The Punisher'' (2004), '' The Mist'' ( ...

Ving Rhames Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also a ...

and

Elsa Pataky Elsa Lafuente Medianu (; born 18 July 1976), known professionally as Elsa Pataky, is a Spanish-Australian model and actress. Pataky is known for her role as Elena Neves in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. She has appeared in the films '' Snake ...

Plot

An ex-private eye turned gun for hire named Malone is hired to retrieve a suitcase from a building full of armed mobsters, but a violent shootout ensues and Malone is eventually left as the only survivor. Suspecting a set-up, he retains the only noteworthy item contained in the case - a small painted animal referred to as "the meaning of love" - for himself, prompting several different parties in the employ of a local gangster - Whitmore - to pursue Malone in attempt to discern the meaning of the case's contents. After a series of violent encounters leaving many dead, Malone eventually confronts Whitmore, who admits he was responsible for hiring Malone and planted the toy - a keepsake belonging to Malone's young son - as a means to trick Malone into exterminating Whitmore's criminal help, allowing Whitmore to become a legitimate businessman without worrying about being tainted by potential loose ends from his criminal past. Malone kills Whitmore and phones his (Malone's) wife and son - previously presumed dead - but does not engage them in conversation. A title-over at the end reads, "To Be Continued...".

Cast

as Malone *

as "Boulder" *

as Evelyn *

French Stewart Milton French-Stewart IV (born February 20, 1964), known professionally as French Stewart, is an American actor, best known for playing Harry Solomon on the NBC sitcom ''3rd Rock from the Sun''. He also played Marv Murchins in ''Home Alone 4'', In ...

as Frankie "The Crooner" *

Leland Orser Leland Jones Orser (born August 6, 1960) is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous film and television roles, notably as Lucien Dubenko in the television series '' ER'' (2004–2009) and Sam Gilroy in the '' Taken'' film series (2008–20 ...

as Murphy *

Chris Yen Chris Yen Tze-ching (born August 4, 1974) is a Hong Kong martial artist and actress. She is the younger sister of the actor Donnie Yen. She was noted for her roles in the films '' Protégé de la Rose Noire'', '' Adventures of Johnny Tao: Rock ...

as "Mauler" * William Abadie as "Pretty Boy" *

Gregory Harrison Gregory Neale Harrison (born May 31, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Chandler in the 1987 film '' North Shore'', as Dr. George Alonzo "Gonzo" Gates, the young surgeon assistant of Dr. Trapper John McIntyre (played by Per ...

as Whitmore *

Doug Hutchison Doug Anthony Hutchison (born May 26, 1960) is an American character actor, known for playing disturbing and antagonistic characters. Such characters include Obie Jameson in the 1988 film '' The Chocolate War'', Sproles in the 1988 film '' Fresh H ...

as "Matchstick"

Release

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray January 26, 2010.

Critical reception

Tyler Foster of ''

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

'' gave the film a negative review, calling it "a movie that's groan-worthy when it follows the beaten path and annoying when it tries to subvert it" and unfavorably compared it to

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...

's ''

The Spirit The Spirit is a fictional masked crimefighter created by cartoonist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940, as the main feature of a 16-page, tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book insert distributed in the Sunday edition of Register and Trib ...

''. Brian Pisco for ''Pajiba'' had similar feelings, stating that the film "sets up asskickery that never comes about.".

Sequel

A sequel to the film was announced in 2021, with Jane and Hosack returning as actor and screenwriter respectively.

References

External links

* * {{Russell Mulcahy 2009 films 2000s English-language films 2009 action thriller films 2009 crime thriller films American action thriller films American crime thriller films Films set in the 1960s Films directed by Russell Mulcahy American neo-noir films Films produced by Brian Oliver 2000s American films