Wrong Turn at Tahoe
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''Wrong Turn at Tahoe'' is a 2009 American
action 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 Franck Khalfoun and starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Miguel Ferrer, and Harvey Keitel.


Plot

Joshua and his boss, Vincent, are driving to a hospital. Both have been shot and are in pain. Joshua thinks back to his childhood, when his father was shot in front of his eyes. In a flashback, Joshua and his partner, Mickey, visit people that owe money to Vincent. They encounter a crazy druggie who tells them that a small-time drug dealer named Frankie Tahoe wants to kill Vincent. Joshua and Mickey inform Vincent, and the trio intimidate a guy who works for Tahoe into telling them where he can be found. They find Tahoe at a nightclub. During a talk, Tahoe insults the religion of Joshua and Vincent, which they hold dear, and Vincent beats Tahoe to death with a baseball bat. The trio dump the body in a landfill. While doing this, Vincent reveals that Mickey and Vincent's wife have been having an affair. Vincent then kills Mickey. While Joshua and Vincent are having breakfast, Joshua tells his boss that he has become weary of the violence and wants to retire. Vincent admits that he has violent outbursts but insists that Joshua owes him his life. Angered, Vincent says that Joshua cannot retire. He leaves to go home, where he discovers two men watching his house. While confronting them, Joshua appears. The men tell Vincent that they have been ordered to deliver him to Nino, a powerful crime boss. When Nino calls his men, Vincent answers the cellphone. Vincent and Joshua get in the car and are driven to Nino's house. After Nino taunts Vincent with a choice of restitution methods for killing Tahoe, all of them expensive, Vincent rejects every option. Nino is insulted and walks away. Vincent and Joshua leave. Upon arriving back at his house, Vincent finds that his wife has been brutally murdered. Vincent attempts to give Joshua $50,000 as severance and tells him to leave the city. Joshua refuses and says that he will not retire while Nino is still alive. They wait until night and return to Nino's house to seek vengeance. While Joshua takes the downstairs, fighting his way through many of Nino's henchmen, Vincent goes upstairs and finds Nino, who has donned a bullet-proof vest and is waiting for him, sawed-off shotgun in hand. The fight is prolonged; Vincent is hit but survives, and Nino dies in a large pool of blood. Meanwhile, Joshua engages in a hand-to-hand fight with one of Nino's men and finally strangles him, only to have another appear. As this man is about to slice Joshua's throat, Vincent shows up and shoots him, but the man does not die right away. Joshua identifies the wounded man as the one who killed Vincent's wife. Vincent uses the man's knife to eviscerate him. While the two leave the house, Nino's wife appears. She and Joshua exchange fire and both are hit. The wife dies, but Joshua, who has been hit in the stomach, is able to walk away. Back in the present, Vincent is driving the car and Joshua is in the back seat. At that point, Joshua remembers that it was Vincent who murdered his father. Joshua places a handgun to the back of Vincent's head. Vincent tells Joshua that he is too loyal to kill his own boss. The scene fades to black, leaving it unresolved as to whether Joshua pulls the trigger.


Cast

* Cuba Gooding Jr. as Joshua * Miguel Ferrer as Vincent * Harvey Keitel as Nino * Mike Starr as Paulie * Johnny Messner as Mickey * Alex Meneses as Marisa *
Leonor Varela Leonor Magdalena Varela Palma (; born 29 December 1972) is a Chilean actress. She played the Cleopatra, title role in the 1999 television film ''Cleopatra (1999 film), Cleopatra'', and vampire princess Nyssa Damaskinos in the 2002 Marvel Comics ...
as Anna *
Louis Mandylor Louis Mandylor (born Elias Theodosopoulos; 13 September 1966) is an Australian film and television actor. Mandylor played Nick Portokalos in ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), a role he reprised in the sequel ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2'' (2 ...
as Steven *
Noel G. Noel Albert Gugliemi (also known as Noel G.) is an American actor best known for his portrayals of Southern Californian gangsters. Gugliemi has received some notoriety for having played characters named ''Hector'' in several movies and TV shows. ...
as Frankie Tahoe * Paul Sampson as Richie * John Cenatiempo as Johnny * Genevieve Alexandra as Tiff * Reed McColm as Donnie * Michael Sean Tighe as Jeff * Rich Warren as Anthony * Walter Poole as Gregory, Bodyguard


Production

The film was shot in
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...
.


Reception

Jamie Russell of ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'' rated it 2/5 stars and called it a forgettable thriller that copies
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
. Jim Kershner of ''
The Spokesman Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...
'' called it "Tarantino-light". Bill Gibron of
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
rated it 5/10 stars and wrote, "In essence, ''Wrong Turn at Tahoe'' is film noir without the pulsating plot undercurrent or aesthetic flare. The result is all mood and no movement." Tyler Foster of DVD Talk rated it 2/5 stars and wrote that Ferrer's performance, which he praised, is not enough to make the film entertaining enough for a recommendation. Daryl Loomis of
DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews ...
wrote, "There are heavy shades of Tarantino and Scorsese, but they make it their own".


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wrong Turn At Tahoe 2009 films 2009 direct-to-video films 2009 action thriller films American action thriller films American crime thriller films American crime drama films Paramount Pictures direct-to-video films Films shot in Washington (state) Films directed by Franck Khalfoun Films scored by Nicholas Pike 2000s English-language films 2000s American films