'How much impact has Film Four had on the UK film industry in the last 20 years? What do you think their role will be in the future and will it ever be possible for such an institution to compete against the vertical integration that is possible with institutions such as Disney?'
Film 4 recieve £15m a year, and aim to finance between 8 to 12 feature films a year, as well as 4 or 5 short films. But they dont fully finance production so they work with producers to find the right finance at the right time which is a very important part of their work. Their own money represents both licence fee for free UK TV, and also an equity investment which is a way for us to be invested across the long life of a film. They spend a very large proportion (around £2.5m a year) on developing scripts and ideas and they see this as a hugely important part of their work – this is where the risk lies, this is where we find and nurture new writers and directors, and this commitment to development means they can work with producers to build projects in a creatively challenging environment to the point where they are robust enough to go out to the market.
The Film4 ambition holds new talent at its heart – theyview it as a long term strategy and it is indeed one which has paid off many times over over many years. A mixture of long term returning directors and new directors form the spine of our feature film production slate. Directors like Danny Boyle, Shane Meadows, Kevin MacDonald, Steve McQueen, Martin McDonagh and Roger Michell all continue to make films with British money, albeit sometimes shooting in the US (Martin McDonagh’s new film Seven Psychopaths has just shot in LA with an all US cast – but it has British talent and British money behind it, from a British production company).
They see our ability to support film-makers from the outset of their career to be the essential ingredient in building a stable of distinctive, important British voices. And they have learnt to take a risk on an apparently less “commercial” project, but one which a film-maker and we both believe holds something special, different, challenging, resonant, can often be the best – and scariest – decision we can make.
We have a new digital initiative, Film4.0 which is developing innovative new projects across different platforms, with talent often new to film, but also with established film-makers new to the digital sphere.
We are looking at new financing models for super low budget films which allow the film-maker teams to share in gross from first pound in and access audiences through new distribution models. We have a diversity initiative on which we are working with new producers to reach out to communities we feel are under-represented.

What does the future hold for the UK film industry?

Consider

UK expertise: working title, Aardman, case study

1.     intro

       2. Production Digital technology Web 2.0GauntletCosts Environment

2.     Distribution conglomerate, indie benefits, vertical integration, synergy, market branding, cost economy, efficiency, battle against piracy

3.     Consumption convergence, exchange, exhibition, cinematic experience, audience, loyalty, new technology

4.     Conclusion

The UK film industry has gone through many spells of success since the 1930’s. It fell to an all time low in the 1970’s when Hollywood dominated the film industry and they did not want to fund the UK. But this changed when Titanic emerged as America’s largest production companies wanted to incorporate vertical integration back into the industry. So this shows the uncertainty the ever-changing industry.

            The production of film making is becoming more and more expensive as there is now more advanced special effects and 3D is available so therefore films are trying to out do one another with their vast use of technology. One of the main factors of new production is digital technology it makes it cheaper and quicker to be produced and sent off to where it is needed. But the down side of this is that not all cinemas have a digital film screening so therefore they are unable to play the film, so most films are produced in both. In the future if all cinemas had a digital film screening all films would be produced in their way but it may lead to more piracy as it is easier to copy the film, so this will probably not happen unless they find a way to resolve the piracy issue, which they are trying to do with companies such as ‘FACT’.

Audiences are now seen as active and no longer as passive. Web 2.0 Supports this as examples are social networking sites, blogs, video sharing, so therefore audiences are able to interact and collaborate with one another rather than get pushed the new media the audiences now pull, finding their own choice of media, (Gauntlett). Films now rely on much more than just the film, they rely on market branding. But they cannot fund this by themselves so they usually work within a conglomerate such as working title which is a british company get funding from Universal, which get their funding from Vivendi.

As due to piracy the revenue received does not exceed the budget therefore they have to find other ways to produce profit. Disney is a large example of this as they have may toys all over the world and they work in synergy with McDonalds to produce a large profit. But this can only be done by large companies, therefore companies with a smaller budget will have to work within a convergence to produce a higher profit, such as a game for hardware such as the play station, or an app for a phone. 

1. What are the 7 elements of P&A?

The quantity and production of release prints and trailers

Press materials, clips reels, images, press previews, screener tapes

The design and printing of posters and other promotional artwork

Advertising campaign - locations, ad size and frequency

Press campaign / contracting a PR agency

Arranging visit by talent from the film

Other preview screenings

2. About how many prints might a specialised film have and how long will the tour be?

fewer than 10 prints over a 6 month period. 

3. How many prints might a commercial mainstream have?

200 prints+ 

4. How many did your case study film have?

2000+

5. Why is a favourable press response a key factor?

developing the profile and desirability of a film. 

6. What is the standard format for a cinema poster?

30"x40" quad format 

7. WHy is a poster important?

packaging the key attributes of a film for potential audiences

8. Please insert a copy of your case study film poster and analyse how it features to key attributes.

previously on blog

9. WHat is the word to express coverage working at the same time.

10. What is the key aspect for mainstream film?

scale and high visibility is key 

11. Why is distribution in the UK seen as riskier than in other countries?

high cost of print so is riskier than other countries

12. How are distributors trying to get around this problem?

distributors are looking increasingly to 'viral marketing' - different forms of electronic word-of-mouth via the internet, email and mobile phones.

13. Who was the press agency for your case study?

14. What is another name for the actors or director?

wins significant editorial coverage to support a release.

15. What sort of coverage did the key players in your case study have? Did they appear on Jonathon Ross, this 

16. What is the ultimate aim of marketing?
A distributor will consider the use of advance public screenings to create word-of-mouth and advance 'buzz' around a film.

1. What are the two questions around the marketing of a film release?
when? how?2. What day of the week are new films released in the UK?
Fridays3. Who schedules and coordinates forthcoming releases?
by the Film Distributors Association4. What is a ‘light’ week?
where not many films are being shown more screen space and more press5. What three aspects have to be taken into account for a film to have the greatest potential to reach audiences?
seasonality
dont release along with another film of similar traites
6. Why is this becoming increasingly difficult?
as regularly 10 new release a week 7. What are P&A 
prints and advertising they meet the costs of theatrical distribution8. What are the costs of P&A?
range from less than £1000 to £100000000
9. Who marketed your film?

universal

Licensing
1. Define the licensing process.
when a distributor acquires the legal right to exploit a film2. How many levels are there?
2 levels.3. How many ‘market territories are there around the world?
90+4. Why are smaller independent film companies unable to handle the licensing for their own films?
often lack necessary knowledge or contacts of each of the territories. 5. So what do they do?
they hire a specialist sales agen, whose function is to understand the value of a film in many different markets. 6. What is ‘local’ distribution?
involves the distributor acquiring the license to release and exploit the film in a particular country. 7. They purchase the theatrical rights, what does this consist of?.
showings in cinema, video rights, video and DVD exploitation, TV rights if distributor is able to sell the fim to a broadcaster. 8. Who do they have to share royalties with?
producer
9. What is the most effective way to create interest in a new film in the UK?
release the film in a cinema. the big screen is the optimum setting for a film for both audiences and the filmmaker. 
10. What options are available after the theatrical (cinema) release?
DVD VHS pay television 2 years after free to air television. 
11. What must a successful distributor do?
have in-debt knowledge of the marketplace. which cinemas, video outlets and broadcasters can best draw an audience for it films. 12. Who was the distributor for your case study? 
Universal13. What techniques did they employ?
Opening weekend opened the film in 2560 cinemas. 

Distribution
1.How would you define the exhibition of film?
Is a common place, shared cultural activity highly visible in every city and town in Britian, constantly feeding the popular memory.
2. What number part of the film supply chain is distribution?
The third part.3. How is it sometimes referred to?
The invisible art4. Why is it argued that it is the most important part of the film industry?
as the completed film is brought to life and connected with the audience as if there was no audience there would be no profit for the film.
5. What are the three stages of film process?
the phases of production, distribution and exhibition.6. In what way are they most effective?
vertically intergrated.7. Why is this more difficult for the independent film sector?
as producers do not usually have long term lnks with distributers who likewise have no formal connections wih exhibitors.8. What are the three stage of distribution?
licensing, marketing and logistics.

Contraband's relationship with Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a romance comedy produced in the year of 1999 where as my film Contraband is an action crime drama that is produced int he year 2012. Therefore this shows a huge difference already as they are produced 13 years apart it shows that there would be a lot of difference with things such as film quality and money involved in filming and effects used.
They both used directors that are not english or american, one is South African and one is Icelandic.
They both use a combination of english and american actors and actresses.
Notting Hill had almost doubkle the budget of Contraband even though it is a newer film contraband's budget was $25 million whereas Notting Hill has a budget of $42 million.
But contraband got a much larger profit in the opening weekend and will get a larger but may not exceed Notting Hills overall gross profit.
They both have Working Title Films as company credits but do not share any others.
They also share all their sound mix of: Dolby Digital, DTS and SDDS.

Exchange:

Aubin Cinema, Cineworld, Odeon, Empire
Release date: 11th March 2012
Large cinemas which shows it will be a popular film as they have distributed many film reels, this also means that the company had a lot of money to spend to give out more than a few film reels and they feel it will be a popular film all round the country to retreave profit from the film, to gain back all the money all the money spent on the film reels along with the actors and props and settings etc. Universal is financing a lot of the budget as they are partners with Working Title so therefore they are able to have a large budget for the filma s Working Title is the biggest film production company in the UK so therefore they have the largest market share over British films so therefore the biggest budget to spend. Along with this Universal is one of the largest film production company in USA so therefore when they merge their budgets together they get an extremely large budget to produce excellent films but they have to be careful as if they spend too much money they may not be able to gain a profit from the film. But both companies benefit from the large budget as in general they are able to produce high quality, better films that are popular all round.

What attracted it to you?
The fast paced film looks like it will be exciting and exhilerating to watch. Also there is a confusing story line which i like as you want to keep watching to know what happens in the end as when you know what will happen from the very beginning the film is boring and you switch off.
When you have watched it how does it represent UK?
Did you enjoy it.
Put links to articles, reviews, companies etc on your blog.

Which BFI category (a, b,c,d,e look on your worksheet) does you film fit into?

This film would fit into the category D (Film made in the UK with usually British cultural content, but financed fully or partly by American companies.)
It fits into this category as the producers of the film are British as they have a large say in the film. Therefore the film will have a British aura to it and funded by the Working Title Films as the producers are part owners. But i will be distributed by Universal as the are partners with Working Title. So therefore this is where the americans tie in with the film. It also uses some English actors and actresses alonside American.

Distribution and Marketing

Distributed by Universal Pictures who are the longest lived Hollywood studios. They are one of the largest in the film industry. 

it has been advertised by posters, trailers on television, cinemas an on youtube, facebook and twitter pages.

http://www.facebook.com/Contraband?sk=wall

https://twitter.com/#!/ContrabandMovie  

they have targeted the male audience as the film is full of violence which is stereotypically aimed at men. It is rated a 15 film so therefore it is not a family film, so is aimed at the young adults and adults that like violent films. You can tell this by the actors used, so the audience can relate to the actors and have more involvement in the film. As some of their life situations could occur in the film, and gets them more involved. 

Producers:
Tim Bevan was born in Queenstown, New Zealand. He co-founded Working Title Films in London with Sarah Radclyffe and Graham Bradstreet in the 1980s. Among Bevan's more than 40 films as producer or executive producer are Moonlight and Valentino, Love Actually, Notting Hill, Elizabeth, Bridget Jones's Diary, which shows he is a very famous and talented producer and is classed as a british producer as he works from London. 

Eric Fellner livedl in Surrey, England from 1972-77. He attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He is a good friend of Hugh Grant, who is the star of some of Working Title's biggest box office hits.

He was awarded the C.B.E. in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to the British film industry.

Among Fellner's more than 60 films as producer or executive producer are Moonlight and Valentino, Four Weddings and a Funeral,Dead Man Walking, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary and Senna.

Working Title Films signed a deal with Universal Studios in 1999 for a reported $600 (USD) million, which gave Bevan and Fellner the power to commission projects with a budget of up to $35 (USD) million without having to consult their paymasters. It is now Britain’s largest production company with offices in London and Los Angeles. This shows they are great partners with all their achievements and gives this film a good chance of great success. Also means that Working Title film are producing this film as they have the budget to do so and do not need help in the financial department due to the deal with Universal. 

The cast include big american names such as:

Mark Wahlberg-Wahlberg is well known for his roles in films such as Boogie Nights (1997), Three Kings (1999), The Perfect Storm (2000), Planet of the Apes (2001), The Italian Job (2003), I Heart Huckabees (2004), Four Brothers (2005), The Departed (2006), Invincible (2006), Shooter (2007), and The Fighter (2010). Many of these films are action films that have done extremely well so therefore he knows how to play the role well as he has had a lot of experience.
Kate Beckinsale-Beckinsale became known as an action star following an appearance in 2003's Underworld and has since starred in many action films, including Van Helsing (2004), Underworld: Evolution (2006), Whiteout (2009), Contraband (2012), and Underworld: Awakening (2012). She also makes occasional appearances in smaller dramatic projects such as Snow Angels (2007), Winged Creatures (2008), Nothing but the Truth (for which she earned a Critic's Choice Award nomination in 2008) and Everybody's Fine (2009). Her next onscreen appearance will be in the sci-fi action remake Total Recall, due for release in August 2012. She again has a lot of experience in action films and is alsoan english actress.

Ben Foster -After appearing in the films 11:14 and The Punisher, Foster appeared in Hostage with Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak and Michelle Horn. In 2006, Foster appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand as the comic-book hero Angel/Warren Worthington III. In the crime thriller Alpha Dog, he played the character Jake Mazursky and added glaucoma drops to his eyes to simulate the appearance of a drug addict in the film. another well known action actor. 

Giovanni Ribisi -His film credits include Gone in 60 Seconds, Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, The Gift, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lost in Translation and more recently, Public Enemies and Avatar.

This will help promote the film and not only attract a film audience but may also attract fans of certain actors and actresses as they are international actors and actresses so therefore are known by the British. 

It is directed by Baltasar Kormákur who is an Icelandic actor, theater and film director, and film producer. He is best known for directing the films 101 Reykjavík, Hafið, A Little Trip to Heaven.

Contraband is an American action thriller film directed by Baltasar Kormákur, starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale. The film is a remake of the 2008 Icelandic film Reykjavík-Rotterdamwhich Baltasar Kormákur starred in. It was released on January 13, 2012 in the United States by Universal Pictures
cast:

• Mark Wahlberg as Chris Farraday
• Kate Beckinsale as Kate Farraday
• Caleb Landry Jones as Andy
• Ben Foster as Sebastian Abney
• Giovanni Ribisi as Tim Briggs
• Lukas Haas as Danny Raymer
• J.K. Simmons as Captain Camp
• Diego Luna as Gonzalo
• Robert Wahlberg as John Bryce
• Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Igor
• Jaqueline Fleming as Jeanie
• William Lucking as Bud Farraday
• Amber Gaiennie as Danny's Bride
• Paul LeBlanc as CBP Official
• Kent Jude Bernard as Tommy Raymer
• Jackson Beals as Desmond
• Connor Hill as Michael
• David O'Hara as Jim Church

Filming took place in New Orleans, Louisiana and Panama City.

Plot

Chris Farraday (Mark Wahlberg) is an ex-smuggler who works installing security alarms and lives a peaceful life with his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and their children in New Orleans. One day, Chris and Kate learn that her brother Andy (Caleb Landry Jones) was smuggling drugs in a cargo ship, but was forced to drop them into the ocean in order to avoid arrest during a surprise inspection by the U.S. Customs. Andy's boss, ruthless mobster Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), is infuriated and wants Andy to repay him the drug's worth in money.

Chris meets with Briggs, who threatens to kill Chris' family if Andy doesn't pay $700,000 in two weeks. Chris realizes that the only way to raise the money is to run contraband and joins the crew of a cargo ship where his father Bud (William Lucking), currently in prison, used to run contraband, in order to smuggle $10,000,000 in fake bills from Panama with the help of Andy and Chris' old friend Danny Raymer (Lukas Haas). While Chris is gone, Briggs and a couple of his thugs break into Chris's house and scares his wife and kids. When one of the kids pushes the thugs, a thug accidentally fires off his pistol to the wall. Briggs and his thugs then leave, causing Chris to asks his best friend, Sebastian Abney (Ben Foster), to take care of his family.

In Panama, the Chief Engineer gives Chris extra time by sabotaging the ship's pitch propeller, drawing suspicion from Captain Camp (J. K. Simmons). However, Chris discovers that the bills are useless, not starch-free paper, and the only one who can provide them good ones is crime lord Gonzalo (Diego Luna). Meanwhile, Briggs attacks Kate in her house, forcing her to move to Sebastian's apartment. He then calls Andy and threatens to kill one of his sister's children if Andy doesn't use the buy money intended for the fake bills to acquire a stash of cocaine. Andy runs off with the buy-money, leading an infuriated Gonzalo to force Chris and Danny to participate in an armored car heist. Chris and Danny are assigned with the job of driving in front of the armored car, forcing it to stop and becoming vulnerable to the robbers. However, Gonzalo and his men are killed in a firefight with the police.

Chris and Danny make it back to Gonzalo's warehouse, where they then escape in a van loaded with the fake money, and also a Jackson Pollock painting which was stolen in the armored car heist. Meanwhile, Sebastian begins working with Briggs against Chris, after a Scottish gangster Jim Church (David O'Hara) threatens to kill Sebastian if Sebastian doesn't repay the money Sebastian borrowed to save his fledgling construction business. Also Sebastian calls Chris and Chris tells Sebastian he might throw the money in the ocean. Sebastian tells Briggs to scare Kate, in order to make sure that Chris doesn't dump the drugs bought by Andy into the ocean. That same night, Briggs rams Chris's house with his truck and assaults Kate, warning her to tell Chris to complete the mission and to not throw the cash in the ocean. Sebastian comes in and pretends to rescue Kate, scaring off Briggs. Sebastian tells Kate to get in his truck, but Kate knows he's been drinking and she doesn't want her kids in the car with him. So she grabs the kids and drives off.

At the Panama City freight yard, a crew member of the ship has a container standing by for Chris to drive the contraband-loaded van into. The crew member also bribes a freight-yard supervisor to delay the loading of three containers in order to give Chris time to make it to the ship. Chris assaults Andy for stealing the money and spending it on cocaine. Andy reveals to Chris that Briggs was going to kill Chris's son if Andy refused the offer. Kate calls Chris and tells him what Briggs did to her and what he said. Chris is surprised that Briggs knew the idea of Chris drowning the cash. First, Chris suspects Andy of being disloyal, but after Andy persistently tells Chris he didn't say anything, Chris figures out it was Sebastian. Chris calls Sebastian and threatens to kill him.

Eventually Sebastian's constant watch over Kate, becomes tiresome to her. Kate leaves a friend's house and goes back to Sebastian's apartment to retrieve some personal items. Sebastian, under the influence, tries to force himself on her. Kate, resists him and runs to the bathroom and locks the door. Sebastian insults Kate calling her a brat and a uppity bitch. Kate then persists on calling Chris, informing him of what Sebastian tried to do. Sebastian tells Kate not to call Chris, telling her he needs to complete his mission and with Kate calling him, it ruin everything. Kate begins to call Chris, and Sebastian rams his shoulder to the door, busting it open and forcing Kate flying towards the wall, with her head bashing against the wall. Sebastian panics, thinking the unconscious Kate is dead, and wraps her in plastic, preparing to dispose of her body.

Sebastian throws Kate's unconscious body in a hole, where the next morning Sebastian will have his construction workers fill the hole, covering up the evidence of Kate's supposed death.

After leaving Panama, Sebastian contacts Captain Camp and admits that Chris is smuggling on his ship, promising him a share if he makes sure Chris doesn't throw it overboard. Chris does not give up the location of the stash on the ship, so the captain calls U.S. customs and reports that Chris Farraday is running drugs on the ship. However, when the Customs Agents meet the ship in port, they cannot find the drugs, and they find no contraband in Chris's possession. Knowing that Camp is a germophobe who had brought his own carpet cleaner aboard ship, Chris hides the bricks of cocaine in the water-tank of the carpet cleaner. Chris does this while the captain is eating a meal in the messhall.

After Andy is discharged off the ship, Briggs and his thugs chase after Andy. After Andy is cornered, Briggs throws Andy in a van. Meanwhile, Chris has devised a plan to set up the rude, obnoxious Camp.

Camp leaves the vessel to go home, unknowingly carrying off the drugs. After Customs has excused Chris, Chris meets Briggs in a dark desolate area of the cargo yard. Briggs threatens to kill Andy. Chris breaks Briggs's car window and throws Briggs out the car, and severely beats up Briggs for everything he did to his family. Chris tells Andy to run. Briggs's thugs hold Chris at gunpoint. Chris takes Briggs to Camp's house, having made a duplicate key to the house while on the ship, and knowingly activates Camp's security system. Chris opens the carpet cleaner and pulls out the stash of drugs. The volatile Briggs compliments Chris on his smuggling skills, and sits in the Camp's living room tasting the cocaine. Chris asks permission to go to the bathroom, and sneaks out the garage in the Captain's car. Camp awakens with the noise, and comes into the living room, startled to see drug dealer Briggs. When the police arrive, Chris is long gone and both Briggs and Camp are arrested.

Chris knows Sebastian has an office at a construction site, and goes there to find Sebastian. Chris brutally beats up Sebastian and demands him to tell him Kate's location. Sebastian tells Chris that she's dead. Chris tries calling her cellphone, and hears the ringtone in a building foundation where cement is being poured. Kate is rescued seconds before being buried in cement. Sebastian is arrested, and meets Bud in prison, where Bud gives a group of inmates an approving nod, as they surround Sebastian. His fate is left unknown.

Andy retrieves the fake bills, which Chris had dumped into the ocean in order to avoid being caught by U.S. Customs. At a police auction, Andy purchases the van that was used to escape, which still contains the painting.

Chris meets with Church, who offers Chris $2.5 million for the fake currency. Chris demands $3 million; Church agrees to meet Chris's price. In a friendly conversation, Church asks Chris if he knows anything about the painting that was stolen in Panama. Church says its worth over $140 million. Church also says to Chris that the painting must be worth at least $20,000,000 on the black market.

As Chris and Andy leave the meeting with Church, we see the painting in the van. The painting had gone unnoticed by the customs police when they had custody of the van. Chris tells his buddies in the van that the painting is worth at least $20 million, and they cheer with delight. Later, it is presumed that they sell the painting on the black market and split the money among themselves.

Reception

Contraband opened from mixed to negative reviews. Based on 110 reviews, the film currently holds a 48% "rotten" score from Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus saying, "It's more entertaining than your average January action thriller, but that isn't enough to excuse Contraband's lack of originality and unnecessarily convoluted plot."^[3]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times felt that "Contraband involves a lot of energy," but he was growing "tired of violent retreads of these heist elements."^[4] Tom Long of The Detroit News criticized the film for having "too much plot and too little character" and concluded that it "comes off the factory floor with its engine running and ready to drive. But the ride feels overly familiar."^[5] Claudia Puig of USA Today called "the 'one last job' trope [...] a particularly tired one" and remarked that while it "has a few moments of tension," the film "adheres to a predictable heist formula hardly worth trafficking in."^[6] Andrew O'Hehir of Salon characterized the film as "exactly the sort of movie that Hollywood specializes in, the kind which seems on paper as if it ought to be entertaining, but winds up a massive and chaotic drag" and observed that "it's much more like a cynical hash job, whose faux-realistic manner can't hide all the hackneyed crime-movie situations."^[7]

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone thought the film "goes down in a sea of Hollywood clichés" and that Mark "Wahlberg could sleepwalk through this role, and does. See this movie and you'll surely follow his lead."^[8] Kyle Smith of the New York Post derided the film, noting that "watching a hero progress due in large part to lucky breaks and idiot moves by others does not make a movie" and that "it's puzzling why anyone considered this script worth shooting."^[9] Scott Tobias of NPRdismissed the film as a "mediocre [...] thriller," something "to be remembered, vaguely."^[10] Rafer Guzman of Newsday expressed disappointment that "a little action is all you'll get" and opined that the film "fails by overreaching: It aspires to the heightened drama of The Departed but lands instead in the bargain bin of forgettable action product."^[11]

Justin Chang of Variety praised the film as "reasonably swift and effective" and for taking "a hard-driving line of action and a commitment to one-damned-thing-after-another storytelling that carries it past any number of narrative speed bumps and preposterous detours."^[12] Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post compared the film to "an Ocean's Eleven movie, minus the glamour," saying that it was "taut and suspenseful for the most part."^[13] Owen Gleiberman ofEntertainment Weekly stated that the film, "while often grungy and far-fetched, does keep you watching. And in January, that's recommendation enough."^[14]