Search - A Perfect Getaway (Theatrical/Unrated Director's Cut) on DVD

Vicki H. (WNCadventurer)
Reviewed on 9/18/2024...

Great scenery. Great acting. Sweet Steve Zahn, as usual. Olyphant plays another macho dude. The ladies likewise hold their own in this HI adveture flic.

2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 5/9/2020...

This is one of those horror movies that you watch and want to forget about.

Bowick W. from NESBIT, MS
Reviewed on 10/17/2016...

You HAVE to watch this movie! Best movie I had never heard about and watched. Careful....you think you have it figured out!

3 of 4 member(s) found this review helpful.

Ron T.
Reviewed on 8/12/2013...

Great story, serious plot twists!

2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

I'm just difficult to kill...I guess

Shopper | USA | 10/30/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

""I'm just difficult to kill, I guess..." - as soon as one of the main characters of A Perfect Getaway utters these words, you KNOW someone will try to prove him wrong. And they DO (try ;o) ). The story seems simple at first: a couple is honeymooning in Hawaii, while news spreads thru the Islands of a brutal murder of another newlywed couple. The suspected murderers, a man and a woman, are still at large and likely still in Hawaii. As our city-dwellers hike thru the Park, alone and out of their element, can they trust the strangers with whom they inevitably cross paths? (OF COURSE, NOT!) And that's when an interesting twist takes this story from predictable to... well... no spoilers here! ;o)



I did not have high hopes for this flick...I went to see it mainly because I have a secret crush on Milla Jovovich (if I were a lesbian, Milla and Mariska Hargitay from Law and Order would be my dream dates ;-P...). Was the film perfect? No. Nonetheless, to my utmost surprise, I enjoyed this thriller far more then I did many supposed "blockbusters" this year. It had some laughs, but was also quite unnerving, tense, and creepy with a light sprinkling of gore: everything a good thriller should have on offer. There were signs from the audience that I was not alone in my enjoyment. However, the film did develop its creep factor slowly as the initial 45 minutes were devoted mainly to character development. The story needed time before it graduated from "fluff" to "nail biter". It worked for me. In the end, I felt the super plot twist more then made up for the wait!



Two names are worth mentioning (in addition to Jovovich): it was the first time I saw Steve Zahn competently playing a complex "grown up" character, a role totally different from the usual "doofus" types he seems to favour. Also, Timothy Olyphant surprised me with his performance. His acting skills often leave a lot to desire. Not here. He was PERFECT as the perennially confident and "difficult to kill" owner of a metal plate in his head...



PS: David Twohy, writer/director, also directed Pitch Black. Watch the chase scene at the end of A Perfect Getaway. It is identical in style to one of the chase scenes in Pitch Black...

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Lots of fun

Grimmy | MD USA | 01/18/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"At first I was worried about the gore level (not for me, for the rest of the audience) as hinted at by other reviews, but it's really minimal. And this is a fun thrill ride of a film, with a doozy of a twist. I guessed it halfway through, but you might enjoy it more if you don't - and even if you do, the exposition is still interesting. Likeable characters you can root for, a decent script, better acting than you might expect, a twisted plot and great action towards the end make this a movie to enjoy."

Guys... that was a perfectly good story.

Julian Kennedy | St Pete Florida | 03/27/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A Perfect Getaway: 7 out of 10: For a slow moving thriller that cheats... a little, A Perfect Getaway isn't that bad. It has gorgeous cinematography and while it moves slowly, it successfully builds up tension with character development rather than relying on black cats jumping out of closets or severed body parts every ten minutes.



The tale is about three couples in Hawaii and one couple could be a pair of murders from the big island.



Our protagonist couple (Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich) is a bit nerdy and a bit goofy. Jovovich in particular gives a wonderfully awkward performance in body language and facial expressions.



Trying to get into the Hawaii spirit our protagonist honeymooners attempt to do a favor for a second couple hitchhiking (Marley Shelton and Chris Hemsworth), but Hemsworth gives off such a bad vibe that the Zahn and Jovoich are naturally concerned about running into him on the trail again.



They take refuge with the "cool" couple (Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez). Olyphant in particular simply cascades charisma onto the screen even when attempting to convince others he has a plate in his head from his Special Forces days. But even the cool couple could just as easily be the killers (after all Olyphant seems to like fondling his special forces knife a bit two much and this is a movie.)



All this interaction is among well placed news reports that a non-nondescript couple is wanted for questioning for a murder and are suspected in being on the same trail as our plucky honeymooners.



Director Twohy isn't back in Pitch Black form but he shows a surer directing hand than he did in Chronicles of Riddick and he gets better performances out of his actors than he did in Below. In fact for a movie with basically six people and very little action the film rests almost exclusively on the actor's shoulders. The actors certainly hold up their end of the bargain across the board.



The movie does cheat a bit as I stated before but this is a thriller rather than a mystery (after all there are only three couples in the whole film) and the journey is more fun than the reveal. In fact the movie has such a relaxed pace and vibe you can easily forget it is a thriller at all. That's when it gets you.



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