Revolver

Ray Liotta in "Revolver" (Credit: Samuel Goldwyn)

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After being released from prison, chess expert Jake (Jason Statham) seeks revenge against Macha (Ray Liotta) but soon finds his life on the line, his new loan shark associates (Vincent Pastore, Andre "3000" Benjamin of Outkast) possibly double-crossing him, and everyone mixed up in a web of drugs, guns and cash. Like most of Statham's characters, Jake's not intriguing or smart enough that we long to hear his internal monologue, but the movie insists on sharing his every thought with us anyway.

Big question: Does this action-packed, under-advertised mind-bender, written and directed by Guy Ritchie ("Snatch"), deserve a look more than two years after it was released overseas?

Skip it: Calling to mind "Fight Club," "The Usual Suspects," "Lucky Number Slevin," "Smokin' Aces" and more, "Revolver" is a puzzle that's too clever to realize it's so stupid. The movie expects you to struggle intently to figure out what's really going on, but you'll get tired of trying long before the absurd conclusion that serves as a slap in the face to those who stuck with it to the end.

Catch it: For a never-ending array of non-hip expressions like, "A mouthful of words that taste like bullets," "He passes a death sentence quicker than you pass the salt," "Somewhere in between Hell and a hard place" and "You got more tricks than a clown's pocket." All worth adding to your list of things not to use in conversation!

Bottom line: "Revolver" notches a few bang-bang style points, but the thing about being smooth is that it's not supposed to look like you're trying, and most of the time Ritchie seems like he's working hard and showing off. He's too in love with everything from the over-stylized violence to the way Statham says "You bah-stahds" to realize "Revolver" eventually becomes a frustrating and incomprehensible parody of itself.

Bonus: Avi (Benjamin) claims that "There's no such thing as problems. Only situations." Really makes life seem easier, doesn't it?

mpais@tribune.com

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