If you thought that Ben Foster was great in Hell or High Water, wait till you see him in the move Galveston. The taught drama is as cringing as it gets and he’s in the center of this cat and mouse thriller that takes you into the center of a double cross, revenge and retribution. The film may be dark, but Foster’s performance is clearly a winner.
Roy Cady (Ben Foster), a hitman/collector for the mob gets called in by the boss Stan (Beau Bridges) to collect some cash. He gets to the residence for the pick-up and a shootout begins with Roy nearly getting killed. During the melee he notices a young woman (Raquel played by Elle Fanning) tied to a chair. Roy prevails and with the slayers lying dead he unties Raquel and flees the scene with her. Realizing that the hit was really meant for him by his boss, he takes off on the run with Raquel while trying to figure out why.
The story goes on from there with Roy being pursued by the boss’s men, Raquel revealing her past and both looking for a way to survive. Director Mélanie Laurent creates characters that emote giving realistic views of their roles as they try to evade death, get revenge and move on with their lives. It’s a challenging job at the helm, especially portraying the damaged characters she has to depict and drawing out their best work. She nails the scripts roles, getting another great performance from Ben Foster and even upping the work of Elle Fanning.
She begins her film with hurricane Gilbert hitting Galveston in the 1990’s, while it’s a warning of things to come, it also represents the unpredictability and the consequences within the storyline. The fight scenes are very realistic and the chemistry between the characters that comes from the obstacles she creates, looks genuine and sometimes heartfelt. But survival is the main objective and it get handled very nicely.
Foster transforms himself into another tough cookie in a performance equal to Tanner Howard in Hell or High Water and Steve McKenna in the Mechanic to name a couple of his films. He enhances his dark side here depicting Roy, a man who has lost his spark for life and does the dirty work for the mob for the payoff. When he meets Raquel, he’s enamored by her beauty and questions her choosing a career as a prostitute. Knowing she is excess baggage on his flight from certain death, doesn’t stop him from taking her along.
As the prostitute Raquel, Elle Fanning uses her shy coquettish persona to entice Roy to take her with him. She has an indigent past of being abused and you can see it in her eyes when Roy wants to know why she wants to stop at her father’s house during their run from the mob. I like Fanning in this role as she gives a lot of herself to project the frightened woman who has a motive herself to get out of town. She gets to show that she can act and draw from deep down in for this important role.
Galveston has been not been rated by the MPAA, but contains extreme violence, rape, sex, brutality and gore. The hard life presented in the film gets vicious and shocking sometimes so you may want to leave immature children home with a babysitter.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Another good drama for 2018 with interesting characters and plot. (4 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Ben Foster, Elle Fanning, Anniston Price, Tinsley Price, Beau Bridges, Adepero Aduye, Lili Reinhart, Maria Valverde, Robert Aramayo, C.K. McFarland
Directed and screenwriter: Mélanie Laurent
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, contains extreme violence, sex, language, rape
Running Time: 1 hr. 31 min.
Opening Date: October 19, 2018
Distributed by: RLJE Entertainment
Released in: Standard
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
