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Samuel L. Jackson has 163 roles as an actor according to IMDb. Leaving out his television and video game roles, he still has one of the highest averages in the industry today. Since his filmography includes both this and that, people often wonder how he chooses these roles. I would say he does a few projects because he knows he’ll excel in them, such as the drama ‘Changing Lanes’ (2002), the underrated neo-noir ‘No Good Deed’ (2003), or the many films he made with Quentin Tarantino. But with many others, it seems to me that he accepted the roles simply based on how hefty his paycheck would be. If you take a look at films like ‘The Man’ (2005),’ Freedomland’ (2006) and ‘The Spirit’ (2008), it would make sense why someone offered enough money would take them.
But then there is the oddest genre of all; the scripts that take Jackson out of his comfort zone. I assume he does them to tease the filmmakers into putting them into production.
How does one justify the craziness of Deep Blue Sea (1999), Formula 51 (2001), Black Snake Moan (2006), or even the hugely popular and controversially known as Snakes on a Plane (2006)? His latest movie, Big Game, definitely fits here since it tells a plot so mad that there are times when one wonders if it is actually real as opposed to a fake trailer that was made to look like a full-sized movie. Unfortunately, the movie never completely fulfills (or fails to meet expectations) its absurd premise. However, this isn’t to say that it does not have its moments, which it does.
Deep within the wilderness of Finland, a young boy named Oskari, played by Onni Tommila, embarks on an adventure on the eve of his 13th birthday. Guided by his father’s hunting experiences, Oskari must set out into the woods for an entire day armed with only a bow and arrow. In doing so, he must return with a trophy, be it a deer, an elk, or a bear. Although incredibly difficult, Oskari is determined to set out for what seems to be a futile attempt.
With regard to Helsinki, U.S. President Moore (Jackson), who is not polling high and is a ‘lame-duck’ president, is traveling for a conference, and while Air Force One is getting closer to the intended location, missiles are fired at the plane. During this McDonald Morris, who is working as a Secret Service agent, manages to save Moore’s life by placing him into the plane’s escape pod and as the missiles blow up the airplane, McDonald’s actions ensure that the life of the president is saved. But what seemed very shocking was that Morris had attacked the plane during the flight. Spoiler Alert: The attack was executed by the resentful Morris as part of a larger and even more terrifying scheme by the sickly rich Hazar (Mehmet Kurtulus) who planned to not merely hunt and murder Moore, but to stuff and mount him as his prized trophy. However, pod fell close to Oskari’s camp. The kid later helps Moore reach civilization and safety manages to while later catching his kill. With the information above, we understand that the vice president along with a senior executive staff member at the Pentagon, a high ranking general, and a retired CIA anti-terrorism intelligence officer, had no means of staying the conflict and watched as Hazar, along with the strategic Morris, drawing closer to the president’s location.
The film has many humorous elements. Jalmari helander, the writer-director, is unarguably a gifted comedian (‘Rare Exports’ was his previous film, which was an exceptionally odd movie). To clarify, ‘Santa Claus Conquers the Martians’ is very mild compared to ‘Rare Exports.’ It was holiday themed after all. Yet the movie still manages to elicit some laughter. According to my understanding, why is this film entertaining? This is one of the main problems with the film and therre is no lack of it. At times it attempts to be humorous, while at other times, it wishes to be more serious, giving it an annoying quality- due to the inconsistency. It does lack tension however, since there is little to no realiled threat. One does find themselves being inactive and merely going trough the motions due to the monotony.
At the same time, there is the big picture that makes the film less satisfying as it could be, but it does have its good moments. Despite Jackson’s somewhat aloof attitude toward the project, he manages a nice moment in which he tells Oskari that strength and power are very real but sometimes the impression of them goes farther than the actual act. It is so good, in fact, that it effectively serves to illuminate a direction in which the narrative goes that is, regrettably, abandoned way too soon. The choice of Jim Broadbent in the role of the “everything is known” CIA analyst is rather brilliant, yes he receives all the usual lines that such a character is required to utter, but they have never been delivered in quite the way that Broadbent presents them.
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