Choose

Now available on VOD

Cast:



Katheryn Winnick as Fiona Wagner



Nicholas Tucci as Scar Lip



Kevin Pollak as Sheriff Tom Wagner



Richard Short as Detective Benson



Bruce Dern as Dr. Ronald Pendleton

Directed by Marcus Graves

Review:

In 1995, director David Fincher’s Seven was released, establishing a cinematic milestone that turned the conventions of the serial killer subgenre on their ear. A modern classic, Seven‘s influence can be seen in films to this day, most notably in James Wan’s series-spawning Saw.

Choose is the story of a journalism student and her father who become entangled in the search for a killer who gives his victims choices that determine their fate.

While it’s very tempting to read that synopsis and shout “Saw rip-off!”, keep in mind that Saw has its creative genesis in Seven and its fantastic screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker. In Wan’s film, you have a killer with a twisted moral agenda (like John Doe in Seven) whose modus operandi is basically an expansion of the Pride victim sequence from Fincher’s film.

The killer John Doe mutilates a model’s face and gives her a choice between calling for help and committing suicide by pill overdose. The victim chooses suicide.

Saw spins its story off of this basic premise, adding in a touch of Dario Argento and the now trademark elaborate killing machines that are more modern and vicious spins on the methods employed by Vincent Price’s character in The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again. So, basically, films that are influenced by Saw and use their similarities to this massive hit to get financed and produced are by their very nature influenced by Seven.

All this said, Choose is the latest in a string of films that very unsuccessfully attempt to mine the same territory and the results are predictable and extremely uninspired. (Editor’s note: I just want to weigh in and say it liberally borrows dramatic elements from Scream and Scream 3 as well.)

The connection the two lead characters are revealed to have with the killer adds nothing to the proceedings and the acting in the film is only remarkable in that Bruce Dern is completely wasted in his single scene as a doctor who provides a lead in the investigation.

The film radiates a “been there, done that” feel from every pore and doesn’t even give the audience any remotely gripping moral dilemmas or kill scenes to try to keep viewers on board.

Choose also ignores a basic key to success in any genre film: have an interesting villain.

Seven gave us John Doe, Saw gave us Jigsaw/John Kramer. Choose gives us a whole lot of nothing special with its scarred killer who comes off about as menacing as a wet piece of toast and who is dispatched very easily in the film’s lazy climax.

As I watched Choose, I kept being reminded of the vastly superior The Killing Gene from 2007, directed by Tom Shankland, who went on to make the amazing “killer kids” movie The Children.

The Killing Gene, known in its film festival life as Waz before being re-titled for domestic DVD release, is a film noir-influenced take on a killer who forces life-or-death decisions on carefully selected victims. While it sounds very similar to Choose on the surface, The Killing Gene has what Choose doesn’t have: a very good screenplay, good acting and solid directing.

Want to see a memorable and effective riff on the ideas behind Seven and Saw? Skip Choose and seek out The Killing Gene.