The Big Bang (Movie Showing 2011)

Film Type: Action, Mystery, Thriller

About the film:
The Big Bang film is an action-thriller film directed by Tony Krantz starring Antonio Banderas, Sienna Guillory, Snoop Dogg and others. It is written by Erik Jendresen and scheduled for release in the US this 2011.

Casts:
Sienna Guillory as Julie Kestral
Antonio Banderas as Ned Cruz
Autumn Reeser as Fay Neman
James van der Beek as Johnny Nova
Snoop Dogg as Puss
Bill Duke as Drummer
Delroy Lindo as Detective Skeres
William Fichtner as Detective Poley
Sam Elliott as Simon Kestral
Rebecca Mader as Zooey Wigner

Director: Tony Krantz

Writer: Erik Jendresen

Plot:
Antonio Banderas plays the role of Ned Cruz, a private detective who is hired by Anton 'The Pro' Protopov (Robert Maillet), a huge Russian ex-con to find a stripper by the name Julie Kestral (Sienna Guillory) who wrote to him while he was in the prison. After a series of misadventures and red herrings in L.A., Banderas ends up out in the New Mexico desert because the missing stripper turns out to be the wife, and virtually the captive, of a crazy billionaire Simon Kestral who is executing a wild scheme out there under the sands. "The crazy rich dude without limits" is a stock character in noir detective films, but this particular one, played by Sam Elliott, is richer and crazier than usual. He's not just trying to corner the market on water or something. He wants his own personal universe. Obsessed with metaphysical concepts developed during some LSD trips, he is literally trying to re-create the big bang by building a particle accelerator in some abandoned military facilities beneath the New Mexico desert.



Post-Production Review:
There are lots of humourous physics gags dropped in throughout. Snoop Dogg, for example, cast as the porn-movie director, is named Puss. Nothing untoward in that, of course, until you find out that he’s filming in an abandoned warehouse named Schrödinger’s. Think about it. Later on, Cruz meets a waitress – and has some pretty saucy and totally gratuitous sex with her, too – in a watering hole called Planck’s Constant Café. For your convenience, I've listed the references I could find at the bottom of this review but I'm sure I’ve only scratched the surface. Clearly a movie that aims to entertain a rather small target demographic - noir-loving physicists - The Big Bang will have you scratching your head throughout, trying to pick out all the clever in-jokes, none of which detract from the story but instead add a new level to those in the know.

As a noir, the film generally satisfies. The story (written by Erik Jendresen) is labyrinthine and almost unfathomable, just as it should be. There are femme fatales, put-upon cops, megalomanic millionaires, rigged boxing matches, wisecracks, recalcitrant bartenders, several beatings, a defeated hero and, sadly, an ending that doesn’t quite work. The dialogue is generally slavish to its genre, too, which also pleases.

Photos: