In Wild Card Jason Statham spends 90 minutes writing poetry, playing with puppies and pondering the meaning of Sartre’s existentialist philosophy. Ok, no he does, he does what we’d expect and gets involved in some serious action.
The movie is a remake of the 1986 Burt Reynolds film Heat (no, not the Michael Mann one) and also stars Michael Angarano, Sofia Vergara, Jason Alexander, Hope Davis, and Stanley Tucci. Oddly though, while it is a remake, in some respects it’s actually the original, as it uses William Goldman’s initial screenplay, before it was tinkered with and in his opinions made worse for the 1986 version.
Here’s the synopsis: ‘Nick Wild (Jason Statham) is a Las Vegas bodyguard with lethal professional skills and a personal gambling problem. When a friend is beaten by a sadistic thug, Nick strikes back, only to find out the thug is the son of a powerful mob boss. Suddenly Nick is plunged into the criminal underworld, chased by enforcers and wanted by the mob. Having raised the stakes, Nick has one last play to change his fortunes and this time, its all or nothing. From two-time Academy®Award-winning writer William Goldman (Best Original Screenplay, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969; Best Adapted Screenplay, All the Presidents Men, 1976).’
The film’s in US cinemas at the end of January, but no UK date is currently set.