Why is this film set in Australia? The heroes are American, the liver recipient family is American, the villain is … Latino? WTF?! Seriously, why is this film set in Australia? Please explain.
As with almost everything Angel Studios, the answer is: “Don’t investigate; you’ll just feel worse about the picture.” (The answer is “money,” btw. That’s it. This is a Los Angeles script tailored to Brisbane for the sake of money and no other reason.) Every time I look deeper into an Angel Studios film, I think less of the picture. Never fails. So, Angel, I’m giving you a break here; I’m going to stop researching this film I mildly enjoyed and leave you with a positive review you don’t really deserve. Don’t say I never did you a favor.
Hank Malone (Alan Ritchson) is a “Runner.” This is simply a 21st century version of “errand boy”,”gofer”,”delivery guy”, or just plain “flunkee.”
I have to remind you here that Angel Studios is funded and run entirely by politically conservative assholes who want to bring a more White Supremacist version of entertainment to the screen under the guise of family entertainment. That’s just my take, but it’s not necessarily incorrect. There is a concerted effort in Angel films to restrict sex, restrict violence (though obviously not as much as sex) and promote modern American Christian ideals. The problem is these ideals rarely make for a good film, hence, the Studio has to fudge from time-to-time. And, yet, still note things like the heroes in this film are white, and the villains are off-white. That’s not a mistake.
Glorified Amazon guy Hank simply runs errands for a living. The film starts with him collecting a rare parrot because the bird is denied by each party of a divorced couple. That’s cute, and kinda funny, which is kind novel for an Angel film. I’ve seen over a dozen Angel films so far, and even the ones with children have avoided being either cute or funny. As Hank is trying to decide his next parrot move, he is given instructions to deliver a package from airport to drop-off.
Arriving at the airport, Hank discovers the package is a human liver. The courier (Owen Wilson) refuses to part with it and instead gives Hank a new destination. There are a number of points in this film where reality would override screen and this is one of them. IRL, Hank would sort it out immediately with his handler. And, odds are, if Hank isn’t getting paid for delivery to a location, he almost certainly doesn’t abide by the whims of Ben Bishop (Wilson).
But then we’d never get the tried-and-true-tested Hollywood formula of matching a tough guy (Ritchson) with a chatterbox (Wilson) in an action film. And these two have quite a day ahead of them. Why? Because it just so happens that two people need that very liver, NOW, and they’re both in Brisbane, Australia, at this time. What were the odds?!
Hence, our two delivery heroes are pursued, violently, by Damian Zalvidar (Rodrigo Santoro), the idiot son of a drug cartel chieftain. And everybody just happens to be in Australia.
Here’s the most striking subtlety of the film for me — the plot is two average Joes trying to deliver a disputed liver to a seven-year-old girl. On the other side are rich, evil people who will stop at nothing to collect the rare liver for their leader. NOW, while Angel Studios is having us root for the seven-year-old commoner, in real life who would the supporters of Trump be rooting for? On the one hand, you got, say, Rupert Murdoch in need of a new kidney, on the other, you got a sickly little girl. Who is MAGA going to side with? Yeah, wait until FOX tells you how the kid is getting healthcare free and her dad is probably *gasp* Mexican. Once again, Angel Studios has sided on screen with the action they don’t side with off-screen. You guys are real heroes.
So the bad parts here are a tired formula and action that gets to the result we want rather than anything resembling logic. Late in the film, there’s a character who flatlines in an ambulance and the film decides to let the character die rather than administering even the slightest of emergency procedures. No defibrillation? What are you, saving electricity? That part really, really bugged me.
On the good side is the relationship between Wilson and Ritchson. Wilson has been here before, twice appearing opposite Jackie Chan with similar effect. Runner isn’t as good, but these two have some moments, and the parrot (who can say “peek-a-boo”) was definitely a nice touch.
As my readers know, I don’t like Angel Studios. I hate 
RW inspired bullshit. You fuckers have all the money already; why do you need to tarnish politics and entertainment? In our era, it isn’t enough to have $1 B; you have to use your money to hurt those who don’t have $1 B. Angel Studios becoming a player in Hollywood is part of it. Hence, I cannot say I’m wild about giving this film a recommendation of any kind, albeit very mild. I will, however, because this film didn’t feel like a standard Angel offering. More bullets, less God will do that. All else being equal, however, you’re still better off watching Coyote vs. Acme.
Big Hank was a Brisbane errand runner
Long ago, he was a special ops gunner
Then a fool arrives
With most friendly vibes
Which is great, cuz Hank alone is no funner
Rated PG-13, 98 Minutes
Director: Scott Waugh
Writer: Miles Hubley, Tommy White
Genre: Quick! Take the positive rating before he changes his mind!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of action comedy
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Realists
