A Perfect Getaway

A fantastic hit and one of the biggest surprises of the year. After a series of flops (which were more or less his own fault), Twohy manned up and made a terrific thriller that feels like Hitchcock came back from the dead and went to Hawaii to make another of his classics. A calm romantic introduction outlines the characters, only to be followed by a fairly unoriginal (those who have been watching will remain calm) twist and a perfect final half hour, which (also thanks to the music) is an absolutely crazy sprint full of exaggeration (skull-cracking) and undying adrenaline. The replacement Zahn and a decently acting Milla work well, but Timothy Olyphant is an otherworldly tough guy who can high-five Woody Harrelson for the sharpest tough guy of the fall season. 4 ½. (04/11/2009)

This film deceives not only the audience, but also itself. It is an example of how NOT to write and direct a thriller with a surprising point, at least if it is supposed to be as interesting on the second viewing as on the first. David Twohy should go back to placing emphasis on the visuals and atmosphere and not putting too much strain on his brain. (13/12/2009)

It's not shocking, it's not terribly clever, but it's damn funny! I was surprised by Steve Zahn, who certainly didn't resemble any of his "usual goofballs", and I was pleased by the nice actresses with Milla in the lead, but Timothy Olyphant was clearly the best of all. His character may have acted like something out of a cheesy B-movie, but the way he played it was breathtaking. Director Twohy deserves praise for the hellishly dense atmosphere and for the fact that the film doesn't get boring even in the passages when the characters just talk to each other. The only thing that bothered me a bit was the ending, but I'll give it four stars anyway. (20/11/2010)

Quite solid, until the awkward and jaded twist, the audience doesn't know who is who and what is what. Unfortunately, the final action-packed 20 minutes completely destroyed my positive opinion of this film. The natural setting is good, and so is the work with it. The performances are decent, especially Timothy Olyphant, who is quite sharp. However, as I already mentioned, the twist is absolutely pointless. (02/01/2010)

Up until now, this film had passed me by from quite a distance. After watching it, that fact really stings. A very likable cast with a tightly written story and a script without holes? That already indicates that viewers won’t be bored. And I definitely wasn’t—on the contrary, I was royally entertained. The first half-hour serves as a nice introduction, and even in those moments, I was already trying to guess which couple would end up being the killers. The story ran like clockwork, and the tension thickened with every passing minute, which is exactly what you want. I also want to praise the chosen setting because the Hawaiian Islands, with their beautiful nature, worked perfectly as a contrast to the chilling atmosphere. Steve Zahn is usually a comedic actor for me, but the fact that he played a meth-addicted, murderous maniac so well? I wouldn’t have expected that from him. The rest of the cast also did their part as they should. The last 15 minutes were full of heart-stopping moments where you were really rooting for the "normal" couple to make it to the end unscathed. For a smaller budget, this was a fantastic result. More films like this, please. I give it 79%. (30/05/2017)