HayWire (2011)

Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) is a freelance covert agent working in the private sector just outside of government control.

This starts off in a small town café, somewhere in Upstate New York. Mallory has come out of hiding to meet with Alex Coblenz (Michael Douglas), the government contact that initiated her Barcelona assignment. But Aaron (Channing Tatum), a co-agent she worked with on that assignment, showed up instead. All Aaron knows is that he’s there to pick her up and turn her in to Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), their handler; but Mallory has no intentions of being turned in. Scott (Michael Angarano), an innocent by-standing customer with a big heart, is not about to sit by and watch some bully beat up on a sweet defenseless girl. So he gets caught up in Mallory’s mess when he jumps in trying to rescue her.

For me, Aaron sealed the fate of disappointment in this movie by the way he sprang his vicious surprise attack on Mallory right there in the busy café. Writer’s block, or perhaps a budget cap? HA! Maybe, who knows? But that was only the beginning of the downfall; soon there would be many other pretentious scenes to conclude this disaster.

Mallory and Scott escape in his car and she decides to tell him all about her adventurous assignments in Barcelona and Dublin. Also how she has been double-crossed into everything else that lead her to that little café. But her story is not over yet, and she will need to continue using her contacts and covert skills to survive.

My favorite scene is when Mallory takes Scott’s brand new car off-road in an attempt to elude a police roadblock. Just when it seems they’ll be pinned front to rear, she kicks into reverse and slips away down a side-track. YAY… NOT! All it takes is lone deer, standing in the middle of the trail, to take them down and force surrender. HA!

My least favorite: Well, after all the beatings and body slams she has endured, mind you, No blood loss and No signs of pain or injury. Yet, she takes a fall off the side of a building, maybe 15 or 20 feet. And now, she finally feels pain? OKAY!

Sorry folks, but this is one of those movies where you see all the ‘Good Stuff’ in the trailers.