My wife suggested that we watch this movie after we had wasted half the night looking for a decent movie to watch in the PlayStation movie store. In desperation, we gave up on the more popular genres and checked out a genre called 'Other'. The first movie in this category was '8 Million Dollars'.
"What's this about?" my wife says as she clicks on the title to read the synopsis. Eight strangers are asked to spend a weekend together in a house for the opportunity to receive a share of 8 million dollars. The only catch is they are left with an arsenal of weapons and told they are not allowed to leave the house. "Sounds interesting!" my wife cried, but after watching the opening scene we knew we had made a grave mistake.
This movie looks to have been shot during an introductory retreat with a group of beginner drama students. And by beginner drama students, I mean people who have never acted a day in their life. You can expect to see better performances at your local kindergarten nativity play than the 'acting' displayed in this dog of a movie.
The writer, directer, and producer of 8 Million Dollars, Tom Doganoglu, also played the lead role of Johnny. His incompetent acting performance was only outshone by his dreadful script and direction. Much of the dialogue in this movie went nowhere. The leaps of logic taken by characters, in conjunction with gaping plot holes, might have been comical if it wasn't for the completely wooden acting.
It is clear that Doganoglu didn't receive funding from any large movie studios for this stinker of a movie. They couldn't even afford to show the surveillance equipment that was supposedly in every room in the house, and the editing appears to have been done by a 10 year old with a pirated version of Final Cut Pro. I was actually disappointed that they didn't use a star wipe at the end of scenes. There was one very clear marker signaling the end of each scene though; an awkward pause held by the actors after they finished their dialogue.
It is totally unclear why this film was given an R (18+) rating. There is no on-screen sex, no explicit nudity, and very little violence or gore. The lack of sex and nudity was rather disappointing given that the only time I generally accept acting this unnatural is when watching a porno. The most graphic thing about this film is that one of the actors drops the F bomb in every sentence he delivers. How edgy.
The fact that this movie has received a positive review on IMDb is astounding, and I suspect that it was written by someone with a vested interest in its success. I actually can't believe that my wife and I endured all 86 minutes of this trash - it was either due to morbid fascination, or the fact that we couldn't get our $3.99 back. I only wish that I hadn't, as the ending was the biggest let down in movie history. I now know why it was included in the 'Other' genre on the PlayStation Store, as they don't have a category for 'Steaming Dog Turd'. Avoid at all costs.
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