MovieChat Forums > Perfect Hideout Discussion > The director speaks

The director speaks

posted 14 years ago by harrythehawk
4 replies | jump to latest

I´m the director Stephen Manuel- just to clarify, the humor in this movie is intentional. I saw it as an opportunity to make a funny action thriller. The kidnappers are intentionally rather stupid and do stupid things- to me the way Christian Solimeno plays Chris is *beep* hilarious, as a dumb, two faced idiot, seizing any opportunity for his own gain. Looking back I think I should have gone for a thriller which is strictly a thriller or a balls out comedy. As is, it falls in between.I know that some people don´t get any kind of humour out of this at all, thankfully, some do.

Regarding the shortcomings acting and directing wise- well, it was shot in only 12 days on a miniscule budget in Germany. We did the best we could, but sadly, some elements suffered.

[–] nike738 13 years ago

well i certainly enjoyed this movie! definitley understood that it was meant to be tongue and cheek. i can't believe it was only shot in 12 days! any fun behind the scenes stories (especially about billy zane haha)? i also thought Solimeno was great, but billy zane was even more hilarious in this movie. i'm a billy zane fan...what was he like on set? really curious about what his attitude was about the whole thing. really enjoy him as the villain, did he embrace this villainous role?

well hopefully you'll see this and you know that you have some fans out there! i liked the balance between thriller and comedy (def felt more like a comedy to me) and the movie was fun to watch while drinking some beers with friends...it was pretty clear to me that that was the kind of movie the filmmakers were going for. cheers!

[–] silverr8c 13 years ago

I loved the movie right till the a few seconds before it ended. I was confused about the daughters role in the whole thing. Right from the beginning I thought she was involved with Victor and planned the killing then at some point Victor turn on her. I would have liked to have that one point clarified.

I have seen some superstar big budget movies that were far worst that this, but I do not mean to imply this was a bad movie.

Of all the things I have lost I miss my mind the most

[–] AvsJoe 13 years ago

I would like to congratulate whomever had the idea to cast Billy Zane in this movie. That was the textbook definition of perfect casting. Very few actors are more tongue-in-cheek, too-cool-for-school than Zane and that was precisely what the movie needed. I couldn't help but be reminded of his performance in Demon Knight throughout this film. Inconsistencies aside, this was an excellent film; one of my favourites of its year. 'Grats man. 4/5

[–] MrBelette 13 years ago

If the ending wouldn't have been so politically correct Hollywood stuff it coukd have been a spoof worth watching. Here it is just a cliché stupid ending. Why not end the movie with Roth killing everyone including Nadine to cover his lie about her being dead and Victor walking out as a freed hostage instead of that crappy ending ?