Monday, May 31, 2021

Movie review: Pawn Shop Chronicles


 A small Southern town's local pawn shop serves as a connection between a man searing for his abducted wife, a couple of white-supremacist meth heads, and a down-and-out Elvis impersonator resulting an a wild-goose chase of all-start proportions.

Paul Walker (Raw Dog), Matt Dillon (Richard), Brendan Fraser (Ricky), Kevin Rankin (Randy), Vincent D'Onofrio (Alton), Norman Reedus (Stanley), Chi McBride (Johnson), Elijah Wood (Shaw), DJ Qualls (JJ), Pell James (Cyndi), Lukas Haas (Vernon), Ashlee Simpson (Theresa), Thomas Jane (The Man).

Pawn Shop Chronicles begins where it should, in the pawn shop run by Alton and Johnson. From there the story shifts to an odd crime setting off a chain of even stranger events. As the film evolves, the strange things find a common connection via the local pawn shop. The story finally wraps with a strange ending that actually ties up loose ends and explains things better than we had hoped with some nice chuckles along the way.

Acting was surprisingly good with the entire cast delivering well. Dillon was well cast in his role, and Fraser did an excellent job as washed-up-Elvis. Wood and Qualls both did nicely in roles that fit them well. The remainder of the cast, too numerous to mention, did quite well.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds were pretty good but obviously not the focus. Action scenes were fitting and solid without being overdone for the film. Dialogue was fun with some nice comedy and decent depth for the genre. Sound and soundtrack are okay.

In the end, Pawn Shop Chronicles is a nicely done action comedy focused on providing a few laughs and an amusing storyline, which it does pretty well. Action comedy fans should enjoy  this one.

Released: 2013
Reviewed: 5.9.21
Star rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: Action, Comedy, Adventure, Crime, Action Comedy

copyright ©2021 Dave Riedel

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