NXNE Movie Review: A Gun to the Head

A Gun to the Head is a super-indie Canadian film which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. The entire movie takes place over a span of one night when Trevor leaves a lame house party his wife is throwing, to hang out with his drug-dealer/addict cousin, Darren. He ends up meeting a slew of strange and zany characters while being re-introduced to the bad ass life he’d thought he’d life behind before his marriage to wife, Grace.

I went into this thinking it was going to be kind of lame because, honestly, the trailer does not do it justice at all. So here’s my review.

The Good Stuff:

Well, to start it’s an indie movie, so kudos to the fact that you’re most likely the only one who’s seen it. Congratulations! You’re now the coolest movie-goer you know. No, seriously, this movie was pretty chill. It jumps right into the drama within the first five minutes, and it keeps a steady pace of it throughout the hour and half it takes before it finishes. The lead actor, Tygh Runyan, is friggin hot as are most of the male characters in the movie, actually, most of the women are hot, too, so gays, straights, everyone can enjoy the eye candy! And ps, the actor who plays Sam, Hrothgar Mathews, reminds me SO much of John Dunsworth from Trailer Park Boys during certain parts of the film. Please tell me if anyone else feels the same way!

The Bad Stuff:

Alright, so I found Sarah Lind to be insanely annoying in this movie. At the dinner party, Grace pretty well gets verbally sexually assaulted by her boss and his wife who want to have an orgy of sorts with her and Trevor. Sarah, who plays his wife Audrey, is supposed to be a complete bimbo, which she played well, but she also came off as possibly the most annoying thing I have ever laid eyes on in a movie. I haven’t seen her in anything else, but she’s appeared on The L Word, amongst other things, so I’m sure she’s a great actress, and I hope it was just this role that made me want to drill screws into my eyes.

Overall, I’d probably give this movie a 4/5. It was really good, but I can’t see it as being something that would appeal to everyone. I liked it a lot, and if you’re into independent film, or just a film-buff in general, I think it might appeal to you, too. Enjoy!

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