Young actress and international music sensation Selena Gomez (“Monte Carlo,” “Hotel Transylvania”) stars opposite Ethan Hawke in Warner Bros.' race-against-the-clock thriller “Getaway.”
In the film, former race car driver Brent Magna (Hawke) is pitted against the clock. Desperately trying to save the life of his kidnapped wife, Brent commandeers a custom Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake, taking it on a high-speed race against time, at the command of the mysterious villain holding his wife hostage. While trapped in that driver's seat, Magna is being watched by multiple cameras mounted on the Super Snake. Over the course of the night, he is directed to complete a series of tasks without getting killed, and in turn, getting his wife killed. Each task more dangerous for the people inside and outside the car. Into that chaos comes the Kid, a young, hot shot, tech-savvy girl who pulls a gun on Brent, jumping in the front seat and demanding that he turn over the keys. Instead, Brent takes control and tells her to get out of the car. But the Voice has other ideas. Although they can barely tolerate each other, the two become dependent on each other to survive the events that unfold nonstop during the longest night of their lives. Gomez stars as the complete stranger known only as "the Kid," who ends up in the passenger seat of the Super Snake. She loved the idea of doing her first big action movie, noting, "I'd never really done a movie like this before; so I thought it would be challenging and fun for me, especially since all the car stunts were real instead of effects. And they were awesome -- the whole experience was."
Director Courtney Solomon says, "Brent and this girl don't want to be there with each other. She can't stand him. He thinks she is irritating and doesn't need additional responsibility on his shoulders. He's got enough to deal with." Since the audience is literally behind the dash with them the entire film, casting the pair was crucial. Solomon remarks, "Ethan's an incredibly strong actor and in casting Selena, we thought she would be able to hold her own with him, and she did. There was a nice contrast and balance between them. She did a terrific job." Gomez describes the Kid as "spunky and edgy. She knows a lot about cars and technology, which I know nothing about, so, that was interesting for me. I learned a lot. I also loved working with Ethan." Of his on-screen costar, Hawke says, "Selena was an absolute pleasure. In a lot of ways she had a tougher role than I do. You know, my character's motivation is incredibly simple. He wants to get his wife back, so he's going to do what he's told. It's up to her character to go through all this rigmarole of figuring out a way to fight back. Left to his own devices, Brent would be dead and so would his wife. The Kid is the engine of the movie in a lot of ways." Gomez offers, "Brent is very intense. You can see that he's extremely broken because his wife is his complete world. In the beginning, my character is very harsh with him and hard to get along with. But they spend all this time with each other in the car so they're obviously going to get to know a lot about each other, whether they want to or not."
Hawke and Gomez had already spent some time preparing for their own stunts. Gomez recalls, "I went in a car with a stunt driver and got a feel for what it was like, and I was terrified -- but not as terrified as I was when Ethan was driving. He gets in the car, we buckle up and he starts doing these donuts. I asked him, 'Have you ever done this before?' and he answers, 'Nope.' I said, 'Great, this is totally how I'm going to die,'" she laughs. "But he's actually a great driver, so between him and Courtney I was in good hands." Opening across the Philippines on Oct. 16, “Getaway” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Brent Magna used to race cars for a living. Now's he's racing for his wife's life. Academy Award-nominee Ethan Hawke stars as Brent in Warner Bros. Pictures’ fast and furious thriller, “Getaway.”
Brent is at the mercy of an unseen assailant, a voice at the other end of a GPS speaker... because his wife is at the mercy of this clever criminal. Brent's only tool is the skill he once exercised on the track as a pro. He is now pushing that resource to its absolute limit. And beyond. Hawke relates, "My character fell from grace in the racing world and moved to Europe to try and start over. He used to miss his career, but now that he's found a different life with the woman he adores, he's happy. Suddenly all that is in jeopardy." "You feel for Brent," director Courtney Solomon notes. "He's a regular guy, sort of beaten down, and now the thing he cares about most is taken from him. He loves his wife so much that he's risking life and limb to get her back. Ethan delivered a remarkable performance." Hawke admits it was a challenge to be in a limited space for the entire film. He explains, "Every scene for my character happens from the same seat. So it was interesting to dig for the emotional nuances while not having as much freedom of movement." "My favorite car is the '68 Shelby fastback Mustang, so I was immediately hooked," Hawke attests. "Going off to Europe, racing cars around, banging up motorcycles and Mustangs and BMWs, old school, like those great '70s movies I loved growing up... Some 13-year-old boy that lives in me has always wanted to do a movie like this," he smiles. "The film thrills me because it has a visceral feel to it. You can tell some metal was really scraped against some asphalt. There's some real adrenaline to it." Opening across the Philippines on Oct. 16, “Getaway” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Reviewing the film THE PURGE starring Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey,Adelaide Kane and directed by James DeMonaco.
It's hard not to love THE PURGE for all it's suspenseful and intelligent storytelling but the film does falter before hitting the finish line. That being said, it's not entirely a bad thing that it did. In a nutshell, this reality is one where the USA has been reborn after a time of civil unrest. But to get to that stability and crime-free Utopia the so-called "new founding fathers" allows people to 'release the beast' once a year. This of course is called THE PURGE. Ethan Hawke is Jim Sandin, a security system salesman who made it big. He and his family plan on going through the Purge safe in their 'locked down' home but things just go south quickly. Director James DeMonaco has a winner here with a thought provoking premise, a solid cast and lots and lots of supposedly scary visuals. Sadly the film falters due to a short running time, some missed opportunities and some kinks in the film making process. Case in point, it was never explained how Zoey's boyfriend snuck in. What part of the story did he snuck in? Ethan Hawke has aged. There's a difference between growing old and aging (with the latter better than the former). He was 'just OK' here in this film. Nothing really stellar. Playing a desperate father might be new to him.
Lena Headey on the other hand was great, especially her motivational change towards the end. She's suddenly channeling Sarah Connor, Queen Gorgo and Queen Cersei in her buttkicking mode by the time the Purge ends. Oh and did I mention that she IS STILL HOT?!? Special props to Adelaide Kane here. She provides the younger, fresher eye candy in the film what with her abandoned racy scenes. I'd like to point out as well that she's been running around the house (and thusly being absent for majority of the movie) in a SCHOOL GIRL uniform.
And if you're a Power Rangers fan, you'd be happy to know that she was also part of POWER RANGERS RPM playing the role of villain Tenaya 7.
Another raving comment for the leader of the gang of teenagers who invaded the home of the Sandins. Actor Rhys Wakefield was spot on casting here. The dude might not have been a bloodthirsty killer but he could've been.
The dude's looks plus the character itself was just brilliant. Here we have a prepschool guy, probably goes home to his family for the Purge and then goes on and kill homeless dudes for fun. He's polite and a gentleman and with a drop of a hat, kills people that pisses him off. Sadly, it's never explored. Again, that's what makes me frown with THE PURGE. It's got potential to fight the bigger suspense movies this year but a short TRT (total running time) and under developed storytelling drags it down instead of acting like rocket boosters. Verdict: 8/10
Special thanks to SOLAR-UIP for the invites. THE PURGE opens JULY 31.
Starring Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez, Warner Bros.' "Getaway' is the gritty, heart-pounding action thriller in which former race car driver Brent Magna (Hawke) is pitted against the clock. Catch the film's teaser trailer here which has just been released by Warner.
Brent Magna is a burned out race car driver who is thrust into a do-or-die mission behind the wheel when his wife is kidnapped. With Brent’s only ally being a young hacker (Selena Gomez), his one hope of saving his wife is to follow the orders of the mysterious voice (Jon Voight) who’s watching his every move through cameras mounted on the car Brent’s driving.
“Getaway” is directed by Courtney Solomon (“An American Haunting”) with screenplay by Sean Finegan and Gregg Maxwell Parker.
Opening across the Philippines on Sept. 04, 2013, “Getaway” will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
