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CARTER & JUNE (2018)

Carter & June poster

CAST
SAMAIRE ARMSTRONG
MICHAEL RAYMOND-JAMES
JAMES MOSES BLACK
MARTIN BATS BRADFORD
JAMES LANDRY HEBERT
LUCKY JOHNSON
LINDSAY MUSIL
TIMOTHY OMUNDSON
PAUL RAE
WILL BEINBRINK

WRITTEN BY
NICHOLAS KALIKOW
MATT POST
ROB WARREN THOMAS

PRODUCED BY
SEAN COVEL
DIANE RICHEY
KYLE ROPER

DIRECTED BY
NICHOLAS KALIKOW

GENRE
ACTION
COMEDY
ROMANCE

RATED
AUS:NA
UK:15
USA:NA

RUNNING TIME
87 MIN

 

 

Carter & June image

Although this heist thriller goes off the rails in the final act, Carter & June benefits from the easy chemistry of its leads and a salaciously entertaining villain to make for an entertaining albeit flawed heist flick.

Filmmakers sure love a grifter movie. How else to explain the steady stream of films involving hustlers, con-men, femme fatales and more, as personified in genre masterpieces such as The Sting and The Usual Suspects? Carter & June, the latest film from Nicholas Kalikow (Concrete Blondes), does not reach the level of those heist film classics, yet it sure is an entertaining watch. Well, for the most part.

Carter & June stars Michael Raymond-James as Carter, a career hustler who is in deep to spectacularly bearded strip-club owner Spencer Rabbit (Timothy Omundson). When Carter receives an opportunity to score some major cash, he convinces his estranged crime partner June (Samaire Armstrong) to do one last score. Yet just like every other “last score” before it, things get very messy, very fast.

The strength of Cater & June is found in the casting of its main players. Raymond-James brings the exact kind of easy-slick-rascal charm needed to make his scoundrel hustler work, evoking the spirit of early Mickey Rourke to a character whose ego thinks he is two-steps ahead, yet reality reminds him he is always half a step behind. Complimenting is Samaire Armstrong, who brings a sensuality and fragility to the role of a single working mother who steps back into old-habits to secure a future for her family. Together, the chemistry between Raymond-James and Armstrong is palpable.

Standing tall above all others is the magnificent Timothy Omundsman, whose turn as gay hitman turned “entrepreneur” Spencer Rabbit is both cackling good and brilliantly diabolical in equal measure. Taking dialogue such as “I will never understand the allure of a titty-bar buffet” and turn in into pure comedic gold, Omundsman in delivery and style has presented one hell of a villainous turn.

Carter & June eventually proves itself an entertaining heist flick, but one that also squanders its potential. A ram-shackle third act (key to heist films as it provides opportunity for all threads to be tied and investments paid off), does not have much buck for its bang. This is the by-product of a failure to properly invest in the stakes needed to make the plight of otherwise well written and portrayed characters.

As the great American philosopher Meatloaf once said: “Two out of three ain’t bad”. So it goes with Carter & June, a heist action comedy that doesn’t quite pull off the score, but has a fun time trying to do so.

 

***

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