Considering how prolific Robert De Niro and John Cusack are, it’s surprising that the two of them have never worked together before The Bag Man, a noir-influenced thriller by rookie director/co-writer David Grovic. As it turns out, the combination of the two works really well for the most part, with only a few hiccups in the narrative that drag it down a bit.
The plot of the film is simple, which allows it to fall into numerous surprising twists and turns. Cusack is the titular bag man, Jack, who is asked by criminal kingpin Dragna (De Niro) to pick up a bag and bring it to room 13 in a seedy motel in Louisiana, where Dragna will come to collect it. Jack is told by Dragna not to look in the bag for any reason, but Jack soon learns that his seemingly “easy” job has become increasingly complicated as there are others out to take whatever is in that bag from him. Once he arrives at the motel, Jack discovers it hosts a number of unsavory characters, the least of whom being the quizzical man at the front desk, Ned (Crispin Glover). Jack soon finds himself mixed up with all these characters, including the mysterious call girl Rivka (Rebecca Da Costa) as he waits for Dragna to come for the bag, but even when Jack is dragged away from the motel (literally in most cases) he keeps winding up battling his way back to room 13.
The Bag Man is a meandering thriller that is entertaining, even if like many other thrillers it leaves you scratching your head wondering why it twists in several directions that don’t make much logical sense. But when it comes to thrillers it’s easy to give them some extra leeway in the name of entertainment. From that standpoint it’s easy to get invested in these characters and the mysterious task that Jack keeps finding increasingly difficult to complete.
De Niro had a terrible 2013 — he starred in five awful to forgettable movies and his only saving grace in the year was his cameo in American Hustle — and though it might be saying much, De Niro’s performance in The Bag Man is better than anything he did in those five 2013 movies. This is the vicious De Niro of The Untouchables mixed with the verbose De Niro of some of his earliest roles. He has the best dialogue in the movie, and even has some hilarious lines that come out of left field. But most of all, he brings a threatening presence — something he honestly hasn’t had on screen in a while. I’m not saying he should win an Oscar here, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Similarly, Cusack is coming off a rough a patch with his most high-profile role in the last few years his remarkably awful portrayal of Richard Nixon in Lee Daniels’ The Butler. This is one of Cusack’s subdued, level-headed performances that we haven’t seen from him in some time. This role also gives him the opportunity to do some more action-oriented work, including a cleverly choreographed brawl in a car.
My biggest piece of criticism of the movie is that it has a few stomach-turning scenes that involve women getting physically abused. Normally I understand that as a storytelling device because movies like this are often violent, but I was surprised at the sheer number of violent acts committed against Da Costa’s character and the only other female character in the movie, portrayed by Celesta Hodge in a brief role. It is excessive to the point of being gratuitous, so much so that the violence against Da Costa eventually loses any storytelling power.
Aside from that, the only other issue is that after a compelling hour and twenty minutes the movie really drags when it comes to the conclusion. It becomes very talky, which doesn’t fit with the rest the film even if De Niro’s dialogue is entertaining. The editing here could be much more taut and give the audience the same ending without the narrative being stretched so thin.
Nonetheless, The Bag Man is definitely worth a look and it seems like Grovic is starting his career as a director on the right foot. With better editing he’d have a better film overall, but what’s here will keep you entertained.
Rating: An imperfect but entertaining thriller that brings out some of the best in Cusack and De Niro (6.5/10).
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