A Bad Idea Gone Wrong is Jason Headley’s full feature length debut and I must say, Headley gives a simple concept a fantastic tune up.
With this Comedy/Drama, two down on their luck thieves, Marlon (Matt Jones) and Leo (Will Rogers) land their next heist opportunity, a fancy mansion home while the owners are away. Once inside, Marlon and Leo accidentally make things harder, trapping themselves inside the home while trying to de-activate the alarm system that wasn’t activated in the first place.
Little do they know someone else is hiding away with plans of her own in the form of Darcy (Eleanor Pienta). Finding her fast asleep on a bed upstairs, they soon make things even worse and as the evening goes on their heist just keeps on getting better and we begin to find out about these characters in the most un-earnest of circumstances.
What makes this American indie film so fantastic is how tight these characters are from the beginning. I believed they were best friends at the onset of the film, and the characters of Marlon and Leo onot grow as the movie continues. I think the biggest of Hollywood blockbusters (I am looking at you Batman V Superman) could take a page out of Jason Headley on building grounded characters and taking their time with them before telling a bigger story. Matt Jones stood out the most for me but mostly because of his amazing voice on screen, as it melds the comedy together. I immediately remembered Jones’s work as the quirky and worrisome voice of the alien Kyle from the DreamWorks animated film Home and its Netflix spin-off series.
Rogers’ background story for his character of Leo emits a feeling of guilt on the audience but borders on neurotic and disturbing in some scenes, but even that simmers down when the cause is clear. Then comes in Darcy; if it wasn’t for the addition of Pienta in this film it just would not have been the same. Whether it was her character and the great writing or just Eleanor herself, or both, she brings a fusion to the film that made me feel young again. She reminds me of a more grounded, funnier version of Kat Denning. I hope that is a compliment because the whole crew here deserves them.
However, I did find the reasoning of why they were doing the heist in the first place more believable than the fact they were even trying to steal anything. I mean, half the film has them looking at carpet and paintings on the wall, they aren’t even sure there is anything valuable and as a viewer, I barely even saw a single thing I would have wanted to take. I would have spent a few minutes looking and thinking it was a waste of my time. It might have helped ground the film a little more if they got some better set pieces in. Other than the giant lounges and the wine pantry I never felt this house was even worth a visit. But perhaps that’s part of the point. We do find out a few twists on the way that make the whole scenario clearer and the relationship Marlon and Leo make with Darcy create some mild comedy gold. It does get a little weird with Leo and Darcy in some parts (think Erotic Asphyxiation) but with some great drama thrown in for good measure I was never found myself looking at my watch; this film easily sits on my ‘Watch Again’ list.
Despite some seriously laughable plot threads, the film’s direction and acting is the strength of A Bad Idea Gone Wrong. The type of feature I would watch again with mates around, it’s a movie that makes you laugh at the concept more-so after you have experienced it. I really hope we see a DVD release for this in the near future, as I’m sure it sadly won’t get a cinema one here in Australia – but however it gets released, don’t miss this indie gem.
Review Score: FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
A Bad Idea Gone Wrong premiered at the 2017 SXSW Film Festival
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