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''A Perfect Getaway'' is a 2009 American thriller film written and directed by David Twohy and starring Timothy Olyphant,
Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; ; ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovovich (), is an American actress and former fashion model. Her starring roles in numerous science fiction film, science-fiction and action films led th ...
, Kiele Sanchez, and Steve Zahn. Olyphant, Jovovich, Sanchez, and Zahn portray a group of vacationing couples in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
who find their lives in danger when murders begin to occur on the island, leading to suspicions over one of the couples being the killers. Shot in Hawaii and
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, ''A Perfect Getaway'' was released on August 7, 2009, in the United States. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $22 million on a $14 million budget.


Plot

For their honeymoon, newlyweds Cliff and Cydney travel to
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
. After making a travel video in the car, they spend the night in a hotel before driving off in order to start hiking towards a remote beach. Whilst in the car, the two encounter another couple: kind-hearted Cleo who attempts to hitchhike with them and hot-headed Kale who takes her away from them. On the hike, they are befriended by tourist Nick and his girlfriend Gina. The two couples go forward on their journey together, but tensions begin to arise in the group when a double homicide of an unidentified couple is reported in Hawaii, with a man and woman being suspected as the killers. When the four arrive at a waterfall; Kale and Cleo are also there. Kale makes vague threats to Cydney, which seemingly worries Cliff. Nick, discovering that Cliff is a screenwriter, attempts to convince him to write a script about him; he was a soldier and had his skull crushed, but survived thanks to an operation where metal plates were put in his head. Cliff lets Nick continue on about this throughout the journey, despite having no interest in making a movie about him. After moving on, the four go deeper into the jungle and become wary of each other due to the reported murders. However, the tensions die down after they witness Kale and Cleo being arrested for the murders after some teeth were found in Kale's backpack. Arriving at their destination, Cliff convinces Nick to explore a marine cave with him while Cydney and Gina wait behind on the beach. After Gina looks through photos in a camera, she suddenly screams at Nick and Cliff. However they ignore her, so she begins to scale a cliff after them with Cydney in pursuit. Once alone with Cliff in the cave, Nick realizes that he has been tricked as Cliff draws a gun. It is revealed that the real Cliff and Cydney were the unidentified victims of the double homicide, murdered by their impostors. The impostor Cliff is Rocky, the high school boyfriend of the imposter of Cydney, and the two are meth addicts who have been committing the murders to assume the identities of their victims - getting the victims life stories by pretending to be scriptwriters. Gina, who saw the wedding photos with the real Cliff and Cydney on the camera, witnesses Rocky shoot Nick and attempts to escape. After fighting him off, but being stabbed and shot, Gina runs into the jungle. Rocky tells his girlfriend to mislead the police about the transpiring events while he chases after Gina. Gina finds some men but Rocky kills them all and seriously injures her before she manages to escape. Rocky's pursuit of her is stopped by the emergence of Nick, who survived the gunshot due to the previously mentioned metal plates. Nick gains the upper hand and holds Rocky at gunpoint, but a police helicopter contacted by Rocky's girlfriend arrives on the scene, warning Nick that he will be shot if he does not release Rocky. As Rocky tries to goad Nick into killing him, Gina gets Nick to back down. Realizing that she can stop Rocky, who is extremely abusive, and save two people who love each other, Rocky's girlfriend tells the police Rocky is the murderer, prompting them to shoot him when he tries to retrieve his gun. Travelling back on a helicopter, Nick finally proposes to Gina. She accepts, and they mutually agree not to go on a honeymoon.


Cast

* Steve Zahn as Cliff Anderson / Rocky * Timothy Olyphant as Nick Bennett *
Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; ; ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovovich (), is an American actress and former fashion model. Her starring roles in numerous science fiction film, science-fiction and action films led th ...
as Cydney Anderson * Kiele Sanchez as Gina Stone * Marley Shelton as Cleo * Chris Hemsworth as Kale Garrity Additionally, Anthony Ruivivar plays Chronic, a guide, and Dale Dickey and Peter Tuiasosopo appear as convenience store employees Earth Momma and Supply Guy. Holt McCallany and Isaac Santiago portray the police lieutenant and the police shooter, while Tory Kittles plays Sherman, one of the kayakers. The real Cliff and Cydney, referred to in the credits as "Groom" and "Bride", are portrayed by Ryan Gessell and Evelyn Lopez.


Soundtrack

#"Hey, Hey, Hey" — Tracy Adams #"Paradise" — RooHub #"Need Your Love" — Aswad #"Boom Chic Boom Chic" — Tracy Adams #"Red Dress Baby Doll" — Tracy Adams #"Ghetto Chronic" — Tracy Adams #"The Wretched" —
Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...
#" I'm Yours" —
Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz ( ; born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single "The Remedy (I Won't Wo ...


Marketing

The film was promoted with several videos posted to YouTube. The reports, attributed to the fictional news agency Global Digital News created by
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
, detailed a string of homicides targeting honeymooning couples. They were posted to a YouTube channel designed to look like a
local news In journalism, local news refers to coverage of events, by the news, in a local context that would not be of interest to another locality, or otherwise be of national or international scope. Local news, in contrast to national or international new ...
station.


Release

The film was released in the United States on August 7, 2009 and grossed $5,948,555 in its opening weekend. The film made £418,703 in its first week in the United Kingdom and reached number 10 at the UK box office. Worldwide, it grossed $22,852,638. The unrated director's cut DVD and Blu-ray were released on December 29, 2009.


Reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
the film holds an approval rating of 62% based on 138 reviews, with an average rating 5.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "While smarter than the average slasher film, ''A Perfect Getaway'' eventually devolves into a standard, predictable, excessively violent thriller."
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
assigned the film a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' referred to the film as a "genuinely satisfying cheap thrill". More mixed reviews include the ''
Times Online ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...
'', which gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, adding that it is a "smart" thriller but is a "little too tricky for its own good". Additionally, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' rated the film 60% and said that the film is a "flawed but entertaining thriller". Michael Phillips gave the film 2 1/2 stars (out of four) and stated that ''A Perfect Getaway'' "has the fortitude to venture off the beaten path of formula." Timothy Olyphant was the first runner-up for Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor.


See also

* '' Fear Island''


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect Getaway 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s survival films 2000s psychological thriller films 2009 films 2009 crime thriller films 2009 psychological thriller films American crime thriller films American psychological thriller films American adventure thriller films American survival films Films about honeymoons Films about murderers Films about identity theft Films set in Hawaii Films set on beaches Films set on islands Films shot in Hawaii Films shot in Puerto Rico QED International films Relativity Media films Rogue (company) films Films directed by David Twohy Films with screenplays by David Twohy English-language crime thriller films English-language adventure thriller films