Director: Clark Gregg
Starring: Clark Gregg, Saxon Sharbino, Sam Rockwell
Release Date: June 6, 2014
Clark Gregg might be well known as Agent Coulson in Marvel Universe, but when he isn't playing an agent he's playing other roles in Hollywood. In 2013 alone, Gregg starred in four films and plays a big role in the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. So when it comes to acting, Gregg is no stranger and is very versatile in the roles he can play. But there is one role in Hollywood that Gregg has only taken up once and that is directing. In 2008, Gregg first took the director's seat in Choke, a film that only received a 54% on the Tomatometer from Rotten Tomatoes. 6 years later and Clark is taking a second jab at directing with Trust Me, which made its debut at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. Unfortunately, not much has improved since Gregg's last time as a director.
Howard Holloway (Clark Gregg) is a child star turned agent for child actors who seems to be struggling at keeping his clients due to his arch-nemesis Aldo Shocklee (Sam Rockwell) being able to woo them all away. Things appear to look dim for Howard and his future as an agent until he meets a talented unsigned 13 year old actress Lydia (Saxon Sharbino) who has just been cast to play a role in the latest movie franchise based on vampires. But closing deals has never been easy for Howard, especially when he has Aldo attempting to steal his new client. Aside from this, Howard has to deal with a drunk and volatile man that is Lydia's father. The closer he gets to achieving the close of his career, Howard grows suspicious that Lydia is not everything that she seems.
The first hour of Trust Me was well put together, delivering a strong plot with jokes to match it. The film opens up with a flash forward of what is to be Howard's demise. Following the first hour of the film, you'll assume that when the film does get to the scene shown in the flash forward that it would be delivered in a comical fashion just like the rest of the film. Oh, how I was greatly mistaken.
The third act is when the tone of the film drastically changes. Suffering from a hurried storyline, Sharbino finds herself changing who she was portraying in the first hour on a dime. The very dark tone shift is about child abuse and how it is to be a young actor in Hollywood. Alone, the third act could work but with how the film set itself up throughout the first hour, the two tone just doesn't mesh the way Gregg hoped it would.
Which is awful because you actually grow to like Gregg's Howard and find yourself rooting for the underdog throughout the film. You want nothing but success for him and when things don't go his way you find yourself laughing. Then as soon as the tone shifts, all the fun you were having with the film just disappears and you catch yourself wondering if you are still watching the same film that you started.
On June 6th, Trust Me is set to hit limited theaters and will also be available for purchase on iTunes and On Demand on the same day. With Edge of Tomorrow and The Fault in Our Stars set to release the same day, you should over look the film and wait for it to be available to watch on Netflix. The third act is enough to ruin your enjoyment of the entire film but Gregg shows us that he is not that far from finally putting it all together when he's in the director's seat.
Labels: 2014, Clark Gregg, Movie Review, On Demand, Sam Rockwell, Saxon Sharbino, Trust Me
