GETAWAY, PG-13 ( 1 hr & 29 min )

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where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when: Thursday, August 29th, 2013
show: 10:00 p.m.
costs: $11.50 Ticket + $11.50
auditorium: 5
seat: 4th row ( counting from the front ), 7th column ( counting from the left )

synopsis/overview: Brent Magna ( Ethan Hawke ), a race car driver, moves with his Bulgarian wife, Leanne ( Rebecca Budig ), to Bulgaria after he is banned from racing. But a criminal mastermind ( Jon Voight ), who has other plans for him, abducts his wife and forces him to enter the "race of his life", a city-street car chase in which he has to race against the clock by a set of reckless rules and win or lose his wife if he fails and/or is caught by the cops.

noteworthy scenes: 1.) Abduction; 2.) The "To-Do List"; 3.) The unwanted passenger; 4.) "That's assault with a deadly weapon. They could shoot at us, you know"; 5.) "Perfectly suited to my needs"; 6.) Overload; 7.) "I told you not to let her out of the car"; 8.) Bank; 9.) "There's a procedure"; 10.) Parking garage; 11.) "Back-off"; 12.) Live feed; 13.) The route; 14.) Car flip; 15.) "It's not mine"; and 16.) "If only you believed you could."

audience reaction: The audience kind of liked it.

recommendation: I liked it enough. This movie is essentially a Car-Chase Movie ( a road-trip movie of the "fast and furious" kind ), with chase scenes strung together from beginning to end. A newspaper reviewer said it best when he said that this movie is just a list of traffic violations put together. If you like Car-Chase Movies, this one's made with you in mind.

spoiler alert! It would have taken some time for all of those cameras to get installed. So, wouldn't someone have noticed it being done? Ramming that police car was an assault with a deadly weapon and attempted homicide/murder.  Why was she worried so much about being shot at when she knew that the car was bullet-proof? The bikes that the bad guys used weren't automatic bikes. So, in the train yard ( ? ) car chase, how was the bad guy able to keep up with them when his left hand was holding an automatic rifle instead of being used to work the clutch? If he was, indeed, a race car driver, and considering the fact that he was in an armored vehicle, then he would have known how to "fish-tail" and ram the SUV that he was chasing after! Don't tell me that there are no news helicopters and police helicopters in Bulgaria that could have easily pinpointed his exact location at any given time. This movie should have been released in time for Christmas and re-titled: THE GRINCH WHO CRASHED CHRISTMAS!

Does this movie show what we, "ugly" Americans, would do if we were allowed to run "wild and loose" in another country? Ha, ha, ha.

fyi: I have a co-worker, Eric, who is studying to be a Computer Programmer. I asked him if he could hack into any computer. He said he could. Then, I asked him if it was a fast and easy thing to do. He said that it would be a relatively fast and easy thing to do IF YOU KNOW WHAT PROGRAM THE INTENDED TARGET COMPUTER WAS RUNNING ON. And I am not certain that "The Kid" ( Selena Gomez ) was privy to such information even though she appeared to hack the bad guy's computer with such virtuoso and with such aplomb.

A Bulgarian Christmas might just prove to be an interesting event for me to experience sometime in the future.

word of advice: Driving is not a Right, it is a Privilege. A privilege which can be revoked! Drive responsibly and practice road courtesy while you drive---And don't talk/text on your cellphone at the same time!!!

tidbits: I don't really like Ford vehicles. But I'll make an exception in this case because ...

I Want That "babe-magnet" Car!!!

( Well, after they fix it up---Of course! It was a tax write-off so they can just give it to me for free. )

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