When a film is entertaining and provides my brain with something to chew on after it’s over, it’s well worth recommending.
Craig Daniels (Pat Healy) is having a bad day. As he leaves for work, he finds an eviction notice on his front door. Shortly after that, he’s told he’s out of a job. Rather than go home and face his wife and a newborn son, he goes to the bar to drown his sorrows.
Once there, he runs into Vince (Ethan Embry,) an old friend he hasn’t seen for five years. As it happens, Vince has also been having a bad time financially. Having dropped out of high school, he roughs people up working as an enforcer for a loan shark. Not exactly glamorous work. As they catch up, they meet a rich couple, Colin (David Koechner) and Violet (Sara Paxton), who are celebrating Violet’s birthday.
Spurred on as a way to entertain Violet, Colin offers Craig and Vince a series of challenges for money. For example, the first person to get the waitress to slap him in the face gets $300. Both men are skeptical until Colin starts paying out when these seemingly harmless tasks are completed. They’re making some money. No one’s getting hurt. The drinks are flowing. Everything’s fine. That is, until Colin proposes they go back to their house to continue the party. Then things get more intense. And the challenges get more unusual. And the payouts get substantially larger.
Money truly does bring out the worst in people. It means so little to those who have a lot and so much who have very little. As obvious as that sounds, Cheap Thrills explores that horrific grey area where those who need money will do anything to get it. That same area is populated with people who will exploit that desperation for entertainment purposes. Sounds a lot like reality TV, doesn’t it? And, in essence, that’s what Cheap Thrills becomes. Only it’s much more visceral than something like Survivor or The Amazing Race could ever be.
It’s hard to describe this film in a way that makes it sound like it’s worth your time. However, Cheap Thrills definitely is worth a watch thanks to the tremendous performances from all involved. Nearly the entire film centers around these four individuals’ odd personal chemistry and it keeps your attention. As the dares get more risky, the tension ramps up accordingly. First-time director E. L. Katz deftly balances between restraint and depravity and indulges when appropriate.
Cheap Thrills is a challenging movie. Not just because it features a few gross-out moments. It forces us to think of what we would or could do in similar situations. It might be easy to think, “I’d just walk away.” But if you were truly as desperate as these characters are, could you do that? How well do you really know yourself? When a film is entertaining and provides my brain with something to chew on after it’s over, it’s well worth recommending.
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
