The Bag Man
The Bag Man
R | 28 February 2014 (USA)
The Bag Man Trailers

A criminal waits in a seedy motel for his boss after killing several men to steal a bag.

Reviews
GamerTab That was an excellent one.
HeadlinesExotic Boring
Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
betty dalton When Imdb ratings are split in extremes of highs and lows it is easy to conclude if the movie is to my liking. But when the imdb ratings are average (5 -6) then these rating points by themselves are useless.This is the case with The Bag Man who got average ratings. Then instead of merely looking at ratings, you gonna have to read the indepth reviews of those people who can look beyond the popular vote to decipher if the movie is any good. But come on, just the presence of Robert de Niro alone should have made people curious. The Bag Man is by all means a good suspense thriller, made with attention to detail. But it is not an ordinary popular thriller. It doesnt fit the mold of suspension thrillers that the masses yearn for. If you are a popcornkid wanting stereotyped entertainment pass this movie by, it is not made for you, because little to none funny violence and lots of scenes where nothing happens. The masses must be entertained every second with new twists otherwise their minds start to drift. And the masses came to see this movie because of the popular actors in it. But they didnt get what they paid for: mindless entertainment.The story is simple: John Cusack plays a criminal who is ordered by crime boss Robert de Niro to transport a bag to a motel. At no time at all is John Cusack allowed to look INSIDE the bag. He only has to deliver the bag to the motel and wait. How simple can it be?The acting is topnotch. John Cusack plays one of his best roles. De Niro's chararcter is weird, but in a dangerous way. All the supporting actors are excellent.The flow of the movie is good although slow, which I like, because there are lots of scenes in which characters get time to interact with eachother on a real life like level.The story is very suspensefull till the end. I really loved its intensity. I would certainly rate it with a minimum of 7 points. The only thing keeping me from higher ratings is the stories ending.
Tss5078 The Bag Man is one of these incredibly weird and twisted movies, that you really don't want to sit through, but once you start it, you'll finish it, because you'll want to know what's in that bag?! During a secret meeting, a mob boss gives his hit man a seemingly easy job. Pick up a bag, go to a motel in the middle of nowhere, and wait there until the boss comes to pick it up. The hit man does as he's told and gets a room at this motel, which is not only in the middle of nowhere, but is also filled with a group of ridiculously strange people, who all want this mysterious bag. John Cusack stars and no matter the role or the film, he's always fun to watch. There is just something about him that always makes his films entertaining and it's a good thing, especially in a film like this. While Cusack is along for the ride, it is very hard to follow along and like what you're seeing, because the film is just so bizarre. The cast of characters coming for this secret bag, include a pimp, a Russian midget, a corrupt sheriff, and a very weird guy in a wheelchair just to name a few. As the night wears on it becomes harder and harder to protect this bag, and in the end, when the bag is finally opened, you'll realize, that you just wasted 90 minutes for that!? I admire anything John Cusack does, De Niro is always terrific as a gangster, and if nothing else, The Bag Man is unique, but not for it's story. The hook, the thing that really drags you into this is that mysterious bag, which in the end, isn't as special as are you're lead to believe.
C D This was not a great movie, but there was plenty of fun stuff going on. I laughed out loud a few times, and had fun almost the whole way. Not everyone will like it, sure, but I don't see how it is as bad as a lot of the reviews are saying, and I wonder if those people had mistaken expectations? Like they thought it would be tense and gritty, grim and threatening? But it's not--it's a left-field black comedy with some tight action moments and--yes--actual character development. Maybe you have to have the right kind of sense of humor to enjoy it--almost nothing in this movie is meant to be taken seriously, not even the weird romantic tension that develops, and certainly not the eventually revealed backstory that drives the plot. I would rather watch 10 quirky, off-beat, low-budget indie black comedies like this than 1 (imho) flat-footed, ham-fisted, self-serious big-effects-budget film like ... Skyfall.
Johnny_Hing I've been a huge De Niro fan since the 70's and have always enjoyed Cusak's work since The Grifters. But alas, they were not able to carry this film. Their characters were not at all likable. I didn't find myself rooting for either one of them, nor the girl. You don't see much of De Niro anyway, except at the beginning and again towards the end. The motel clerk was okay (thought it was Steve Zahn at first), but even he pooped out with his "don't touch my wheelchair!" scene.This is a dark movie - literally. Very dim lighting. Not easy on the eyes. You don't see any daylight until the final scene. I happen to sometimes like dark movies, and I also like "sleazy motel" movies, but there has to be some interesting stuff going on to make up for for what is missing visually. Witty dialogue would help, but there is none to be found. Plot? Blah. What is in the bag is way too predictable. Too much senseless violence. Okay, it has a surprise twist at the end, and I can bump it a half star for that. So... 2 stars total for me.PS: In reading through several dozen pages of the favorable reviews, it almost looks as if they were written by the same person employing many different aliases... same broken English, same adjectives, same rushed format. Surely I'm not the only one who has noticed this. Wow.