Off-Piste (2016) Reviews

• Not what I was expecting

  julsepsom2017-09-17

  I came to this film expecting to see a revenge movie with an ex SAS soldier remembering his training and skills to take out an avenging enemy. A bit like a budget version of any number of Hollywood blockbusters with INSERT ACTION STAR OF YOUR CHOICE with the enemy dispatched in a number of different, improvised ways. Well, if that's what you want to watch don't watch this film. Other reviewers have said the Northern Irish accents are terrible - well they didn't jar with me, they were strong, presumably Belfast, accents so not a cod Irish accent like Tom Cruise's in Far Away. A soldier did a terrible thing and has been suffering with the consequences ever since. He hides away in the mountains and seeks help from psychiatrists wanting them to wave a magic wand to absolve his sins but he seems to want to continue punishing himself. An Irish girl goes to find him for revenge but it doesn't quite work out that way. Meanwhile her unstable, obsessed with her friend chases after her with his equally dangerous mate. Here the film gets slightly silly. The 2 Irish men find her very quickly, she spurns the obsessed one - again - and the 2 men make an unbelievable decision. Cue sequence of events which is probably what you thought the film was about anyway. This may be a low budget film but it's done well. I've seen a lot of really, really terrible American films with bigger budgets which have dreadful scripts, awful CGI and are badly acted with known actors only doing it for the pay cheque. This film isn't perfect but it's not dreadful either. This film is about revenge and understanding. Wanting to die and wanting to live. It's about humanity.

• Dreadful,boring don't read the glowing reviews from family members

  kjillman2016-12-17

  Luckily I downloaded this tripe so didn't part with any money. What a complete shambles of a film. The main actor actually isn't all that bad he just let down by a crap script. As another reviewer has mentioned the Irish accents are terrible and the female lead really needs to give up the acting lark! Stay away Read a book Do the washing go shopping or put this on to fall asleep to! I need to write 10 lines for this review I think I have spent long enough on this but need to do my duty and steer you all away from this dross!

• Not the expected action film

  smith-640292017-06-24

  A moving and well done film unless you are distracted by the apparently poor Irish accents. Some of the constructs are a bit stretched but nothing like 99% of other films out right now. A mix of suspense, sadness and reflections on life, different from my expectation of a more typical action movie.

• The initial idea was interesting. The outcome was so exaggerated.

  peterp-450-2987162017-03-27

  Looking at the cover of "Off Piste", you're expecting a pure survival movie full of action and chases in a French snowy landscape. That's not the case. It's rather a psychological drama in which processing a traumatic experience is the central theme. First we meet Stanley Winters (Henry Douthwaite) who during a military raid on a local pub, where I.R.A. members were discussing something, accidentally shot the young son of one of these members. And then there's Niamh O'Brien (Lara Lemon) who witnessed the death of her younger brother and father that evening as a young girl. Both are struggling with the past. Stanley stows away his military combat uniform after this incident and moves to the French Alps where he'll live with his blind mother (Yvonne O'Grady) in a remote mountain cabin. There he tries to find inner peace. As Niamh discovers the real truth about the death of her father and brother, she leaves Ireland confidently and travels to the French mountain village. The further progress of the story seems to be evident. You can only guess what motives Niamh has to find those responsible. Is it to avenge her loss? A revenge because her life ended up in a series of depressions? Or is it because she wants to deal with the past and finally be able to leave it all behind? That the person who took care of her afterwards still has a dossier lying around about Winters, is an indication about the unlikely and the sometimes nonsensical events. I liked the psychological aspect and thought it was interesting enough. Stanley struggling with his inner demons and using a female psychiatrist (who displays more uncertainties than her patient) to channel his recovery. Even Stanley's mother tries to get her son back on the right path so that he rediscovers the meaning of life. That's why she acts like a mother hen, the moment Niamh arrives. As a true matchmaker she tries to hook them up. She isn't aware of the dreadful link that connects the two. What's the flaw in this film you wonder? The absurdity of the two idiotic Irish guys, traveling headlong to the French Alps. Ethan (Jared Fortune) , because he believes that he sees himself as the fiancée of Niamh and he finds it hard to bear that she's looking for another man. And then there's Logan (Paul McGuinness). He's just in it because he has probably nothing else to do. They arrive at the French village like two genuine Irish hooligans. Ethan confronts Niamh with the fact that she first had to consult with him. A bit later he clears off like a beaten dog after she made it perfectly clear to him what their relationship is about. The resulting response is so excessive that the credibility of the whole film is brought down. If these two skirts hunters have experienced many rejections in their homeland, I fear the female part of the population was decimated in number. I've always said that foam-free, warm beer is fatal for human brain cells. So despite the beautiful renditions of Henry Douthwaite and Yvonne O'Grady, "Off Piste" reasonably far-fetched. I understand that without the intervention of Etahn and Logan the complete movie would be kind of banal with just scenes of two traumatized souls. But as I said before, the motivation for their intervention is totally whacked. Even the ultimate action from Stanley is in terms of coincidence grossly exaggerated. Regrettable. Because eventually I found the underlying issue extremely interesting. More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

• Beautifully shot and brilliantly acted film that is more complex than you would think.

  The_Munkie2016-10-21

  The DVD cover gives the impression that this is a one-man revenge story, but you will be surprised as to who is really out for revenge, and what the cost of that will be. The two central characters lives are torn apart after a British soldier kills a young boy during an IRA meeting raid. Years later the soldier is in seclusion still trying to come to terms with what he did. Meanwhile the boy's older sister, now a woman, seeks the soldier out. Both actors bring a quiet humanity to their roles and as the layers of hate and imagined monsters start to peel away what could have been a simple story develops into a more complex exploration of the struggle for forgiveness; to yourself and to others. Beautifully shot on location, with some stunning aerial photography. It is the two main actors who hold the attention Henry Douthwaite is compelling fighting his inner demons. And it says everything that the wonderful Lara Lemon has won a Best Supporting Actress Award for this film, heartbreakingly displaying the struggle between a need for revenge and the growing realisation that this will not bring her happiness. An impressive project made on a small budget. Give it a watch if you want to see some great upcoming talent before they become big stars.