Face à face

C’est comme si un élève de secondaire balkanique, fana du premier Rambo, avait réalisé son rêve en recrutant deux stars d’Hollywood pour sa propre interprétation – ultrasérieuse – des démons de l’Histoire locale. Le résultat est une pure série B sans aucun raffinement dramaturgique, techniquement à la ramasse et souvent drôle sans le vouloir, porteur de l’idée innovante que la guerre, c’est mal. (30/06/2013)

A small chamber survival movie like Rambo, Seraphim Falls, or The Hunted. Unfortunately, it also takes the worst the last one, a dumb and unbelievable probe into the war in Bosnia, from which the whole script draws and where the supposed conceptual transcendence should be visible, but simply isn't. If it was purely about raw survival, it would be one better, because both De Niro and Travolta are great. (17/08/2014)

A decent film - fast, clear, it says what it wants to say (and the result probably surprises no one), and that's all there is to it. Not that I need more. The most interesting thing for me is that I hadn't liked anything by Mark Steven Johnson, and suddenly there's Killing Season, which had me interested from start to finish. Of course, it's a credit to the two main actors, but the direction also has more than just good moments (De Niro's morning routine accompanied by Johnny Cash, then the scene with the wine or the one with the salted lemon juice), and it all takes place in the beautiful countryside, which is also a bonus. If Travolta's character hadn't acted like a complete jerk at the end, it might have been even better. (12/07/2014)