Hobo with a Shotgun (2011)

  Of course I was going to see this movie.  Hello, have we met?  I was even hoping this would be secretly awesome.  Sadly, it's not.

Our main character doesn't have a name, he's just one of the many faceless homeless in Hope Town.  We shall call him Hobo (Rutger Hauer).  All he wants is to save up $50 so he can buy a lawn mower and maybe get off the street.  Unfortunately, Hope Town is run by a sleazy gangster named Drake (Brian Downey) and his two psychopath sons.  They have undermined every authority and thrive on murder and mayhem.  When Hobo stops one of the sons from abducting local prostitute Abby (Molly Dunsworth), he earns their enmity but instead of running, he uses his precious $50 to buy a shotgun and starts turning the town around.

Is Nova Scotia the Detroit of Canada?  Because that's kind of how it's portrayed here.  I've never been anywhere in Canada except for Niagara Falls, so someone will have to let me know.  Anyway, this movie was Canada's attempt to get in on the grindhouse fad by being as over-the-top, ludicrously violent as possible.   It doesn't make a whole lot of sense and the dialogue is godawful, but I'm pretty sure that's on purpose.  I don't know how they got Rutger Hauer to be in this, but he's done weird shit before.  This is like his Snakes on a Plane. 

So, we've established that the movie is not great.  As a commentary on crime and the ability of most people to turn a blind eye on those less fortunate, it's extremely obvious and not saying anything new.  However, there is a great scene about halfway through the movie where the smarter of Drake's two sons, Slick (Gregory Smith), calls his dad because he's dying.  It's actually really touching and you get the sense that even though Drake is a mass murdering son-of-a-bitch, he really cares about his boy and wants to do the best he can for him.  It's random and weird but it's the closest this movie comes to genuine pathos.