Wrecked review

            The premise of Wrecked seems better suited for a short film, even after the success of Danny Boyle’s similar but more inspired 127 Hours. Despite Adrien Brody’s competent acting, there is simply too little happing in Wrecked to make it feel like a complete film. There is too little emotional connection to the characters because of the reliance on a twist ending, and the actual premise brings far less enjoyment than expected. All in all it feels more like a disappointment than anything.

            The premise is simple to the point of dull. A man (Brody) wakes up in a crashed car deep in a forest ravine. He has no memory of who he is or how he got in the car, but several of his fellow passengers did not survive the crash. If anyone did survive, they have long since left the car, and the amnesia-affected man is left trapped in the wreckage. Realizing that his survival depends on escape, the man searches for a way out and clues to who he is, discovering that there is a gun and stacks of cash in the vehicle.

            Much of the film is simply Brody crawling through a forest. There are many obstacles and dangers thrown at him, but it all just seems to be delaying the one question that makes the film somewhat engaging: how did this man get in the car? Director Michael Greenspan has made an average film which somehow seems less in the shadow of Boyle’s last film.