10×10

2.5 out of 10

Release date: 2nd September 2018 (DVD premiere)

Director: Suzi Ewing

Cast: Luke Evans, Kelly Reilly, Norma Dixit, Olivia Chenery, Skye Lucia Degruttola, Jill Winternitz, Stacey Hall, Benjamin Hoetjes with Jason Maza and Noel Clarke

Writer: Noel Clarke

Trailer: 10×10

Ridiculous, overly convoluted thriller with more holes in its plot than a teabag, 10×10 puts some overexperienced actors through the wringer for the sake of a few tepid thrills. In the 1990s, a thriller like this came out every other week, where a seemingly good person was outed as a twisted psycho – they usually starred actors like Tom Berenger, Nick Nolte or Don Johnson – now here we have Luke Evans (THE FAST & THE FURIOUS 6) pitched against Kelly Reilly (TRUE DETECTIVE (TV)). The former kidnaps the latter and locks her in a 10×10 metres squared cell in his luxury house. Is he a serial killer? Or is his motive somewhat nobler? Well it’s cat and mouse, where the cat and mouse keep on switching place. Except the viewer is always a few steps ahead of our hero/heroine and it makes for a frustrating watch.

Opportunities for escape are squandered by the quarry, as the captor makes ridiculously daft judgements and takes unlikely risks, including a daylight abduction in a very busy supermarket car park which takes far too long to have been something planned and executed by an ‘intelligent’ character.  As a whole 10×10 is self-defeating because rather than thrill it confounds all expectations at being anything near competent. It’s a shame as its well made, and the actors are convinced they are making a worth while film, yet the script is full of jaw-dropping twists that take the audience for born yesterday morons.

Look out for the producer/actors Noel Clarke (I KILL GIANTS) and Jason Maza (BULLETPROOF (TV)) in a pair of very unshowy roles – it makes you wonder why they caught a plane to Atlanta for extended walk-on parts, besides a jolly. The film is very disappointing considering that the look, the finish and the performances all indicate a desire to make real ‘Hollywood-style’ films on a small-budget but these dudes have sold their puzzle-solving audiences short with a dumb actioner disguised as a think-piece twister – only this one thinks it’s far cleverer than it really is.  Floppy.

2.5 out of 10 – Well made but too far-fetched of plot to be thrilling despite decent performances from the game leads. Nothing new here to get excited about. This isn’t 10×10 it’s 2.5 over 10.

WHAT HAVE I SEEN THAT ACTOR IN BEFORE?

• Luke Evans: Murder Mystery, Professor Marston and The Wonder Women, Fast & Furious 8, Beauty & The Beast (2017), The Girl On The Train, High-Rise, Flutter, The Hobbit- The Battle of the Five Armies, Dracula- Untold, The Hobbit – The Desolation Of Smaug, Fast And Furious 6, Ashes, No One Lives, Blitz, The Raven, Immortals, The Three Musketeers (2011), Tamara Drewe, Clash Of The Titans (2010), Sex & Drugs & Rock-n-Roll
• Kelly Reilly: Bastille Day, True Detective (TV), Set Fire To The Stars, Calvary, Chinese Puzzle, Flight, Sherlock Holmes 2 — A Game of Shadows,, Sherlock Holmes (2009), Me and Orson Welles, Eden Lake, Mrs Henderson Presents, Last Orders, Maybe Baby
• Olivia Chenery: Brotherhood, #Legacy
• Jason Maza: Dark Heart (TV), Bulletproof (TV), Brotherhood, Angel (2015), #Legacy, The Hooligan Factory, Traveller, Little Deaths, Get Lucky, Welcome To The Punch, Victim, The Knot, The Man Inside (2012), Truth or Dare, Outside Bet, Demons Never Die, Anuvahood, The Tapes, KickOff, Fit, Fish Tank, Shifty,  Ten Dead Men, Rise Of The Footsoldier,  Hush Your Mouth, Life and Lyrics
• Noel Clarke: Fisherman’s Friends, Bulletproof (TV), I Kill Giants, Mute, Brotherhood (2016), The Anomaly, I Am Soldier, Saving Santa (voice), Star Trek 2 – Into Darkness (2013), The Knot, Fast Girls, Huge, Screwed (2011), Heartless, 4-3-2-1, Centurion, Sex & Drugs & Rock-N-Roll, Doghouse, Adulthood, Kidulthood, Dr Who (TV), Auf Wierdesen Pet (TV)