Family mess When you are born into a family, several representatives of which climbed the stage to receive a well-deserved Oscar, willy-nilly, and you have to at least try to meet high standards in order not to defame a glorious name. Out of the Coppola clan, Nicolas Cage had little doubt about what he would do in his later life. And having such a size as Francis Ford Coppola in his uncles, Cage could be sure that at the initial stage of his career he would definitely have no problems in appearing in several films in secondary roles, after which his fate would be finally determined. And Cage did not let down a status relative, competently investing his innate talent in art, easily switching from one genre to another and receiving invitations from eminent directors, happy to use the services of such a promising artist, and even being related to the creator of the Godfather. However, in addition to Nicolas Cage, the Coppola clan was rich in other ambitious creators who did not intend to sit in the shadow of the older generation. One of these restless representatives of the glorious family was Christopher Coppola, another nephew of Francis Ford, unlike Cage, experiencing the main craving for writing and directing. Not shy about using the connections of an influential uncle along with a more successful nephew, Christopher Coppola made his debut in directing the blatantly bad “Dracula’s Widow”, which attracted attention only because it was directed by a man with an iconic surname. But the first setback did not stop Christopher, and he continued his hard work, which eventually resulted in “Deadly Fall”, another dubious project, clearly demonstrating that kinship with successful and talented people does not mean that absolutely all members of the same family are capable of great artistic achievements. It is possible that Christopher Coppola should have chosen a slightly different cinematic profession, but he decided to follow in the footsteps of Francis Ford and, as practice shows, lost.
The plot of the film promised at least a fascinating intrigue and a couple of real surprises, but they all drowned in the directorial failure of Coppola, which could not save the whole landing of celebrities, some marvel arrived on the set. So, the story acquaints us with the note scammer Joe Dolan (Michael Bien), whom father Mike (James Coburn) from an early age was preparing for work as a partner. having on account of not one successful case, Mike and Joe did not even think about stopping, but the last idea turned out completely differently, as planned by father and son. Having staged the staging of Mike’s death from a blank bullet, Joe did not expect that the gun would contain the real bullets that wounded his mentor and one of the closest people on the planet. Hearing in Mike's dying wheezing the demand to find his brother Lou (James Coburn), Joe decides to follow his father's last will and still find someone he had not heard of before. And as the short search shows, Lou does not think to hide from his nephew, confidently developing the same vein as his relatives. Seeing in annoyed by Joe’s latest unsuccessful venture prospects for excellent joint activities, Lou invites the guy to his team even despite the fact that his right hand, unbalanced and arrogant Eddie (Cage), openly against. But where there are too many swindlers with special ambitions, you cannot trust anyone, not even yourself. Joe is aware of this truth like no other, because apparently he has a special fate, the consequences of which are difficult to predict.
Having laid the beginning of the picture in quick and rich colors, Christopher Coppola very quickly lost the starting fuse, turning the famously twisted story into a frankly boring and inexpressive narrative, in which celebrities periodically appear, pronounce phrases thrown into the air, and then disappear as if they had never happened. Coppola did not hide that he borrowed many clichés from classic adventurous films for his production, but forgot that in addition to the overall attractive concept of the film, it is necessary to properly work out the characters’ characters so that they arouse interest, and not play the banal role of walking furniture. And here on this part Coppola made the most annoying omission. further schematic sketches neither Joe nor other characters of the film could not break through, from which the viewer becomes completely indifferent to what happens in the frame and what will lead to further adventures of members of the obstinate family. To at least partially transform the spectacle, the director uses the services of stunt directors who saturated what is happening with a couple of action scenes, but this does not save the sluggish “Death Fall” from disappointing conclusions. It is noticeable that all the attempts of Christopher Coppola are aimed at saving his own reputation, only all this looks depressingly artificial and unable to touch the strings of the audience’s soul, while watching increasingly thinking that the film does not deserve to spend time with him.
Michael Bien, a talented and charismatic actor who once distinguished himself in such films as “The Terminator” and “Aliens” was not pleased in this production. Unable to understand the main idea of the director, who makes his picture wander between genres from adventurous drama to ambiguous comedy, Bien tried to work according to his own dramatic patterns, which in truth did not always suit a particular scene. Of course, it is impossible to call the efforts of the actor absolutely meaningless, but having at the disposal of such an interesting performer, Christopher Coppola treated him openly criminally, using Bien's potential even in the slightest. But if you evaluate the work of Nicolas Cage, Peter Fonda and even Charlie Sheen, who appeared in the frame for only a few minutes, then Michael Bien should not raise a single question. In particular, Cage disappointed here, who brilliantly played in “The Vampire Kiss” and “Education of Arizona”, but completely did not cope with his Eddie, who, by the way, had excellent potential and the opportunity to lead all the other heroes of “Death Fall” into the shadow. However, Cage did not want to play along with Christopher Coppola, as if doing him the greatest favor with his banal appearance in the frame. Such detachment did not benefit the film and did not in any way affect the reputation of the actor himself, who perfectly understood where to try, and in which projects you should protect yourself and not throw emotions in vain.
In the end, I want to say that “Deadly Fall” does not do credit to its creator, Christopher Coppola, who for some unknown reasons refuses to admit his lack of directorial talent. Frankly sluggish, slow and devoid of a clear narrative line, the film is constantly tossed in its own genre components without coming to a single dramatic denominator. And that's frankly disappointing.
3 out of 10