Let's be realistic.

Dreadfully Boring

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

A voice on the phone takes people on a life and death ride for cash prizes. Elliot Brindle is a meek nice-guy salesman expecting a promotion but gets fired instead. He cares for his mentally handicapped brother Michael. He's in debt and his girlfriend Shelby is pregnant. He's forced to take in his angry racist father who is getting evicted. He gets a phone call claiming that he's on a hidden camera show. The voice tells him that he could win prizes for completing 13 challenges. At first, the tasks are relatively easy and the money is real. Soon, manipulations force him to continue the dangerous game and any failure would take away the money already won. Police detective Chilcoat (Ron Perlman) takes on the seemingly random series of petty crimes by the same man.This is a Blumhouse production and a remake of a Thai horror. It needs a bigger name in the Elliot lead. Also, Elliot is too deliberately oblivious. With the threat to take away his money, he should play it safe by taking out the cash and closing his account. Of course, the voice can come back by upping his credit card charges. At least, he needs to show the brains to try to resist. It's an intriguing high concept idea but little nagging issues do persist. It's not really about the 13 challenges but rather a changing personality. In that sense, I do see the concept bearing some fruits.

There seems to be more and more horror and thriller films coming out that involve tests or games. These games usually start off harmless enough, but throughout the course of the movie, test a characters morality or will to survive, at times pitting the two against each other. With a wide net this genre of film would include Fermat's Room, Cube, Exam, Would You Rather, the Saw movies, etc. 13 sins fall into this category as well.I was initially a little hesitant to watch 13 Sins. It had gotten good reviews, and was free through Prime, but just like I'm starting to get sick of time travel films, I'm also a little bored with this genre as well. However, boredom and lack of options led me to trek forward and give this little thriller a shot.The story centers around a man with a pregnant wife who loses his job, and receives a phone call inviting him to partake in a game in which he has to complete 13 tasks in order to win a few million dollars. The first task is simple enough, kill a fly. The second, is to eat it. However, as the protagonist dives deeper into the game, it becomes more dangerous and immoral.I don't really know what to say about this movie, for it wasn't remarkable, but it was definitely entertaining. There's some good laughs as well as some good tension. It didn't bore me, and it offered something a little different for the genre.

I didn't really know what to expect when my wife and I rented this movie. We are big movie buffs, and are always looking for that not-so- talked about movie that is a gem. In 13 Sins we found it. A uniquely written movie that has suspense, likable characters, and a nice little plot twist here and there.I didn't know much about the main actor in the film, but he did a really nice job. I didn't know that Ron Pearlman was going to be in it,but he delivers a great performance as always. So, if you read the preview and say to yourself, "It sounds like it could be good," then I would strongly advise you to rent it, because it is good.

I truly liked this movie. This movie was of the puppeteer type as I like to call them. A person or person(s) are committing atrocities yet someone else is pulling the strings.13 Sins is about a man, Elliott Brindle (Mark Webber), who is down on his luck when he's offered an opportunity to win loads of money to help alleviate his woes. There are 13 tasks to complete and the rules are such that once he starts he pretty much has to continue to completion. Of course the game is anything but harmless.I was impressed with the plot and the build up. Before having some random person launch into a morbid game we first got to see the type of person Brindle was and the type of issues he had to deal with. Pregnant fiancé, disabled brother, elderly father, and recently terminated from his job. This information wasn't thrust in there as an aside, we were given it organically within the flow of the movie.It's also a movie that makes you think: "How far would I go for a sizable sum of money?" The puppeteer type movies always find human weaknesses to prey upon and they are usually either greed or survival. Where movies like "Saw", "Die", "Vile", "Circle" and others are about pure survival at its core, "13 Sins" is about social survival. Elliott could've easily opted not to play but what quality of life would he have given his situation? There were some small flaws with the movie but overall it was a good product. They took a known premise and freshened it. It helped that the actors were good and you didn't totally know what was the end game. Yes, I truly liked this movie.