Sadly Over-hyped

Pretty Good

Memorable, crazy movie

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

The movie opens with a number of disconnected subplots: A rich man in a limo shows a disinterest in his son, a man (Boyd Holbrook) getting out of prison, a woman (Amy Smart) looking around a kitchen, a bail bondsman (Ethan Embry) screaming on the phone, and a cop (John Cena) on suspension. The rich man is kidnapped by Mexicans and as it turns out the other 4 are all 1/2 brothers/sister and their common estranged dad, who was worth millions, has just passed on. The catch is that in order to share $12 million, the four of them, who all hate each other, must work together in a family business for two years...without killing each other.So what family business do these 4 open up? As it turns out one of the Mexicans who has kidnapped the millionaire is a bail skip for Ethan Embry. Ethan knows that this Mexican hung out at an unnamed strip club in Mexico with a girl named "Angela." So all they have to do is go find him. Amy (plays a small role) loves all of her brothers unconditionally because they are family. The brothers tolerate each other at best. What I thought was going to be an action flick was a good comedy-action-drama. My fears that a wrestler would stink it up were unwarranted as John Cena did an impressive job...for a wrestler. The dialogue was simple and amusing. The plot had enough action to hold my interest. The movie sets up for an interesting sequel. This is a good "B" action-drama film. No F-bombs or nudity. Minor sex scene.

I often watch literal pick & mix movies where I have no idea what is, not even the films name. Because of this I often watch some truly poor stuff, often stuff that isn't even on IMDB and I end up adding it myself.All was going well, then suddenly John Cena pops up on screen. Let me be clear I'm a wrestling fan so maybe I'm bias but I truly cannot stand this human being so I immediatly expected bad things from The Reunion.It did however have Amy Smart & Ethan Embry to counter balance the albino hulk so all hope was not lost.It tells the story of four half siblings who are brought together through the death of their father and the adventure that it leads to.The plot, not entirely original but it certainly has its moments and the writing is solid. Amy Smart alas is pretty wasted as she is a very bit part considering she's arguably the biggest name in the movie. No folks I'm not acknowledging Cena, he's a crappy wrestler who occasionally pops up in films, big wrestler....not so big actor.This is another WWE films production and their films have been hit and miss since day one. They've done some really enjoyable ones and they've done some stinkers, this is somewhere inbetween.If the "Doctor of Thuganomics" had been cast with you know.....someone who could act then maybe this would have been better. Regardless it's a decent enough effort.The Good:Some good cast choicesCouple of great momentsSolid writingThe Bad:John CenaCould have been a tad more originalThings I Learnt From This Movie:One punch knocks out the average human beingI can't take Michael Rispoli seriously anymore, While You Were Sleeping (1995) and his shoe fetish has done irreparable damageJohn Cena in a cowboy hat somehow looks even more ridiculous than usual, I'm surprised WWE aren't making garish colored ones and selling them as his merchandise.

Okay, so there are no major movie stars featured, there is no 200 million dollar budget, and no, Steven Spielberg nor Martin Scorsese directed it. What The Reunion DOES have though is a nice story, so just remember it is a story and not a biography, and as such there are liberties taken with how lawyers behave, and how Mexicans seem to always miss their target and then get shot themselves.Even with the films low budget by Hollywood standards of only 6 million dollars, I really liked The Reunion. This is a story about three brothers and one sister all who apparently were sired by the same brutish father who was a drunkard, and each by a different mother. The father dies and in his will he instructs for each of his four (4) children to inherit $3 million dollars with the caveat being that they must work together for a period for no less than two (2) years in a business of their choosing.Actress Amy Smart plays Nina Carey, the daughter of the deceased father and also the executor of his will. Two of the three brothers namely Leo Carey played by Ethan Embry and Sam Carey played by wrestling star John Cena are polar opposites both in career choices and their physical stature. The third brother and youngest of the Carey family is Douglas Carey played by Boyd Holbrook a relative newcomer to Hollywood, but he plays the abandoned sibling who just got out of prison where he receives a standing ovation by all the prisoners who apparently really liked Douglas Carey because of his charming personality and his ability to relate to people.Not only are the four Carey family members enjoyable in their roles, there is also a strong supporting cast such as the two gangsters who kidnap a wealthy businessmen. The two gangsters are studio actor regulars Michael Rispoli who plays Canton, a technology guru responsible for the ransom wire transfer, and his partner in crime named Nealon played by Jack Conley who is a former FBI agent and he is familiar how to execute a kidnapping successfully. The kidnapped wealthy businessman named Wills is played by character actor Gregg Henry.During the adventure the three Carey brothers decide to rescue the kidnapped businessman Wills for the reward money and they gain the trust of a local Mexican resident the beautiful Theresa Trujillo played by Lela Loren who currently stars as Angela Valdes in the television crime/drama series POWER. I also liked the story line and I thought writer/director Michael Pavone did a great job in bringing his picture to life with the very limited budget he had to work with. The film ending also has a few twists and turns worth hanging in there to see. This film is above par for crime/action films and I would rate it much higher than most crime/action films that have budgets more than ten times greater than The Reunion had to work with.I will most likely watch this film again in the coming years with fondness and admiration. It is well worth watching and I for one was most pleasantly surprised. I give the film a 7 out of 10 rating.

When we think of WWE we think of yelling, threats, boasting, deception and all around monkey business, so when we realized this was a WWE film we didn't expect much. To our surprise, we found this to be very enjoyable romp. Plenty of action, humor and some pretty good lines in a plot that was just a bit different. Upon the death of their father, four siblings who have a mutual dislike for each other — make that can't stand one another — are forced to work together to a greater end. This opens the door to some pretty good situations. There were some good scenic shots too, along with with pretty girls and horses. What more do you want in a DVD?