a5c7b9f00b SPOILER: The private detective from Los Angeles Ned Cruz is interrogated by LAPD Detectives Poley, Frizer, and Skeres. Cruz is blind after being hit on the face and asks many times whether &quot;she is alive&quot;. Cruz explains to the detectives that after a lost case of his client and Hollywood star Adam Nova, he is tired, and returns to his office to rest. Out of the blue, the washed up boxer Anton &quot;The Pro&quot; Protopov comes to his office to hire him to find his missing girlfriend and former stripper Lexie Persimmon. Cruz recalls that five years ago, the Russian mobster Skinny Faddeev gave thirty million dollars in blood diamonds in advance to him to lose a fight against his nephew. However, Anton killed the nephew with one punch, and when Skinny was found dead, he was sentenced to life. While in prison, Lexie writes two hundred sixty letters to him and they fall in love. When a criminal confesses to the murder of Skinny, Anton is released, but he does not find Lexie. Ned Cruz starts the investigation and finds a lead that Lexie might be in San Celeritas, New Mexico. Cruz notes that a black Lincoln is following him, and he believes that the Russian mob is chasing him. However, he heads to the spot, and in the Planck&#39;s Constant Coffer, he has an affair with the waitress (Autumn Reeser) that helps him. After reading the letters, Cruz becomes obsessed with Lexie. When Cruz is invited to have dinner with the delusional millionaire Simon Kestral, he is introduced to his wife Julie Kestral and the physicist Niels Geck, and he believes he has resolved the case. However, nothing is what seems to be, and Cruz only discovers the truth when it is too late. A private detective is hired to find a missing stripper, but the job turns complicated when everyone he questions ends up dead. From the mean streets of Los Angeles to the desolate desert of New Mexico, Cruz must contend with a brutal Russian boxer, three brash LAPD detectives, an aged billionaire looking for the Big Bang, and the billionaire&#39;s stunningly gorgeous wife. The solution to the mystery will cost ten lives, net thirty million dollars and just might explain everything. Ultra-stylish, completely off beat and exhilarating existential Neo-Noir by way of Raymond Chandler, by way of Theoretical Physics, by way of the the TIbetan Book of the Dead, by way of, well, you get it. A smörgåsbord of sensory overload with a witty script and worlds in collision.<br/><br/>The film will have you in a state of bliss or make you feel like you can&#39;t escape from its universe of swirling objects and psychedelic imagery. A fitting Rock soundtrack with a spot on sensational look make this an entertaining diversion.<br/><br/>The shortcomings are Banderas heavy accent that makes some of the narration and dialog a little hard to decipher but after awhile it doesn&#39;t seem so intrusive and the ending with the particle accelerator is a fizzle of a finale, but, the trip there is well worth the journey. A private detective (Antonio Banderas) is hired to find a missing stripper. A simple job turns complicated when everyone he questions ends up dead.<br/><br/>I can imagine Antonio Banderas looking at this script and weighing in his mind if he wants it or not. Then he gets to the sex scene, and he says, &quot;I&#39;m in.&quot; (And I have been told he helped in casting Autumn Reeser, so this makes it even more likely.) The script is interesting, sometimes a bit bizarre, but for Banderas that is the clincher, for sure. Other than that, despite being the main character, he is actually the least interesting part of the movie.<br/><br/>The press release compares the film to &quot;Sin City&quot; and &quot;Big Lebowski&quot;. I can see &quot;Lebowski&quot; somewhat, but agree completely with the &quot;Sin City&quot; comparison. That was actually the first thing I thought of after a few minutes of analyzing the style. The film uses odd angles (sometimes to a dangerous extreme) and saturated colors. I thought in many scenes the backgrounds were even more beautiful than the foregrounds or the people in them.<br/><br/>What to say about the physics angle? I have seen many complaints online from people who say the plot was not about physics and that the same story could be told with a different topic. I raised this to director Tony Krantz and he made a clear argument that physics is not just central to the plot, but the very plot itself. If you did not get this, I recommend giving the film a second view.<br/><br/>The Snoop Dogg claim was deeply philosophical, but I feel it was not properly explored. Is sex with men just one after another with no real difference? And whether yes or no, how does this fit into the film&#39;s overall message? I do not know, but for whatever reason – perhaps my background in philosophy and women&#39;s studies – this line jumped out at me.<br/><br/>The supporting cast is also impressive. I mean, Sam Elliott and James VanDerBeek? Incredible. Autumn Reeser truly a joy. Elliott was actually a bit weaker than usual (I think he works best when his role is minimized) but I can never say no to him or his mustache.<br/><br/>I do have to call out Banderas&#39; accent. As one reviewer wrote, &quot;Antonio Banderas&#39;s mumbling was mostly unintelligible.&quot; I would not be so harsh, but the fact remains that I missed many of his lines because he could no deliver them. I can understand Puss in Boots from &quot;Shrek&quot;, so I know he is capable of speaking clearly… this is my only real complaint.<br/><br/>Pick this one up. Great film, very good twists and turns, with a blend of intrigue and sex that will grab your attention. The DVD and Blu-Ray has a few features on it, and if you are the type who loves audio commentaries (I do), director Krantz will provide you with more than a fair share of background… With its red lighting and Hades-like smoke and fog, the lurid look of The Big Bang suggests a tacky disco inferno. I have a mental picture of the film's creators, stoned out of their minds on who knows what, cackling crazilythey outline a movie that would have more appropriately been titled "The Big Goof."
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