Yet another professional wrestler tries to make the leap into acting. This time around, it is former WWE champion Dave Batista, credited under his real name of Dave Bautista. Having won every major title available in that federation, breaking records in the process, it is easy to see why he would want a career change. House of the Rising Sun is not Bautista’s first film, but it is his first as lead. So is he up to this particular challenge?
Bautista plays Ray, a former cop trying to rebuild his life after being released from prison. Whilst working security for a mob boss’s club, however, he is unable to prevent a robbery on his watch. Worse still, the boss’s son is shot in the process. Shouldering the blame for the slaughter, Ray puts his detective skills and old contacts to use to track down the criminals. His own past then becomes an obstacle when he becomes a suspect, and Ray begins a race against time to clear his name and finger the real culprits.
Sounds exciting. What it actually amounts to, unfortunately, is Ray going door to door across Grand Rapids, arriving at each location just in time to watch someone else be killed. House of the Rising Sun sees itself as a blistering, tense film noir, but somehow a paper-thin plot is overcomplicated, stuffed with a few too many characters, and precious little characterisation. The film is apparently based on a novel, which usually allows for deeper, more complex characters. Whether this was watered down by writer/director Brian A Miller, or just not condensable into a 90 minute movie is unclear. It may just have been a bad novel. There are also some strange logic decisions, such as former detective Ray being given basic detective advice, advice which seems to be a revelation to him.
The majority of House of the Rising Sun’s audience, however, will be in it for Bautista. A mountain of a man, and a true force in the wrestling industry, you’d expect his reputation as a power house to be well exploited. For his first lead role, he should have been lead from fight scene to fight scene, but there is only gunplay here, and precious little of it. In fact, the one time he does try to lay the smackdown, he is shown to be very much overpowered by Dominic Purcell, a man half his size. Instead of utilising Bautista’s strengths, the movie rest on his gravelly monotone and sparse gallery of facial expressions. Backed up by a cast of experienced actors in Dominic Purcell, Craig Fairbrass, Danny Trejo and Amy Smart, poor Dave looks very much out of his depth.
So out of his depth, in fact, that you can’t help but feel sorry for him. A smart agent would have had him in purely physical roles for his first several movies, allowing tie and space for his acting talents, should they exist, to develop naturally. House of the Rising Sun was not right for his first lead role. In addition to not taking advantage of his biggest assets, it is poorly written, poorly shot, and dull all around. A shame, because you really do get the feeling that everyone involved were doing their best to craft out a tense thriller.
[Rating:2/5]
Extras:
A short making of featurette, some very short interviews and a commentary with Writer/Director Brian A Miller and star Bautista, which, whilst fairly dull, reveals that Dave does have at least some personality and charm.
[Rating:3/5]
