Target Practice

Starring: Joey Lanai, Lantell Williams, Solomon Hoilet, Eric Dean, Aaron Hawk, Brian Hannah, Bill Elverman

Synopsis:

Five friends – Dave, Jeff, Mark, Steve and Paul – head out to the countryside for a weekend of fishing, at a spot recommended by Dave’s cousin. As the guys near their destination, they come across an abandoned jeep by the roadside and stop to see if anyone needs assistance. As they check out the jeep, they are suddenly attacked by men with automatic weapons. Dave and Jeff are killed in the attack, while Mark and a wounded Steve manage to escape into the woods, not knowing if Paul is still alive. Meanwhile, Paul encounters Ron Albedeen, an undercover CIA agent whose cover has been blown. From Ron, Paul learns the shocking revelation that there’s a home-grown terrorist cell training in the area, and they’ll stop at nothing to remain undiscovered...

Review

I am a big fan of Survival Horror movies, in which a group of people find themselves battling a harsh environment as much as a human and/or supernatural terror. There have been some excellent examples of this genre recently, such as Rovdyr and High Lane. Target Practice isn’t a horror movie but it follows some of the genre’s conventions - just taking out the usual inbred mutant cannibals and inserting a much more believable and timely threat - while coming up with some very neat ideas of its own.

After a short set-up in which we learn the group dynamics (Dave is the leader, Paul is a racist ass, Mark is the milque-toast), we’re thrown right into the action. The scene where they stop to check out the jeep is great, full of tension – especially when they discover the bullet hole and hear voices from the top of the hill. Reidel not only is good at building tension, but also allowing that tension to pay off. There would be no greater crime if, after staring at the hill for so long, wondering what’s going on, if nothing happened. The attack is excellently handled with some good make-up and realistic sound fx.

The intelligent script manages to put a lot of meat on the bare bones of the film’s premise. It would have been easy to just film half a dozen people running around the woods for 90 minutes. Instead the film explores how these blue-collar everymen endure their circumstances. Mark comes out of his shell, discovering resolve and courage. A flash-back illustrates the relationship he has with his mother – she depends on his companionship, while Mark both depends on and resents it. Paul, a guy who glibly drops offensively racist comments, finds himself having to rely on a black guy to survive. The script also wisely separates out protagonists, giving two storylines running parallel, each with their own twists and turns. This also gives Riedel a get-out clause, because realistically the three protagonists viewpoints are so out of sync at the beginning of the film, they would have ended up fighting each other!

About 90% of the film was shot on location in a national park, I believe, making good use of the rugged terrain. The handheld cinematography is very effective, adding it's own rugged quality to the proceedings without resorting to the sort of shakycam which prevented The Expendables from becoming an instant classic. There are some great moments which evoked the spirit of Predator, in which the camera focuses on a clump of trees, while the protagonists and the viewer try to determine if a threat is hidden there. The sound mix adds to this, as various bird-song start to take on a sinister air – are they real birdcalls, or signals by the terrorists?

Target Practice has a modest budget but that hasn't stopped Riedel putting time and effort into his action scenes. The action throughout is excellent, with gunfights, hand-to-hand combat and various stunt-work on show. The film builds to an intense ambush and wrings every ounce of tension it can. There's an old addage that waiting is half the battle, and that is certainly the case here.

Verdict

It's natural to be wary of any film which arrives garnered in as many accolades as this film has, having won awards at numerous film festivals. Do yourselves a favour and for once believe the hype. With Target Practice , Riedel has produced a taut, exciting action movie that deserves to be seen. Highly recommended!

8 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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