It's been a while since I have last written a review, so here we go.  Lately I have been on a Michelle Rodriguez binge and I can't get enough of her.  So I hit up Netflix and queued up every single movie she has been in to see my future wife in action.  Bloodrayne absolutly pissed me off, but Control erased all of that anguish away.  

The film Control is a direct-to-DVD released thriller that stars Ray Liotta, Stephen Rea (V for Vendetta), Willem Dafoe, and of course Michelle Rodriguez.  The basic plot line is a death row inmate (Liotta) is given a second chance in life by unwillingly being used as a test subject for a beta level prescription drug that is being researched to help cure sociopathic behavior, led by Dafoe and Rea.  Liotta's character has led a horrible life of crime and murder and this is his only way out from the needle of lethal injection.  The first half of the film chronicles a lab experiment in a controlled environment with the drug.  Liotta's character at first is stubborn, but finally the drug starts to kick in an erase his bad habits and feelings of remorse and guilt pour in.

The second half of the film is Phase 2 of the experiment where Liotta is sent into the real world and observed.  After 45 mins of Michelle-less film, the beautiful specimen of a woman finally appears as Teresa, a normal girl working at the local car wash who helps Liotta get a job and back into life.  Now a couple of confusing plot lines follow, including some mobster that wants to kill Liotta and the older brother of a former victim also has his eye on Liotta.  The really good storyline however is between Liotta and Dafoe.  Their pasts are both terrible and they seem to help each other pull through by the film's end.  Some cliche scenes that seemed to be mandatory in today's thrillers follow (mistaken identity, car chase, etc.) but it plays out really well.  Rodriguez and Liotta had a very surprising amount of chemistry and their relationship, that seemed very rushed and phoney at first, really was pulled off.  The ending is a little bit anti-climatic and really had me feeling sorry for Liotta's character as well as Dafoe and Rodriguez.

My main gripe with this film is why the hell wasn't it in theaters?  I mean here we have the always great Liotta, the menacing Dafoe, and the beautiful Michelle Rodriguez, and it gets put to DVD?  But crap like Little Man and Beerfest are given wide releases?  Wow.  The only reason I would say this film was straight to DVD was because of the "not-so-happy-ending" and the unknown writers and director.  I love seeing how Europeans view Americans in indie movies like this.  American women are not this easy and a hot Hispanic woman will NOT go out with you if you don't have your own car.  She just won't.  But other than that, this was a fantastic thriller that kept me entertained.  Other than having Michelle Rodriguez on screen for a whopping 15 mins total and the film obviously being filmed in the country of Bulgaria (we have STATE NAMES on our license plates, not USA), I am thoroughly pleased I saw this film.  

*** 1/2 out of ****

I've now seen Resident Evil (*** 1/2), Blue Crush (*** 1/2), Fast and the Furious (*** 1/2), SWAT (***), 3 AM (*) (wow did this blow donkey nutz), Bloodrayne (Zero), and now Control (*** 1/2).  Next up is Girlfight and The Breed.  

I'm yours Michelle.  Just say the word.