The Samaritan (David Weaver, 2012): USA

Reviewed by Truman Kewley. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

The Samaritan was very interesting and was very attention grabbing.  I am a big fan of Samuel Jackson and if you like his other roles in his films, I would definitely recommend checking out The Samaritan.  The story was fairly basic but threw out the film there are many twists and intense moments.   A quote from Samuel Jackson’s character really explains the story “nothing changes unless you make it change” this is the theme of the film.

I watched The Samaritan at the Lobero theater on January 29, 2012.   The director David Weaver did a great job of creating tension using low light and close up shots threw out the film.  All the actors in this film did an amazing job.  Samuel’s character was very humble and casual with all of his movements, even in action scenes he stayed to to his character.   Ruth Negga’s roll as Iris created loads of tension threw out this film.  Iris’s character is a young woman who has lost everyone who loved her until she meets Foley, not by chance.  David Weavers way of story telling kelp the audience guessing with twists and turns up until the credits. The of the supporting rolls were very well done as well.

The Samaritan directed and written by David Weaver is a story about Foley (Samuel Jackson), a con released from prison after a 25 year stint.  Upon being released Foley plans to change his ways and stay on the strait yet his past relationships and problems still linger in his life.  Upon being released he gets home and is greeted by his ex crime partners son who’s father had died right before Samuel Jackson’s character Foley was arrested.   The young man invites  Foley out for a drink but we soon realize this is not your typical club night.

The music and sound was interesting and help put the audience in a state of mind specific for each scene.  The score was beautifully paired together with the images on the screen.   At points I would not even notice the score in really intense moments  because I was to interested in what was going to come next!  The dark close up shots paired with the score help convey the feelings I believe David Weaver wanted the audience to feel.

Samuel Jackson often plays roles as the villain or bad guy.  In The Samaritan he has already changed his ways as the villain and only wants to be good witch is not like many of his past roles.   David Weaver’s film Century Hotel had a similar feel to The Samaritan, the low light shots and interesting camera angles.

I really enjoyed The Samaritan’s twist filled plot and tension filled story.  I am very glad I had a chance to see this film and I would recommend it to anyone interested in crime, thriller, drama films.   Or like me a Samuel Jackson fan.