Elvis Martini is in deep trouble. His dilapidated Detroit apartment building is about to be foreclosed on by the bank; most of his tenants are behind on rent; he's in big debt to bookies and his daughter's school. He finds some ill-gotten cash in an evicted tenant's apartment and it briefly keeps the wolves at bay, but it brings out a bigger wolf, one that wants his stolen money back. When his daughter is kidnapped by the mysterious menace he's accidentally messed with, Elvis has 24 hours to come up with $25K - cash only.
Reviews
I have to be honest, I started the movie one late night and had planned on watching the first 15 minutes or so then catch up the next day. Turned out I couldn't turn it off and had to know how everything progressed through this guys story. Following the hardships of this landlord just trying to fly straight after tradegy and raise what is left of his family to the shocking and graphic end. I was rooting for the dude the entire flick, ending was intense! Looking forward to more films from this actor (Nick Shreli) in the future. Now go watch "Cash Only"!
Elvis Martini (Nickola Shreli) is an Albanian immigrant who is not the brightest bulb in the pack. In the opening scene, he burns down his own home for the insurance money and oops, he actually forgets his wife was taking a nap. As a landlord with a daughter, he is in hock and owes money while nearly all of his tenants owe him money. We get to watch the locks get changed, his daughter ask him about Jesus, Elvis having sex, etc etc. and then trying to collect money. It was rather boring watching a bunch of bad people trying to figure out why we are rooting for the half-wit arson? Dialogue not exciting either.Guide: F-word. sex, brief nudity.
I have not seen any movies with Nickola Shreli before. He is certainly an overlooked actor. American cinema is in dire need of fresh faces who are not overexposed by media and possess great acting skills. I would suggest any actor to stay away from the limelight of mass media to maintain an appeal and mystery. Now back to the movie. It held my interest as an intelligent movie with a good story almost to the end. There were clearly some flaws in the story when I tough and quick-witted guy would do stupid things such as leave his daughter alone after he got a warning call. The rescue scenes are not believable and leave unanswered questions. How did the dim-witted "rescue" guys figure out the location so fast? The level of violence in the ending scenes was not warranted and added little to the story. As a female, I had to skip those scenes as they are damaging to any psyche. If this movie was intended to be a drama, not a horror film, then they should have stick to the drama genre. But overall this movie is watchable and the story is original.
This is an intelligent movie that was written to have no end; or, this movie was given an ending that was written for a distinct beginning.We all strive for perfection. Even when you live around those who constantly make mistakes, you eventually realize that you too make mistakes. And so you are comfortable with doing wrong. Eventually you use the mistakes of others, and the mistakes of yourself to your advantage. But when does that attitude stop? When do you start to live for yourself, and not for others? The death of a loved one? Your death?To steal from a criminal and to not be afraid only requires the attitude of a person who is comfortable with making mistakes, until they are made to deal with the consequences. This movie lost a star because there was an ending.
