Jack Malloy is a hardcore career criminal until a near-death experience causes him to turn his world around. But when his former partner Drake is released from prison, he tracks Jack down to blackmail him into one last job. Jack is a new man determined to lead an honest life. Drake is a charming psycho intent on vengeance. Sometimes, old friends can carry some extreme baggage. And for one of them, coming to terms with the past is going to be murder. Vanessa Gray and Andy McPhee co-star in this taut action/drama about good intentions, dark secrets and the harsh consequences of BAD KARMA.
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Reviews
From the opening scene, where we take sheer delight in seeing a tubby, long haired Liotta washed up on a Sydney shore like a beached whale, we clearly know what's ahead, and we patently know were not in for any masterpiece. A near death experience that has Liotta crashing through a Sydney pharmacy, in King's Cross, while late to rendezvous with his not so lucky mate, sees him paying for it three years later. Now, relocated, a reformed Liotta, finds his past catching up with him, in the form of embittered ex con (Purcell) who spent the past years in the slammer, as that unfortunate rendezvous resulted in a sting operation, so we can see why Purcell's quite peeved. From here, this movie, becomes a basic by the numbers situation drama, where an obsessed Purcell keeps reappearing in Liotta's life, after having him cornered in a convenience store hold up/set up candid camera and all. Liotta isn't going down easy. It's not the best timing with Liotta, close to proposing to his new love, Vanessa Gray, one of the better performers. She doesn't yet know of his criminal past, so we can see Liotta's peril, while he also has his parole officer (Andy "Wolf Creek" Mcphee) on his back. So the rooting begins for Liotta to overthrow this thorn in his side, as he finally breaks, where it's not going to be easy. I must say Bad Karma is colourfully entertaining, but it also has some bloody pathetic moments, and embarrassingly bad dialogue, especially towards the end that I almost couldn't believe I was hearing. It has some nice nubile bodied chicks in the raw too, one who gets a little too pokey with Purcell. I couldn't believe all the disfavour with Purcell's performance. I thought he was the best in the film. An older, overweight, haggard Liotta was quite good too, as we could sympathize a lot with him, as much wanting him to rid Purcell as him. Great aboriginal actor, by none the finest I've seen of his race, Aaron was very strong as Liotta's ex con mate, Bear. Like nearly everything filmed on the Gold Coast (though being a Sydney lover, I liked the early shots in the film) again here's a poor and forgettable effort, this one of a guy trying to go straight. Watch Bad Karma at the laughing expense of Liotta, as it is an entertainer, but as a movie, one of 2012's worst, the first half of the title truly describes it's merit. I did too like Liotta's girlfriend's pad.
This ain't no bad movie but, in my opinion, a blockbuster neither. It's a story about a messed up ex criminal who's trying hard to start all over again. He found himself a nice woman and got a honest job. He does very well until his old partner in crime is released from jail. This bad hearted ex partner in crime doesn't accept that others build up a decent life and starts to do extreme damage to them.The movie could have been better if there was a little bit of humor in it, it's just so serious that I got a little bored. The story is nasty but the thrilling moments hardly kept me focused.This movie is worth watching if you don't expect much and if you're interested in the violent world of drugs and crime. There's even a little chunk of drama present.
I got to see this yesterday with a friend. Because it had a 9.7 rating, I hoped (incorrectly as it turned out), that this may be a good movie.It was little better than a pile of steaming horsesh*t. Liotta plays a down & out criminal who is out of jail and can't keep himself off drugs and alcohol. Following an accident, en-route to helping Purcell rob some drug dealers, Liotta gets his life together and moves north from Sydney to the Gold Coast. Fast forward 3-years. Here, he is living with the lady of his dreams. Purcell is now out of jail (only 3 years for an armed holdup of drug dealers, using an Uzi ??? sounds way too brief) and tracks down Liotta and starts to make his life a misery. Purcell kills a couple of people in a shopping mart and blackmails Liotta to helping him with one last robbery. The plot of this story is passable, the acting from both leads is atrocious, the music is woeful, the ending is just ludicrous.Having said all that, I think that this movie most likely got its 9.7 rating by having friends and family of the director, producer and others to cast a good vote. The movie was finished a year ago and is only being released now - could that be because the crew wanted to distance themselves from this ultra-lame movie ?This is one to hold off getting in the early days. Wait until it's on weekly rental at your DVD store.
I am just so sick and tired of these over rated ratings on IMDb, and this other piece of rubbish is just proof of it. A rating of 9.4 should have been a dead give away, and the fact it stars a washed up Hollywood star, and set in Australia. sure there are some, and I say some good Aussie films, but this is not one of them.And having such a high ratings on here and not hearing about all those potential Oscars that go with such a high rating film is just more proof that things are not what they seem.I am the only one to blame for seeing this rubbish, but I was mislead, so people be warned, this is rubbish! And how did drugie Ray Liotta get into Australia? anyway avoid at all times.1 out of 10