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Cast: Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso,” Colossal), Evangeline Lilly (Ant-Man franchise, “Lost”), Mike Colter (“Luke Cage”, “Evil”) and Shea Whigham (Joker, “Boardwalk Empire”
Director: Aharon Keshales
In SOUTH OF HEAVEN, convicted felon Jimmy (Jason Sudeikis) gets early parole after serving twelve years for armed robbery. Upon his release he vows to give his girlfriend Annie (Evangeline Lilly), who is dying of cancer, the best last year of her life. But things are never that simple, and when he is given a “side job” from his parole officer (Shea Whigham), it sets off a series of events that leaves Jimmy in the crosshairs of a local crime boss (Mike Colter). Now, he must stop at nothing to save Annie and fight for whatever time they have left. 'South of Heaven' tells the story of Jimmy Ray, a man serving 12 years in prison for robbery. When he asks for an early release to spend the last months with his girlfriend who is dying of cancer his parole is granted. Excited to give Annie the best time she has left Jimmy is determined to stay out of trouble and work hard but when his corrupt parole officer forces Jimmy to run an errand to collect money Jimmy gets into trouble all over again.
'South of Heaven' was a mixed bag for me. I thought the film started off well setting up the story and introducing us to Jimmy and Annie but I thought it kind of lost its way about halfway through. In the end, I thought it was a bit too long and could have easily trimmed off 30 minutes to keep it from losing its momentum. Also, I was not crazy about some of the humor that was injected into the story, it all seemed unnecessary and forced.
As for what I liked about the film I thought the entire cast did a great job including Jason Sudeikis and Evangeline Lilly as Jimmy and Annie. This was definitely something different for Sudeikis since he mainly does comedic roles but I thought he handled the action and the dramatic scenes very well. I also liked the way they ended the film as well.
'South os Heaven' isn't going to win any major awards and it certainly could have used some help in the writing department but I still enjoyed it and I think it is worth checking out.
Released by RLJE Films
*** Out Of *****