Pursuit is a 2022 American action crime thriller about a tough cop’s hunt for an even tougher criminal.
Directed by Brian Skiba (Chokehold; The 2nd; Rottentail; .357; The Jonas Project; Slaughter Creek; Dirty Little Trick; Crushed Velvet; Blood Moon Rising) from a screenplay co-written with producer Andrew Stevens, Dawn Bursteen and Ben Fiore.
The Andrew Stevens Entertainment-Cartouche-Milestone Studios production stars John Cusack, Emile Hirsch, William Katt, Elizabeth Faith Ludlow, Jake Manley, Graham Patrick Martin, Andrew Stevens and Heather Marie Marsden.
Plot:
Detective Breslin crosses paths with Calloway (Emile Hirsch), a ruthless hacker desperate to find his wife, who has been kidnapped by a drug cartel.
When Calloway escapes police custody, Breslin joins forces with a no-nonsense female cop to reclaim his convict. But is Calloway’s crime-boss father (John Cusack) somehow involved in the explosive situation?
Reviews [may contain spoilers]:
“There’s a family dynamic to Pursuit, as Frank also has an evil offspring to manage, but the writing doesn’t make time to cut into dramatics. This is a thriller, leaving most of the viewing experience to nervous characters engaging in violent events, which offers Skiba a chance to show off some slo-mo shots and highlight torturous activities to give the feature some edge it doesn’t earn.” Blu-ray.com
“I went in excited to watch only to be let down. The last scene is so badass, but by then it is way too late. The curious action fanatic might check it out, but please don’t go in with high expectations.” C- Bulletproof Action
“This messy, convoluted action movie is so incomprehensible that it’s difficult to say what it’s actually about, other than a whole bunch of characters shooting each other and blowing stuff up […] The only thing that’s somewhat clear here is that everyone is after Rick, although the reasons why aren’t clear.” Common Sense Media
“Pursuit is junk. It’s a movie devoid of any sense of skill and just about any sense of the meaning of fun—unless one enjoys making running lists and jokes of how many mistakes, terrible choices, and on-the-cheap shortcuts a single movie can make.” Mark Reviews Movies
“Though the cast listing—including Hirsch and ’80s icon John Cusack, who plays Rick’s dad—may catch your eye, Pursuit is a disorganized mess of a movie that doesn’t live up to its stars’ abilities. There’s so much going on in this movie, yet so little makes any sense.” Nights and Weekends
“It’s clearly a paycheck for Cusack, but he doesn’t phone it in. However, that doesn’t forgive the incredulously bad script that seemed it was written by an AI machine that watched every 80s action movie within a weekend and regurgitated out a script. It’s hard to imagine that Pursuit has three writers that drafted everything together.” Punch Drunk Critics
“Pursuit ends up being another substandard direct-to-video action film that wastes any potential the plot might have had […] The film does deliver a nicely twisted resolution to one of its subplots, but it’s far too little, far too late. And the film’s ultimate ending isn’t just bad, it’s actively disgusting.” Voices from the Balcony
Release date:
In the USA, Lionsgate will release Pursuit theatrically in select locations and On-Demand on February 18th 2022.
In the UK, The Movie Partnership will make Pursuit available on Digital Download from June 12, 2023.
Trailer:
