Momentum (2015 film)

Momentum is a 2015 South African-American action thriller film directed by Stephen Campanelli, and starring Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman and James Purefoy.[3]

Momentum
DVD cover
Directed byStephen Campanelli
Produced by
  • Donald A. Barton
  • Anton Ernst
Written byAdam Marcus
Debra Sullivan
Starring
Music byLaurent Eyquem
CinematographyGlen MacPherson
Edited byDoobie White
Production
companies
  • Azari Media
  • Thaba Media
Distributed byGoDigital
Release date
  • October 16, 2015 (2015-10-16)
Running time
96 minutes[1]
Country
  • South Africa
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million
Box office$390,167[2]

Plot

Alex (Olga Kurylenko), a trained ex-military agent-turned-thief, gets pulled by her former partner into a high-tech bank heist (her ‘one last job’). During the heist, she accidentally steals a valuable flash drive containing incriminating evidence. Alex is then relentlessly pursued by a team of agents led by Mr. Washington (James Purefoy), who has been sent by an anonymous Senator (Morgan Freeman) to retrieve the flash drive. While involved in a violent and frenetic cat-and-mouse chase across the city, Alex tries to uncover the conspiracy behind her pursuers.

Cast

Production

The film was directed by Stephen Campanelli in his directorial debut, and was written by Adam Marcus and Debra Sullivan.[4] It was co-produced by Anton Ernst.[5] The film was written as the entry point in a film series.[4]

The film stars Olga Kurylenko as the protagonist "Alexis", James Purefoy as the antagonist "Mr. Washington", and Morgan Freeman as the U.S. senator.[3] Vincent Cassel was originally to star opposite Kurylenko,[6] but was replaced by Purefoy. Director Campanelli wanted to cast Purefoy based on his performance in the television series "The Following". Freeman offered his services to Campanelli for his directorial debut based on their prior working relationship, when he was a cameraman for Clint Eastwood.[3]

The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Fantasia International Film Festival, on July 22, 2015, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the hometown of the director.[3][7] The film was released in the United States on October 16, 2015.

Reception

Momentum received generally negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 26% based on reviews from 31 critics, with an average score of 3.6/10.[8] On Metacritic the film has a score of 18 out of 100 based on reviews from 6 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[9]

During the film's opening weekend in the United Kingdom, the film only managed to gross £46 from the 10 theatres it was displayed in.[10] In Malaysia, it grossed $60,126 over two weeks, and in Thailand, it grossed $43,940 on its opening weekend.[2] Overall, it was a box office bomb.

References
  1. "MOMENTUM (15)". British Board of Film Classification. July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  2. "Momentum (2015) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  3. Stephen Campanelli at the Fantasia premiere on July 22, 2015 in Montreal
  4. Éric S. Boisvert (July 2015). "Momentum – World Premiere". Fantasia 2015.
  5. Jan Cronje (July 19, 2014). "Stewart's shoes to tread SA". ToNight. Independent Online (South Africa).
  6. John Hopewell (September 6, 2013). "Toronto: 'Momentum' Adds Quartet of Thesps (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  7. "Gathering Momentum" (PDF). Marianopolis Matters. Marianopolis College: 8–11. Fall 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  8. "Momentum". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  9. "Momentum". Metacritic. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  10. "Morgan Freeman thriller loses Momentum taking £4.60 average at cinemas". The Guardian. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
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