It probably goes without saying that I've spent many sleepless nights pondering how well Tracy Morgan could hold his own against Al Pacino and Juliette Binoche in a dramatic role (Who hasn't?). And now, behold! The trailer for the Sundance closing night film The Son of No One not only hints at that answer, but throws Channing Tatum, Katie Holmes and Ray Liotta into the mix as well! And just look at that title! There's no comic relief in sight here; just struggles for redemption and revenge in the mean city streets. So how does the usually hilarious Morgan do when confronted with this dark material and these acting heavyweights?
Hard to say! He has approximately three seconds of screen time of the trailer and he doesn't say a word. He certainly looks tormented, but for all I know he's going to be improvising awesome jokes with Binoche in the next shot. The film supposedly centers around two brothers who are forced to confront a murder that they got away with years ago. Morgan apparently plays one of these two brothers, but you could have fooled me.
In any case, the subject matter and environment have been covered before, so the real verdict on this film will come down to the performances and the filmmaking. In terms of the latter, the trailer doesn't offer anything that stands out, just lots of overcast skies and violent crime scenes. But director Dito Montiel's A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints was solid and the cast is eclectic enough to pique my interest. Plus whoever cut this trailer probably knew that two shots of Morgan with such a hangdog, dead-serious look would be enough to get people talking. Well played.
Verdict: Sold.
[Via MTV]