Four and a half stars
Becky, a strong-willed 13 year-old girl played by Lulu Wilson, is still in mourning one year after the tragic death of her mother from cancer and is dealing with the loss by rebelling against the world in every way imaginable. When her father, played by Joel McHale, picks her up from school for a weekend of apparent parent-daughter bonding at the family lake house, she responds with cold hostility to all of his efforts at communication. Much to the Becky's chagrin, the two of them are soon joined by her father's new fiancée and her young son.
An already volatile weekend is about to get even worse. Shortly after our adolescent lead storms out the door to take solitary refuge at her clubhouse fort in the nearby woods, the vacation home is invaded by four white supremacists who have embarked on a murderous rampage across the countryside after a prison escape. These convicts wreak havoc and hold the inhabitants of the house hostage, oblivious to fact that Becky is watching from outside and already plotting a blood-soaked revenge.
The best way that I can describe the 2020 action-horror feature, Becky, which is directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion, is to say that it comes across like an ultra-violent reimagining of the 1990 Christmas blockbuster, Home Alone, with a young protagonist using any device at her disposal to set deadly traps for her adult tormentors. For those who wish that Macaulay Culkin's Kevin McCallister had taken his home defense to the next level by gruesomely murdering the two burglars in that classic family film, this new movie will be quite the treat. The squeamish need not apply, since this screen story overtly features endangerment to children and dogs, but there is an odd emotionally cathartic joy to be found in watching Wilson, who has recently starred in Annabelle: Creation and in the television adaptation, The Haunting of Hill House, take on the part of a teenage female Rambo to face off against seemingly impossible odds. The end result will not make you a better person in the slightest, but it is a fast-paced outing that flies by with its run time of just over 90 minutes.
As though its premise were not already offbeat enough, this film takes an even more surreal turn by way of its casting of the ringleader neo-Nazi villain. The bearded supremacist, who sports a swastika tattoo on the back of his head, is played by none other than Kevin James, the hugely popular comedic star of the television show, The King of Queens, and of lowbrow cinematic fare like Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Grown Ups, in his dramatic debut. I never would have pictured James in a menacing role, but he rises to the challenge with a surprising degree of success.
Becky, which is currently available through Amazon Prime and other video-on-demand outlets, pushes the limits of good taste, to say the least. During our current real-life era, however, as we face uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic and worldwide unrest, this slice of popcorn entertainment may be just what the doctor ordered. This is insane, but it is my kind of make-believe insanity.
Last edited by The Great Owl; 06-06-2020 at 03:18 AM.
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