Jay Weissberg Mama’s in the slammer but she’s running the show in “Ida Red,” a proficiently made crime family drama that sees director John Swab return to his Oklahoma roots.
Consciously seeking to emulate action/crime films by Michael Mann, William Friedkin and others, Swab strives so hard to deliver a similar product that his film has no distinctive DNA, and the flawed script wears its influences rather conspicuously, with significant nods to James Gray’s oeuvre, “Animal Kingdom” and any number of Ma Barker offspring.Headlining Josh Hartnett, with Melissa Leo and Frank Grillo returning to the director’s fold, the film premiered in Locarno’s Piazza Grande section on the heels of Swab’s “Body Brokers” this past February.
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