![[Nightmarish Detour Review] THE DEVIL HAS A NAME](https://www.nightmarishconjurings.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DHAN_4.jpg)
![[Nightmarish Detour Review] THE DEVIL HAS A NAME](https://www.nightmarishconjurings.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DevilHasAName_Theatrical-FINAL.jpg)
The above quote is the basis of THE DEVIL HAS A NAME. In this film, farmer Stern, brilliantly played by David Strathairn, discovers that his land is being poisoned by polluted water at the hands of Shore Oil and goes head to head with lead exec and film badass, Gigi (Kate Bosworth). Martin Sheen expertly and hilariously plays the lawyer who takes on the case and it seems very open and shut. Unfortunately for Stern, but very fortunate for the viewer, he gets more than he may have bargained for in this twisted dark comedy/drama.
There is an attempt to buy him off from a backstabbing acquaintance (Haley Joel Osment) and Stern finds himself and his best friend, a farm foreman, Santi (Edward James Olmos), threatened by a corporate bully played by Pablo Schreiber, and oh, how I loved to hate this guy! Will Stern win his case and get paid his due by Shore Oil or will he be another nobody crushed by a huge corporation and end up losing everything?
We are informed at the beginning of the film that it is based on true events. As the film progresses, it gets harder and harder to believe that this is so. The viewer is taken for a ride conducted by director Edward James Olmos (who wears many hats in this particular film) that seems to be the scenic route until we discover that we’re actually on the side of a mountain with no guardrail and could fall off at any moment. Villains end up being saviors who end up being psychotic. Harmless flies end up being killer bees who end up being squashed, and all this amidst courtroom drama, barfights, arson, and inconvenient bathroom breaks. The cast is flawless and the ending of the film did not disappoint.
After we laughed and cheered for the protagonists and leered and jeered at the antagonists and enjoyed the ride, we are reminded about the real harm done to the farmland throughout California’s Central Valley, where most of the fruit, nuts, and vegetables in the United States are grown. Oil companies continue to pollute the water that feeds this land and there is no end in sight. If you are interested in learning more about this real-life impact on our farmland and overall environment, you can visit Clean Water Action.
THE DEVIL HAS A NAME is fabulous and you can catch it in theater, On-Demand, and on Digital now!
- [Movie Review] INITIATION - May 3, 2021
- [Movie Review] HONEYDEW - April 9, 2021
- [Movie Review] THE DEVIL BELOW - March 4, 2021
![[Nightmarish Detour Review] KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON](https://www.nightmarishconjurings.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/lily-gladstone-500x335.jpg)
![[Brooklyn Horror 2023 Review] CRUMB CATCHER](https://www.nightmarishconjurings.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/crumb-catcher-nightmarish-conjurings-500x335.jpg)
![[Nightmarish Detour Review] PIAFFE](https://www.nightmarishconjurings.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/piaffe-500x335.jpg)
![[Fantasia 2023 Review] APORIA](https://www.nightmarishconjurings.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Aporia_WellGoUSA_1.1.11-500x335.jpg)
![[Fantasia 2023 Review] HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS](https://www.nightmarishconjurings.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hundreds-of-beavers_Still-500x335.jpg)
Since seeing Edward James Olmos in ‘Stand and Deliver’ way back I was impressed, so looked forward to seeing him in a movie which he co-produced/directed, and performed. To add to the interest it was claimed to be based on an actual event – the contamination of farmland by an Oil giant. Played straight this would have had promise but it seems green activist politics got involved and dragged it down a somewhat over-baked, foolish path. Yes, giant multinationals have been guilty of irresponsible short-cuts, often brought about through greed and they must be held to account ensuring more ecological responsibility. The writer added another downer by including a vicious gangster whose repugnant over-the-top actions are the equivalent of a hideously brutal Gestapo Mafioso type – this pushes the story way out of reasonable acceptability and degrades much of the initial interest being offered.
I’m not sure Kate Bosworth was fully convincing as she should have been playing the slimy Oil company representative and the company’s headman was made to look like a caricature. If this was intended as black comedy it did not work whatsoever. As the downtrodden farmer, David Strathairn was good as always, as was Olmos as his co-worker – production values were overall OK but even though the moral situations were well-intended, the overly forced agenda-pushing script weakens any worthwhile message. Pity, as we need movies that bring important messages to the screen but in a more honest manner, this is no ‘Dark Waters’.
Parental Note; Heavy vulgar dialogue, violence, and grotty sexual situation. Foxtel Aust ran this American R certificate as an M, when will they get it right?