A star studded cast, some good snow filled cinematography and an interesting beginning.

That were the good points. The rest of Deadfall is a cliché ridden intruder in the house whilst being on the run. Actually Eric Bana playing the man on the run goes to several houses even saving a a wife and children from a cruel father.

Bana and Olivia Wilde are siblings who have been involved in a heist and split up when their getaway car gets involved in an accident in the snow.

They hope by splitting up it gives them both a better chance to escape and also stops Bana keeping his mitts off his hot sister!

Bana shoots a police officer dead who arrives to help and goes on to shoot several others as there is a manhunt out for him consisting of some of the stupidest and sexist police officers the USA has.

Wilde ends up with an ex-Olympic boxer (Charlie Hunnam) who is heading home for Thanksgiving after being released from prison for throwing a fight in a betting scam.

At the Thanksgiving dinner it is open house for hostages as Bana just happened to have arrived earlier. There is a vicious showdown which also filled with unintentional laughter.

The acting ranges from the banal to OK. Sissy Spacek is not given much to do, Hunnam is a blank. The story is all over the place, Bana is a cold killer but helps out a stranded mother and her children.

Yet a bit later on, he stops by to have dinner and holds Spacek hostage when there is manhunt after him.

The police are just nauseating with the female deputy having to put up with abuse from fellow officers, one of them being her dad (Treat Williams.) There is harsh violence but the film lacks thrills, characterisation and entertainment.

If a film does not even work as brain dead entertainment, it's in trouble.

Every now and then a little thriller comes along that absolutely blows your socks off and leaves you feeling wowed by the experience. DEADFALL is such a film; I haven't had such a good time with a thriller since HEADHUNTERS, and while it's not quite of the same calibre, it's certainly a great little movie that deserves far more attention than it has.

I really ask two things and two things alone of thrillers: that they have plenty of suspense and tension, and that the action sequences are decent. DEADFALL fulfils both criteria, offering an unusual plot that keeps the suspense simmering along at all times and throws you into the thick of it with the characters in the first 10 minutes. There's also some great stuff in the action stakes, from shoot-outs to snow mobile chases. It all builds to a wonderful set-piece which has way more tension than a similar scene in Tarantino's DJANGO UNCHAINED.

The cast is also pretty remarkable; Olivia Wilde is absolutely mesmerising in her role, and Charlie Hunnam (PACIFIC RIM) proves himself a force to be reckoned with. Old-timers Kris Kristofferson, Sissy Spacek and Treat Williams are all great to see back on screen, and Kate Mara is excellent after being miscast in IRONCLAD. Best of all is Eric Bana, who turns what could have been a simple villain into something multi-layered and, yes, sympathetic. Altogether this is a great little movie and to say too much more would be to spoil it, other than that I thoroughly recommend it.

Three criminals are on the run after robbing a casino. Then they hit a deer and crash. The driver is killed. The driver's sister Liza (Olivia Wilde),and Addison (Eric Bana) survives. They split the money and go their separate way. Meanwhile Jay (Charlie Hunnam) with his own problems picks up a hitchhiking Liza. And Hanna (Kate Mara) is a young deputy and she runs into the cold blooded killer Addison.

Also staring Sissy Spacek and Treat Williams as Jay's parents. There is a lot of good potential and a lot of good actors. The atmosphere is isolated desolation and is very effective. The problem is the many characters each with their own storyline. There are just too many people and all of them seem to be vying for the lead. The attention is too scattered. It'd be better if they trim down the story.