Beast of Burden

Beast of Burden
Directed by Jesper Ganslandt
Starring Daniel Radcliffe and Grace Gummer
On UK DVD August 13th, 2018
Buy on iTunes or [amazon_link asins=’B07CJKKNZ4′ template=’ProductLink’ text=’Amazon’ store=’loolip-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’91901c64-8fea-11e8-a4ce-676ee5a3f479′]

by Bernie C Byrnes

Pilot Sean Haggerty (Daniel Radcliffe) is a trusted mule for a major international drug cartel, running cocaine across the U.S/Mexico border. Little does the cartel know Sean also works for the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration. In exchange for Sean’s help bringing down the cartel, the DEA agrees to pay for an operation for Daniel’s sick wife, Jen (Grace Gummer).

On Sean’s last job, the cartel unexpectedly changes his drop target setting off an airborne cat-and-mouse chase. With both the cartel and DEA on his tail, Sean must land the plane and stay alive long enough to save Jen’s life.

Be warned, Beast of Burden is awful. Pretty much the whole 89 minutes is a close up of Daniel Radcliffe in the cockpit of a light aircraft, surrounded by clouds, as he juggles three repetitive phone calls at once and mutters to himself. Even dyed-in-the-wool Radcliffe fans will find this cringe-worthy film a challenge. Boring, yes, disappointing, yes but also infuriating. With so much talent out there, how does something like this get made! The film’s biggest flaw (and nothing is really done well) lies in the dreadful script: mundane dialogue, unbelievable characters and pointless plot.

Professing to be a ‘thriller’ I have genuinely experienced more enjoyment from watching my laundry go round in the washing machine. Beast of Burden isn’t even a ‘so bad it’s good’ film; it has nothing to recommend it. It’s not that it’s a bad idea – I loved Spielberg’s Duel – but it is so poorly executed that it fails miserably on every front and by time we reach the rushed and nonsensical ending, even the cast seem to have given up.