The Big Ugly (film)

The Big Ugly is a 2020 American crime action film directed by Scott Wiper, who wrote the screenplay with Paul Tarantino. The film story follows Malcolm McDowell as a London mob boss who sends a henchman Neelyn (Vinnie Jones) to West Virginia to set up a money laundering operation with an oilman (Ron Perlman). But Neelyn's girlfriend (Lenora Crichlow) disappears, and Neelyn is out for revenge.[3][4][5] The film was released on July 24, 2020, and received mixed reviews from critics.

The Big Ugly
Theatrical release poster
Directed byScott Wiper
Screenplay byScott Wiper
Story by
  • Scott Wiper
  • Paul Tarantino
Produced by
  • Scott Wiper
  • Vinnie Jones
  • Tarquin Pack
  • Karri O'Reilly
  • Michael Downey
Starring
CinematographyJeremy Osbern
Edited byJordan Downey
Music byAlex Heffes
Production
companies
  • Endeavor Content
  • 4G Vision
Distributed byVertical Entertainment
Release date
  • July 24, 2020 (2020-07-24)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6 million[1]
Box office$515,399[2]

Plot

Harris is a London crime boss, with Neelyn as his main enforcer. They fly to West Virginia after Harris strikes a deal with an old and valued friend, an American oilman named Preston. Stakes are high with Preston genuinely concerned with keeping his operation environmentally clean. Contracts are signed and festivities are held. Preston’s son PJ is overconfident and behaves as though entitled to take a crack at any girl he sees. Late that night Neelyn's six-year girlfriend, Fiona, disappears. Neelyn refuses to leave for England without her and finds her dead with PJ as the main suspect. Neelyn has to discard his ties with friends and family, risking the oil contract and the friendship between his boss and Preston, to find retribution and the truth.

Cast

Production

Filming took place over six weeks in Morehead, Kentucky, Owingsville, Kentucky and Olive Hill, Kentucky during the summer of 2018. Wiper originally intended to shoot the film in his home state of Ohio, but could not receive the proper tax incentives to convince the producers.[1][6] Perlman said he knew he would be starring in the film by the time he reached page 11 of the script.[7]

Release

The Big Ugly was released in limited theaters (mostly drive-ins) in the United States on July 24, 2020, and then made available via video-on-demand on July 31.[2]

The film made $152,468 from 68 theaters in its opening weekend.[8]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 41% based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10.[9] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10]

Leslie Felperin of The Guardian gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, saying that it "plays like several plots, genres and mood boards all mashed together, which makes the end result interesting but not entirely successful."[11] Writing for Time Out, Phil de Semlyen also gave the film 2 out of 5 and wrote: "You can tell roughly where The Big Ugly is going right from those opening exchanges: people are going to get punched, booze will be slugged back, and there will be some lads' mag philosophising about blood oaths and the bonds of brotherhood. Then more people will be punched. Amid all this, female characters will stand around wondering why they're so one-dimensional."[12]

References
  1. Anne Nickoloff (July 23, 2020). "Ohio-born filmmakers come together to make new movie, 'The Big Ugly,' starring Ron Perlman, Malcolm McDowell". MSN. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  2. "The Big Ugly (2020)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  3. Kiesewetter, John. "'The Big Ugly' Opens Friday". www.wvxu.org. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  4. "The Big Ugly". worldbizjournals.com. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  5. "REVIEW: In The Big Ugly, Men Wage War With Tired Movie Tropes". CBR. 2020-07-23. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  6. Eric Lagatta (July 24, 2020). "Former Upper Arlington resident behind new film starring Ron Perlman, Vinnie Jones". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  7. Roeper, Richard (2020-07-24). "Ron Perlman relishes his 'Big Ugly' role — and speaking his mind on Twitter". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  8. Anthony D'Alessandro (July 26, 2020). "Dave Franco Horror Movie 'The Rental' Collects $421K As No. 1 Pic At Weekend Box Office – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  9. "The Big Ugly (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  10. "The Big Ugly Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  11. Felperin, Leslie (2020-07-23). "The Big Ugly review – a boozy bonanza of blokey brutality". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  12. Phil de Semlyen (July 24, 2020). "The Big Ugly review". Time Out Worldwide. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
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