Dear Joel,

1. I watched this movie in its entirety over a couple of days. You're welcome because dude, it was a struggle.
2. Interesting idea keeping the dialogue to a minimum. Given the quality of the movie, it made it a perfect movie to watch while doing literally anything else. I personally wrapped Christmas presents and made dinner. I could step away for 10-15 minutes, come back and not have missed a single thing. You would just keep doing the same loud and implausible stuff.
3. See item 1. I like you, I really do. I watched this movie because of you. But let me say this now in the interest of our relationship staying strong - you are not Nicholas Cage. Do not expect me to watch any piece of dreck that you happen to select to keep yourself busy. You're a solid actor and I like watching you work but again, whatever spell Nic Cage has put on me that I will watch literally anything he is in no matter how awful is not having the same effect for you. So with regard to this movie, just stop it. You're way better than this boring and predictable mess.

Whatever bet you lost to have had to star in this movie has been fully paid. You even have some left in the bank.

On one hand I appreciate how earnest the film is around a man dealing with the loss of his child. On the other hand it is an action movie that takes place during Christmas season about a man that can’t speak called Silent Night.

Much like No One Can Save You, the gimmick kind of becomes annoying at a certain point, which would be fine but the action never quite delivers to the setup. And at certain points becomes kind of laughable and not in an intended way.

I did appreciate that we haven’t seen a grimy, shit hole city like this since an 80s Carpenter movie. Does this mean we are back? We randomly cut to all out gang shoot outs in the street and during a car chase we turn a corner and stumble upon an over the top drug deal. I’m salivating at the think pieces that will be written about the vigilante white guy mowing down all the brown people in the city.

One thing the movie nails is that every sigma male out there is 9 months away from peak physical form. Let’s get started in April for next December boys, renew our mind, body and soul. Do it all with our deep thoughts and without saying a word.

This movie was pretty dumb, sometimes cool and had a few good laughs, which may or may not have been intentional. The multiple quick zoom shots on the mother's eyes in the hospital were so odd and about three too many. Tear drop transition into a bullet falling, very cool. Really enjoyed Kinnaman target shooting the hole for his face to peak through. The gang member clutching onto the top of Kinnaman's sick Mustang after being crushed and shot and then slowly sliding down the windshield with a comical blood smear sound, hilarious. Kinnaman barfs right after that and his barf looks super gross, all goopy and beige. Probably one of the most disgusting barf scenes ever set to film. Made me gag. Very convenient that the gang shootout happens at a location with a figure eight for Kinnaman to drive around, just like he trained for! Some of the car chase stuff was cool, but it was pretty silly when the cars formed into a car train and they were all shooting while moving along in a train. Choo choo! I think the most deranged and hilarious scene was when his dead son appears to him in the reflection of a hanging ornament with the wind-up toy melody playing and Kinnaman looks over and smiles while he is choking the gang leader to death. The movie closes with the mother visiting the son's grave, which by the way, has a toy train driving around the tombstone 24/7, and then the movie ends with what is essentially Kinnaman's revenge/suicide note scrolling across the screen. Truly bizarre.

This is a rather surprising film from Hong Kong director John Woo.

Known for up beat, fast paced, gritty action films, Silent Night is a rather sombre, departure from what fans, like myself, have come to expect.

The back story is rather sad and I feel this film dwells on this aspect to the point of "almost" becoming obsessively morose. I appreciate the key characters motivation is based on a tragic event but constantly re-visiting this aspect of the back story, tends to drag the film down emotionally, throwing bucket after bucket of cold water, on what is supposed to be an action romp.

Action sequences are well done, fight scenes and gun play of the predictable John Woo style. Its far from boring once it gets under way.

In summary, watchable but for myself, a little too morose and sad, to really offer up a truly enjoyable action romp.

First movie of John Woo in Hollywood since Paycheck in 2003 (that was an average movie).

This movie is almost all based on the expression of the protagonist and secondary characters, even being previsible and a bit melodramatic (but the melodrama is dispersed thorough the movie), without any line whatsoever is something to be praised and offstream.

A father suffers the sudden loss of his son in a gangs shootout in a fictional city on Texas, and barely surviving trying to catch the killers - no explanation why he have those skills in the start of the story and in the end being all movie a preparation for revenge is a big no-no on the script thought.

But is enjoyable especially if you like revenge is better served cold movies. The tension is present and even being previsible the movie delivers the satisfaction of revenge in the end, building up tension till the end (I liked the final scene btw - it was something that was bothering me, and that little bit was explained [ I mean his reactions to the mother that suffered such a hard loss too ] ).

Being a John Woo movie you expect very electrifying action scenes and you get those on sequences on the start, middle and especially end as it should be. Really nice and bloody btw - and for the acting of Joel Kinnaman as the only protagonist I decided to gave the movie one star more than it would be without him.

So a 7.0 out 1f 10.0 / B for this one. If you crave action and revenge for Christmas this is it (speaking of Xmas, it only serves as a more dramatic starting point for the story - it could have been any time of the year, but hey we need something for the season every year right?).