A Noir-ish crime thriller set in present day LA, Gasoline Alley is yet another film in which Bruce Willis spent more time at the photo shoot for the movie poster than for his actual part in the film. He’s practically turned low-budget cameo roles into a second career.
The good news is that the film’s main star, Devon Sawa, has a simmering, slow burn charisma that keeps us interested in what will happen next, even as the movie sort of trudges along the stations of the genre. And Luke Wilson pops up in a snarky supporting role that registers enough to justify using his name and likeness on the aforementioned poster.
Sawa is an ex-con and son of a former cop. He’s rough around the edges, but clearly trying to go straight. He even owns a tattoo shop, where he spends most his time, when he isn’t alone at a dimly lit bar after hours every night.
After a brief barstool chat with a sex worker one night, he watches her walk away, into the night. Later she and two others are found brutally murdered and Detectives Willis and Wilson come to question him at the tattoo parlor on the basis of a cigarette lighter bearing the business’s name (yes, the shop is called Gasoline Alley).
Instantly clear that they want to “solve” the case with him as their only suspect, Sawa sets off on his own investigation to clear his name and find the true killer. Again, most of this is sleepwalking from a narrative standpoint, but Sawa is always watchable, and there are several bit parts by no-name actors who are, nonetheless, peculiar and realistic in appearance and vibe.
Willis needs an intervention. The man has genuine acting chops somewhere inside this shell of a performer who shows up for, presumably, a couple of days of shooting before collecting his check—or quite possibly a briefcase of cash. His last mini-budget, bait and switch film was Midnight in the Sawgrass, and there are apparently more flicks like that one and this one on the schedule for him this year.
Trash director (and I say that with some admiration, not as a slam) Edward John Drake has made several other pictures with Bruce and actors who are good but in a career lull (Thomas Jane, for instance) and he knows how to get the most for the least- this looks like a film that would cost considerably more than Drake had to spend, and that’s an admirable achievement.
Gasoline Alley | Theaters and On-Demand Feb 25 | 97 minutes | rated R \ 2 out of 4 stars
