Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) Another one of the BMW short films, 8 minutes live action, 3 minutes credits, this one came from Maxican director Alejandro González Iñárritu after he gave the world his famous feature film "Amores perros" and before he shot "21 Grams" and "Babel". This one is a bit different to the other films of the series. There's less action, a real moral conflict and more emotion. Sounds good, doesn't it? However, I'm not sure if it really is. For me, those films work the best when they're just entertaining fun. We shouldn't forget, it's still basically just a longer car-commercial. The sudden doubts in the mind of Skarsgård's character if it's justifiable to film and not to intervene appear very much out of nowhere and it's certainly difficult to really develop characters to which the viewer can make an emotional connection. However, what worked better for me was the final scene of the driver at the old lady's house. It's a decent short film, though not my favorite from the series.

rbverhoef This short from The Hire-series looks totally different than the other ones. It is more real, like news footage. The Driver, of course again played by Clive Owen, has to save a war photographer (Stellan Skarsgard) who is shot. No funny moments this time, but action and suspense. Very well done.

joelman Perhaps there are people who would disdain the grainy look of this film, or hate the jumpy camera work. I, for one, think that Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is a genius. You really have to appreciate his film making. Amores Perros is a must see for those of you who haven't seen it yet, and Powder Keg is no exception either. This film focuses much more on emotions and injustices in Central and South America, and really lays the drama on in the end. Brilliant work. I'm glad that BMW did this series, perhaps they will see fit to release it on DVD, that would be excellent.

SirAlanSmithee Powder Keg concludes the BMW short film series "The Hire" by adding a very human element to the enigmatic and elusive series title character played by Clive Owen. Director/co-writer Alejandro González Iñárritu departs from the pattern established by the previous 4 directors and makes the driver more of a background character, focusing instead on a war photographer who, after snapping a shocking series of photographs, is on the run and grievously injured. He takes the time to reflect on his life and what he's done-or not done-with it, and why he started taking pictures in the first place. Stellan Skarsgård does a wonderful job as the photographer, and manages to communicate volumes just as much with what he doesn't say as with what he does. Clive Owen has the opportunity to portray a different side to the driver then in the previous films, allowing his normally unflappable character to have an emotional moment beyond what we've seen. The moment at the end of the film between himself and the woman played by Lois Smith is made more pronounced by his inability to effectively communicate his thoughts and feelings, and his abrupt exit punctuates that perfectly.Iñárritu directs this short perfectly, using hand-held 16MM cameras to capture a grainy, almost documentary-like feel to the film, and over-exposure for certain shots adds the right amount of dramatic flair to the film.All in all, my only regret with this film is that it's the last one in this excellent series. BMW should be highly commended for allowing what could have been little more than overblown and expensive commercials to be short films in which the centerpiece vehicles sometimes took a back-seat to the characters and their stories instead. I hope to see another series like this again soon.