Filmomania X – In ENGLISH – Trish Stratus’ “Bail Enforcers”

Welcome to this, Filmomania’s 10th consecutive weekly weird wrestler movie review (1st one translated in english, testing the market…)! We’ve seen some bizarre, idiotic, violent, rare, psychedelic, religious stuff here! Good stuff too. We’ve seen the Hulk, Piper, Sting, Jesse Ventura, Goldberg, even Jimmy Hart, Jim Neidhart & The Ultimate Warrior in respective movies. Some better than others… while some are lucky to have the buddies they have. I am referring to you, Ed Leslie!

 

Thing is, wrestling is not solely a men’s world. Same with the moving pictures. I own a lot of movies starring women wrestlers too, more than you’d think exist. I promised you a glorious ladies of wrestling movie special last week, so let’s kickstart it right now! Kick is the right word, because this one stars what we would call in french my adolescent kick, my teenage crush if you want, the first woman in my life (although we doesn’t know it yet…), Trish Stratus. No better way to start!

 

When I say she’s the “first woman in my life”, I don’t mean that in a creepy way at all. Really. To my defense, I was exposed to her forms almost twice a week for the better part of ten years, which WWE didn’t exactly hide… Anyways, as a Trish Stratus guy, I was waiting and hoping for an eventual Trish movie debut for awhile. Movies just seemed a perfect match to Trish when you watch her go, either in a WWE ring, on the mic, in a promo or when she’s doing something extra-WWE, like TV stuff. She has “something” for comedy, improv and physical performance that reminds me, can’t put the finger on it though, of Jim Carrey or The Rock. Like she could so easily make or break any vignette willingly. I always thought she knew exactly how to deliver a joke or a look, just right, while never overdoing it. Never out of words and fast on her feet. It’s an art form. Any segment I saw her in made everyone around look better, and this laid-back, sarcastic and ironic attitude she had going on always made me want to see more! I hereby present Exhibit B to the Court, excerps from 2006’s Canada Walk of Fame, annual ceremony she hosted elegantly that year. I remember watching the whole thing just for her (and maybe a little for Robert Goulet’s singing), just like I watched the Oscars only for Seth MacFarlane‘s hosting. I regret nothing.

 

Now about that movie. In 2010-11, now retired from in-ring competition and mastering her craft from project to project, she begins shooting Bail Enforcers (Bounty Hunters), in Toronto, which she decides to co-produce herself as well. This 100% independent Canadian feature film makes it’s international premiere at the ActionFest movie festival on April 9th 2011. After it’s festival run, the movie gets picked up and released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 28th 2012. In Canada, Anchor Bay distributes it under a new title, Bounty Hunters.  Here is the official theatrical trailer:

 

 

As the strong, fearless and independent woman she is, Trish plays a strong, fearless and independent woman. She also decided to not employ a body double for stunts… because she used to do way more dangerous stuff herself every night, live in front of 15 000 people, anyways. She takes all the bumps and makes some pretty badass stunts in there! She plays Jules Taylor, a single-mother working as a strip joint waitress (Ok… what is it with wrestlers always having to have a scene in a titty-bar?!)… To make ends meet, she is a bounty hunter, looking for criminals on the loose, along with two cool dudes. It’s basically The A-Team, but Trish plays the part of Hannibal and the Faceman. I’m all for it! After a deal where everything went perfectly (read Trish kicks massive amounts of asses!), Jules has to make a choice. She either puts the criminal behind bars and collects the $100,000 paycheck, or she gives him back to the organized crime racket for 10 times that amount. No more titty-bar. Of course, since the movie is not 20 minutes long, you guessed right, they will refuse to give him up and will be chased by the bad folks. This will give Trish the occasion to lay out her repertoire. From damsel in distress, to comical Trish, to laid-back Trish, gun-shooting Trish and bone-shattering Trish. All that in highly choreographed, high-demanding fight scenes, which I think was the point, all along.

 

DO NOT look for the script pass this point, not because it’s horrible or anything, but because you will miss what’s fun about the movie. It only serves one purpose: To facilitate Trish’s entry in the movie business. Like Barb Wire was for Pamela Anderson in 1996, but this time the actress is in real fighting shape! The first jobber she encounters is well-known Quebec wrestler and bit player Marc-André Boulanger (Franky The Mobster!), who as always delivers the good stuff in front of a camera (GIVE HIM MORE ROLES DAMNIT!).  He will sell for her number of holds and maneuvers she wouldn’t even do in a ring, on these tiny gym mats… such an unlucky fella‘!

 

 

Everything else too is there so that Trish can be put over. She’s got the best dialogue, the action scenes and the camera shots. Back when Hollywood was only a debauchery ridden and alcohol-fueled El Dorado, they used to call these movies “star vehicles”. They were easy movies made for future potencial stars, showcasing their abilities and how they could be used in future, bigger productions. This movie is selling the Trish Stratus brand, the end product after years of effort, a marketable star. Douglas Fairbanks, Marlene Dietrich, Charlie Chaplin, Mae West and Clark Gable had those back in the days. Now, Bail Enforcers is Trish Stratus’ vehicle. The Rock had The Scorpion King, Hogan got No Holds Barred and Chyna pulled… yeeeah, on second thought, let’s not go there and focus on Trish having had Bail Enforcers…

 

 

As this is the most recent opus presented in this column, I will recommend you get it on Blu-ray… because HD Trish. That is all you need to know. It’s also bilingual for us frenchies. DVD is pretty common too, and won’t ruin you like other rare stuff I presented in the past. You can also get it directly from the source. So, is it good? Good enough. If you can’t pass the fact that it’s a movie made to sell the Trishstratus brand, you won’t like it. Good critics of the movie all include the key words Trish and Stratus. It’s an 80 minutes resumé made to further her career and add much needed legit movie credit. I hope it works, for Trish is scheduled to appear in two movies this year, one of them starring role. Be assured Filmomania will be on the prowl, always keeping a special place, biaised place for her. I better say that too, for she could easily kick my ass in one of her yoga class!

 

Next week, on Filmomania XI, the Rowdy One, Roddy Piper is back and gets rowdy with the Mesdames, because he is forced… by the government!

RÉAGISSEZ CI-DESSOUS

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