★★★★☆

First Kill is one really good movie. I like this trend of Bruce Willis taking bit roles to help other actors launch their career. I will admit I knew nothing about this movie and only put it on the rental list because it had Bruce Willis in it. First Kill did not disappoint!

Gethin Anthony who plays Levi Barrett delivers a stellar performance as a good guy caught in a bad situation trying to fill the role of both dad and big brother to a kid he is holding hostage. I know that sounds weird when you read it out loud, you just have to watch the movie to understand.

Ty Shelton plays Danny Beeman, the little boy being held hostage. The trouble with little kids is they grow up. This kid has huge acting ability. Way beyond his years.

Bruce Willis embarked on a journey at the end of his career to help other actors get a break. With this film he found two diamonds for us. Those two really sell the film.

The Plot

First Kill has a simple plot. Boy gets bullied and beat up at school again and again. Parents actually came from some mountain town so the dad digs out his father’s deer rifle and decided to take the family to a relatives cabin in the mountains. He figures a hunting trip and getting his first kill will either “make a man out of him” or at least make him less of a wimp.

I don’t hunt deer, but I do hunt. I know hunting season is in the fall when all of the leaves are dead and dying. Looks like they filmed this in May or June. Everything is green and blooming. Really my only critique.

Becoming a Man

The irony in this film, perhaps the irony for all fathers, is that it isn’t you who teaches them how to be a man. This son learned all of that from his captor, played by Gethin Anthony. He pointed out the boy already had the courage within. Just look at what he was going through without becoming a babbling puddle of piss. He also learns that a man doesn’t become a man until he faces his worst moment in life and finds out he has a pair to face it with.

Honestly I probably should have given this five stars.

For more movie rental ideas please see list one and list two.