Bullet Points: Survive the Night (2020)

I am a huge Bruce Willis fan. I will watch anything with him in it. As you might know, some of his latest films have not been Oscar material. Some might say he acts lazy. I was fortunate to get an advanced copy of his latest movie, Survive the Night. Will Bruce survive? Does he act lazy? Is the movie worth your time? I’ll let you know with my trusty bullet points.

• The Plot and How Much is Bruce Involved With It: The main character is a doctor played by Chad Michael Murray. He messed up one too many operations, was sued for everything he owned, and is forced to now live with his parents. His dad, Bruce Willis is a retired sheriff, and he isn’t too pleased with Chad. He believes Chad should’ve fought the lawsuit. We all know Bruce Willis or any character he plays in a movie is a born fighter. Don’t worry everyone; Bruce, Chad and the rest of the gang will soon get a chance to fight when a couple of bad guys come knocking at the door in the middle of the night. Bruce Willis does have a lot of scenes. This isn’t just an extended cameo. 

• The Big Bad Guys: Survive the Night isn’t non-stop action. This definitely isn’t Die Hard 2. It is a psychological thriller with intense action sequences sprinkled in throughout the runtime. I was very impressed by the acting of the baddies. Both Shae Buckner (Jamie) and Tyler Jon Olson (Matty) act their asses off. Jamie is the psycho. You see how ruthless he is early on in a gas station shootout. Matty is the smarter one. The one who wants to get the money and get out of Dodge. Unfortunately, it is Matty who is injured, forcing the brothers to seek medical assistance from the Willis family. Both actors are familiar with DTV Willis. Both appeared with him in Marauders and Reprisal. The baddies could’ve easily been cookie cutter baddies with zero filling. I must give credit to the actors, the writer, Doug Wolfe, and the director, Matt Eskandari for allowing the actors to pretty much steal the movie from Bruce and Chad. Without a doubt, they are my MVP’s.

Like I said earlier, Survive the Night isn’t an action slugfest. The beginning is very wordy, and the movie takes its sweet time to kick it into high gear. Both Bruce Willis and Chad Michael Murray are very serviceable, and I wouldn’t mind seeing them team up again. I also believe this is one of the better films Bruce has been in recently. Before I go, instead of my normal bonus bullet points, I will put Survive the Night through the Bruce Willis Laziness Test…

The Bruce Willis Laziness Test:

• Does Bruce actually sleep in this? Yes! He also snores.
• Does Bruce howl at the moon? Yes! Like he’s a werewolf.
• Does Bruce drive a fast car and scare some cows? Yes and No. Bruce’s character drives a badass sports car, but it is his driving double that has all the fun.
• Does Bruce say Yippee Ki Yay? No, but it would’ve been a lot cooler if he did.
• Does Bruce get severely injured in the movie, but instead of falling down, he forgets he’s injured and keeps on going? Of course he does. He’s Bruce Willis.
• Overall verdict on Bruce’s laziness? 2 pillows out of 5.
• Overall score of the movie? 3 stars.
• Should you watch? Yes! I think you know what you’re getting into if you decide to check Survive the Night out. I’m glad I watched, and I can easily recommend it to the awesome readers of Bulletproof Action.