When the script for Drive Angry fell into the lap of William Fichtner, the familiar face from films like Date Night and TV’s Prison Break knew he just had to be in the movie.
“Cool part, that’s what I thought,” explained Fichtner recently in Toronto about playing the devil’s right-hand man in the hardcore thriller. “(There’s) really no reference point for playing a character like that. It’s not like you can call someone up and go, ‘You worked in hell for three years, tell me what’s going on.’”
A stylized 3-D action flick, Drive Angry casts Nicolas Cage as a mysterious man whose search for his kidnapped granddaughter leads him to a satanic cult even while he’s tracked by Satan’s own accountant (Fichtner). As supernatural as that sounds, the film’s origin was actually inspired by the rawness of 1970s action films featuring Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson.
“Those were my high school/college years, so I loved (those movies),” admitted Fichtner. “As far as the 3-D goes, I don’t think I knew (it was 3-D) until a week before we started shooting … my first thought was ‘Is that good?’”
In this case, it is good. Delivered by the same creative team behind 2009’s My Bloody Valentine, Drive Angry (which opens next Friday) utilizes 3-D to full effect by hurling ceaseless action in the viewer’s face.
