The film is directed by Joe Lynch, who has a background in B-grade horrors and goofy comedies (Wrong Turn 2 and Knights of Badassdom), and he brings a specific conceit to Everly that is both awesome and a major problem. With a few exceptions, everything takes place in a single apartment. Yes, it's "Die Hard in a Living Room". Hayek plays the title character, and when we first meet her she's beaten up and bloodied, gasping for breath in a tiny bathroom. Shouting from the next room tells us she isn't alone and whoever is out there is pissed. When they come bursting in, she bursts out guns blazing.It doesn't take long before we figure out what's up. As a prostitute for the Yakuza, Everly had the inside goods and snitched to the FBI. Now Yakuza's boss wants her dead, and begins sending whole armies of deadly assassins to finish her off.
There's just one problem: Everly is one chick you don't want to f**k with. She begins dispatching her foes with a brutal and nasty efficiency, but the enemies keep on coming. Deadly hookers, trained mercenaries, and when they run out the campy, freakish villains start turning up. Eventually Everly is attacked by an elderly gentleman calling himself "The Sadist", who along with his chained goon "The Masochist" and army of Kabuki henchman resembles from out of a John Carpenter movie.
So it goes from violent to violently weird pretty quick, and yet the whole thing stays largely grounded due to the committed performance by Hayek. It may seem like a lifetime ago now, but there was a point when Kate Hudson was being sought for the role, but nobody could play it quite like Hayek. Over time Everly's survival becomes less about her and more about protecting her mother and daughter, who are also in the Yakuza's crosshairs. In the midst of getting her ass kicked left and right, a maternal instinct kicks in and Everly becomes a lioness in defense of her cub. Hayek has the difficult task of portraying these emotions believably while engaging in a wildly over-the-top, physical battle royale, and she nails it. Screenwriter Yale Hannon uses Everly's sexiness, femininity, and motherhood to push the story in interesting directions it simply couldn't go if the role were filled by a guy. If there's a problem it's that the film is almost too simple. Finding believable reasons for Everly to stay put becomes an issue, and finding new and creative ways for her to kill is also a problem.
Fortunately the camerawork is energetic and clean, the action brisk and superbly edited so that we never miss a moment of Hayek chopping down her foes. And that's really all Everly is about. It's aggressive and vicious and easily has the makings of an R-rated crowd pleaser. A few years ago there was a run of movies like this with tough chicks mowing down their male enemies, but they overstayed their welcome. If Salma Hayek and Everly can help bring those movies back, hopefully with a sequel, that wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
