Saw VI
Health coverage center stage in gory 'Saw'
"You have seen the errors in your policy," Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) hisses in the latest "Saw" movie. And, kids, he's hissing a pun at Big Insurance when he does, the profiteers who determine "who lives and who dies."
As Jigsaw tortures the actuarial menace who sentenced him and other cancer patients to death, forcing Not-Evil-Just-Officious Will (Peter Outerbridge) to save or let die his Umbrella Insurance colleagues, Will is reminded that "your decisions (are) symbolized by the blood on your hands."
You just don't expect that from a "Saw" movie, do you? "But "Saw VI," which begins by making two "predatory lenders" carve off hunks of their flesh, dump it on a scale and see which one can lose the most weight the quickest (the loser dies), is surfing the zeitgeist, and how.
It's still torture porn, more excruciating than scary. It's still all about the elaborate and gory "games" the victims must win in order to survive Jigsaw's test of character, redemption and humanity. Body parts are lost, guts spill and sharp objects pierce to the sound of screams in the night. But this script, by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, has a more lyrical bent, and a more satiric bite, than any of the other "Saw" sequels.
That's a bit like saying "You're fully covered, until you make that first claim," but hey, "Saw" movies make you grasp at straws.
An insurance company lawyer, a "sensationalist" reporter (Samantha Lemole), a lifelong smoker and assorted innocents are trapped in the latest underground murder maze. They're all dependent on the character and courage of a guy who developed the actuarial tables that his company uses to shed customers who won't actually make money for Umbrella Insurance.
In other words, they're all in trouble.
There's still this multi-movie subplot, police intrigues about catching the man actually carrying out the long-dead Jigsaw's will, now that his last will and testament have been read. The widow (Betsy Russell) is mixed up with the murderous cop (Costas Mandylor) covering his Jigsaw tracks. Poor Shawnee Smith returns as a Jigsaw convert in the many (newly filmed) flashbacks.
The acting is perfunctory on most fronts, though Outerbridge brings a measure of pathos to his claims adjuster. I like to think Tobin Bell, more a voice and reptilian presence than an actor, has bought an island somewhere on his "Saw"-gotten gains.
He'll make at least one more payment on it if he has. Yes, there will be a "Saw VII" even if "Paranormal Activity" snuffs this one out at the box office, and "Saw VII" will be in 3-D. I can hardly wait.
Maybe we'll all have full health coverage by the time that one opens. Jigsaw wouldn't have it any other way.
"Saw VI" is rated R for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, and language. Running time: 90 minutes.
Cast: Costas Mandylor, Mark Rolston, Betsy Russell, Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Peter Outerbridge
Find a Movie Theater
- Arts survey finds drops in attendance 11:03 a.m.
- Palestinian files suit over 'Bruno' 11:01 a.m.
- Alexa Joel 'devastating heartbreak' 10:56 a.m.
- Actress got close to the president 10:55 a.m.
- Scuffle doesn't stop 'Wicked' in Ohio 10:54 a.m.
- Swine flu toll includes a few pets 10:52 a.m.
- Mistake vs. repeat affairs probed 10:49 a.m.
- Overweight pets, health problems 10:46 a.m.
- Eastwood, Freeman back in 'Invictus' 10:44 a.m.
- Party security? Come down South 10:43 a.m.
- Crash landing next to I-15
- Palin signs books, chats with fans
- Nude bathers cited for lewdness
- Psychologist: Mitchell schizophrenic
- Panel passes BCS playoff bill
- Jazz fall apart late at L.A.
- Max Hall wants to look ahead
- Few details on missing W.V. mom
- Hot Rod behind mic for Lakers
- I-15 expansion barreling south
- Letters: Global warming a lie
238 - TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
206 - BYU football: Bronco weighs in on Hall
187 - Cougars going back to Vegas
150 - Utah/BYU rivalry can be more civil
148 - Andersen apologizes for Jordan hoax
140 - Max Hall wants to look ahead
122 - Palin signs books, chats with fans
118 - Revive full food tax?
101 - Panel passes BCS playoff bill
99
If all three of the Utahns still competing on "So You Think You Can...
I haven't yet played "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," and honestly I...
Go ahead and try Adleman's game plan, he hasn't ever beaten LA in any...
If the study were comparing those who engage in sex with those who do not...
So delusional. You forget that the Gov and the First Dude were once...
The repubs put our country totally in the toilet and then we hear these...
I remember a few years ago when non-bcs conferences and teams complained...
'It's too bad the spanish govt. felt they had to restrict these young women's...
Brother Chuck Shroeder: I, for one, can see your frustration here and admire...
2) UTA only serves 1% of Utah's commuting working population (supposedly...
I'm a true fan of Sarah Palin. When she goes up against Obama in 2012,...
The bill has an exception for that circumstance.



