Teen Wolf, Maze Runner, Rush Limbaugh Fans: American Assassin is in Bozeman

I love movies, so I have always featured movie talk and movie reviews on my radio show. The past few months, I have not been going to the cinema much. World, national and local news have been taking so much of my time, plus nothing seemed to appeal to me at the movies. The biggest film, meaning highest money maker, that everyone in Hollywood is talking about is a film called It.

It, based on a Steven King's book about an evil clown who kills children, was something I really wanted to see...AGAIN. I say again because I had already seen it and disliked it when the movie was made into a mini series on television 10 years ago.

But Friday after my show, I was working in my studio and Rush Limbaugh came on. Okay, I am a conservative so don't be shocked when I point out I love his show. Besides politics, I like when talk hosts talk about their lives. Friendships, relationships, family stories make the host seem more human. As program director at AM 1450, I ask our hosts both local and national to talk more about themselves.

Rush begins talking about a friend of his Vince Flynn. Flynn wrote novels about spies, the CIA. Rush compared his books to John Clancy. I like John Clancy movies (I am not a big reader of fiction, I read non fiction) Flynn's book America Assassin which was being made into a movie opened and sounded interesting to me.

Rush told the story of how his friend had been trying for about 10 years to get the movie made. It came close to being made and the deal didn't happen. Rush talked about not giving up, how Flynn kept trying. Finally the film got a green light (In Hollywood talk that means an okay from a studio to make the movie).

Rush talked about how excited his friend was, he talked about how much he loved the book and worried it wouldn't be as good on the screen. Flynn told Rush that he, Flynn, would be executive producer, have a big part in casting, help write the screenplay and even be on the set.

But Rush's friend Vince Flynn died before the film was finished.

The show must go on and the movie based on his friends book was being made. America Assassin opened in Bozeman on Friday. Rush told the story and said he had a private screening of the film before it opened. He was scared it wouldn't be as good as the book he loved. He said he wanted it to be a hit for his friend Flynn and his family.

Rush loved it. He was so happy the film was good, it was exciting, it was smart. His friend would have liked it. Then Rush did something he never really does. He asked his listeners to go see the film. He said, I know a lot of my listeners don't go to the movies much, but please see this film. You will like it.

CBS Films describes the filme like this:

AMERICAN ASSASSIN follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien), a CIA black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military and civilian targets. Together the three discover a pattern in the violence leading them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent (Shiva Negar) to stop a mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent on starting a World War.

I have been following the work of actor Dylan O'Brien for sometime now. He was the funny teenage friend of the Teen Wolf on MTV, and was great as the lead in the two big hit movies in The Maze Runner series. But something happened during making of the film Maze Runner three; he was almost killed on the set in a tragic accident. The head injuries he suffered were so bad they stop all production on the film. No one knew if Dylan would be able to speak, talk, walk again.

The Maze Runner movie may still be finished but it's been over a year since they stopped filming. So when Rush talked about Dylan O'Brien starring in America Assassin, it surprised me. The role would mean a lot of physical action. O'Brien's body needed to be able to take a lot of punishment. O'Brien said in a People story that he worried if he would ever act again. He talked about how his girlfriend and family were there for him and he fought to get back his health.

So I sat in a Bozeman movie theater. Would this young actor be able to do all the physical stuff required for the role of an American Assassin? Would the film do justice to the author who worked so hard to make this film, only to die before it was finished? And last but not least, does Rush know anything about film? He love it, but let's face it, he's a radio talk host.

The movie started. The movie ended. I loved it. If you like James Bond or Jim Clancy movies or you just wanna see if the kid actor from MTV's Teen Wolf is okay... Go see it.

On the Brascia Scale of one to 10, 10 being the best, I give it a nine. (The only thing that could have made the film better is if I, Dominick Brascia, co-starred in it)

Dominick