David Twothy’s had his hand in scripting a lot of Hollywood hogwash like G.I. Jane, Waterworld and The Fugitive (well that last one wasn’t hogwash, but he’s like one of 30 guys that could have been credited for scripting that film). On his own, telling his own stories though, Twothy usually finds a good rhythm as evidenced with films like the first Pitch Black and the World War II sub thriller Below. In A Perfect Getaway, what initially seems like one of those end of summer write offs is a rather astute and competent thriller that doubles as a whodunit amongst the wondrous Hawaiian vistas that usually double for the mysterious island on TV’s Lost.

But in Getaway, it’s not smoke monsters or deranged French people that should have a pair of couples on vacation concerned, it’s a vicious team of he/she serial killers that are stalking the island and leaving toothless, fingerprint-less corpses in their wake. Cliff and Cydney (Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich) are on their honeymoon and walking a well worn tourist trail on the island of Oahu. They meet up with Nick and Gina (Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez), a southern couple that’s seemingly a little odd, Nick with a mysterious military background and hunting skills and Gina who can and gut a goat like a pro. But they’re at least half as creepy as compared to Kale and Cleo (Chris Hemsworth and Marley Shelton) who try to hop a ride with Cliff and Cydney and now seem to be stalking the newlyweds. Almost serial killer like…

Naturally, that would be too obvious of course. The TV advertising for Getaway mentions a “big twist” in the end, and all I have to say about that is “thank you big mouth.” Yes, there is indeed a twist at the end of Getaway, not entirely unexpected, but Twothy throws enough red herrings at you to make you double check your own suspicions. The thing I don’t get is that script probably would have been smart enough if it hadn’t gone all “George W. Bush” on us. And what I mean by that is the way that Bush used to talk down to people as he was giving a speech as if they were the ones that didn’t understand what was going on, Getaway has the same problem. You see, Cliff is a screenwriter, so through conversation we learn all the little screenwriting tricks, like “red herring.”

But other than occasionally taking things nearly to the point of having an English guy in a box at the bottom of the screening saying, “Here’s something to keep in mind,” Getaway really is a rather decent thriller. Twothy does an effective job of making you guessing like the film is an elaborate game of Clue, and making you wonder just who exact got the couples in the jungle with a knife. The actors are also good and keeping their cards close; are Kale and Cleo really crazy enough to justify that Deliverance vibe? Are Nick’s tall tales of getting a metal skull after taking shrapnel in Iraq really an elaborate cover story to lure unsuspecting tourists? Makes you wonder. And props for Timothy Olyphant for playing down to earth, especially with that deranged look that he has. Here’s hoping he turns the phrase “Outstanding” into the kind of repeatable movie catchphrase like Wallace Shawn’s use of “Inconceivable” in The Princess Bride.

Yes, The Perfect Getaway is certainly well constructed and well made, and at times, genuinely suspenseful. But after Twothy reveals his ace card the film degenerates into the typical serial killer thriller motions of running through the woods, fake-out kills and final showdowns. The good guys ride gloriously into the sunset and bad guys end up in prison, or a body bag. Genuinely though, this movie was a treat. It showed some surprising craftsmanship story-wise even if it seemed to come with its own road map for the easily confused viewers at home. And what’s more mysterious, and make of this what you will, but for a “horrors of travel movie” it didn’t actually  make me afraid of travel. Those trails on Oahu look like a good time. Serial killers optional of course.