The biggest mystery about "Killing Season" is that, despite its lack of real dramatic conflict or any particular insights on the horrors of the Serbian-Bosnian conflict (the latter is perhaps not that much of a surprise seeing as how Evan Daughtrey's screenplay apparently was originally written about WW II participants), it still managed to attract actors of the caliber of De Niro and Travolta to take on roles that might otherwise have been filled by the likes of Nicolas Cage and…okay, Nicolas Cage again in an exceptionally odd double role. As he has done so many times in recent years, De Niro coasts through his part with just enough dramatic exertions to ensure that he receives his paycheck—not even an arrow shot through his leg is enough to inspire much of a reaction out of him. He makes so little of an impression that one could almost forget that he was in the film and my guess is that he would have no problem with that.

If De Niro hardly makes any effort at all, Travolta fully and completely commits to his performance, a move that would be laudable if it were not for the fact that the end results are so laughably bad. He is trying to come across as both charming and monstrous but is unable to pull off such a tricky tightrope act. Matters are not helped by the hilariously unconvincing Serbian accent that he deploys so insistently and ineptly throughout. To make things worse, Travolta has also been outfitted with the kind of goofy facial hair that makes one long for the comparatively slick grooming that he displayed in "Battlefield Earth." How bad is it? At one point—don't ask how—he gets an arrow shot through his face and most viewers would consider it a marked improvement.

In the end, "Killing Season" may not be the worst movie that either De Niro or Travolta has ever done—compared to the truly execrable likes of "The Big Wedding," it will not even go down as the worst De Niro film of 2013—but that does not make it any less awful. Cheaply made, dramatically inept and staggeringly dull despite a running time that only clocks in at maybe 80 minutes tops before the end credits begin, it is so devoid of passion, energy and intelligence that it makes one wonder why those responsible even bothered to make it in the first place. Unless you are a De Niro or Travolta completist, there is no reason to waste any time and money on this one. If you are a completist, you would be better served staying at home to watch the likes of "Righteous Kill" or "Moment by Moment" instead.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7s7vGnqmempWnwW%2BvzqZmq52mnrK4v46koKWkmaO0br%2FEmqqopl1nfXJ%2F