Until they leave the arena and things go off the rails as there are seemingly endless attempts at a repeat of “The Sixth Sense” magic, this is a damn good thriller. Josh Hartnett is amazing in this role, and the story is so tightly wound that you’re on the edge of your seat the entire runtime.
The fact that M. Night basically made a movie as a big budget music video for his daughter Saleka Shyamalan is such a boss move, you have to respect it. She turns in a surprisingly great performance in the finale, as things take an unexpected turn… and then another unexpected turn… and then another unexpected turn. There are 3-4 solid endings to the film you get to watch and basically pick from to end things on.
Pretty much exactly what I expected… which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I feel like I forgot how good of an actor Dennis Quaid is. John Voight as a Russian spy was an interesting choice, but Quaid turns out to be a perfect pick.
What I was afraid was going to fall into the trap of being pure “Boomer Bait” in the first half actually lets some punches fly in the second half. I figured they would shy away from the skeletons in the closet of one of the more conflicting legacies in American politics, but they actually went there. From calling in the National Guard as Governor, to losing his jelly beans (Alzheimer’s) likely before departing the White House, to running guns and destabilizing Central America, South America, and the Middle East in just 2 terms… I figured “Narcos” and “Sicario” were going to be the only projects willing to admit we created our own enemies for the last 50 years trying to “fix” things.
The framing device of an old Russian recounting his life’s work was a weird choice, but fades more into the background as things take off, and you’re left with a mildly entertaining, albeit long biopic.
This was a weird one… None of the ideas are necessarily “new,” but this movie actually puts them on the screen. I felt like every premise included in the tight hour and a half runtime has been haunting society for the past 5-10 years, but we’ve all just let it fester instead of talking about it head-on, ya know? Or, it may be that I just finished the audiobook of Jonathan Haidt’s “Anxious Generation”… who’s to say?
Technicality-wise, this is a tight thriller. They try to add some jump scares to make it a horror flick, but they do little to take away from the “this is hitting a little too close to home” factor at play here. Fantastic acting by all involved, and phenomenal execution.
Trigger Warning – This movie does dabble in the subject matter of suicide. Please contact 988 (https://988lifeline.org/) if you ever feel yourself in the darkest of dark places. As the sign at the end of this movie states, “let’s talk about it.”
With that being said, it’s a wonderful, heartfelt reflection and dark comedy about meaning and purpose in life and the importance of human connection. In a somewhat similar storyline to the “Mamma Mia,” our new friend John here finds himself with a surprise love story boomeranging back to him. He also finds out why he got the house on the island with a view for such a steal. As someone who often uses humor as a coping mechanism, I found a great kinship in this story of folks finding humor and beauty in what could be their darkest moments. Humans connecting through their shared adversity is one of my favorite genres, both on the big screen and in life. This movie does a great job of not taking itself too seriously at just the right times, which helps the heavy hitting notes to feel incredibly genuine for a Netflix movie. I was pleasantly surprised by this one! Of course, the music is also on-point throughout the runtime, which helps take it to another level. I’ll also from now on be referring to it as “jumping” into love instead of “falling,” in solidarity with my man Harry Connick Jr. He and Angi Scott had off the charts awkward chemistry and really kept the movie firing on all cylinders.
I’m not going to lie… I was worried about this one. The original “Twister” was lightning in a bottle. In the midst of the late 90’s renaissance of insane action films (The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off, etc.) , it was the perfect concoction of chaos. Yet, here we are…
Glen Powell can really do no wrong at this point. There’s a genuine likeability factor at play that’s hard to fake. The combination of Zac Efron’s looks and Tom Cruise’s love of the cinema and both of their dedication to the craft of filmmaking. He’s at the height of his powers here, and is so damn perfect in this role. Daisy Edgar-Jones as the co-headliner was a surprisingly powerful pick. In the first act, I had my doubts, as the story takes a bit to get going and for the characters to fully open up. But when they do, both Powell and Edgar-Jones are the only ones you can see playing these parts by the time the credits roll. Their chemistry is just the right amounts of mutual respect and mutual sass. They’re a reincarnation of the couple we all fell in love with in Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. The bridge between the second and third act is a gear I didn’t think either of them had as performers, and brough a weight and depth to the film I did not expect.
Thank God they included a “Suck Zone” reference. It wouldn’t have been a Twister film without it and would have been an enormous slight to the legendary Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Personally, I could have done without the Faster Horses level of bro country in the soundtrack, but that was small potatoes overall. The beauty and the sheer scale of this film is meant to be seen on the largest screen with the loudest sound system possible. Summer spectacle at its finest! Bravo!
Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare 