Summary:
A former rodeo champ turned hotel clerk unwittingly befriends a young man with a hidden violent side.
My Thoughts:
Sometimes going into a movie blind is the best way to see a film. My roommates and I were scouring the seas of Internet streaming, looking for a flick to round out our day, and found this on one of the half dozen services our house has. Knowing nothing about it other than the fact that Jon Bernthal was in it and it had received moderately good reviews, we dove in. This is a fun little thriller with a few predictable twists and turns, but an overall gripping storyline. While I wouldn’t say that this was one of the best movies I’ve seen this year, it was worth the time I spent watching it. It’s short, taught, has a few really good scenes, and a rather satisfying ending.
“I don’t need to tell you what’s going to happen if I don’t get the money that I’m owed.”
Our film begins with Elwood (Christopher Abbott, “First Man”), a young man desperate for cash and a proclivity for violence, walking into a bar and killing three people. We then cut to Sam Rossi (Jon Bernthal, “Widows”), an ex-rodeo star turned motel caretaker as he goes about his daily duties. Elwood checks into the motel that Sam works at, saying that he won’t be long, he just need a place to stay for a little while. Sam is polite to Elwood, and the two talk for a while and become friendly; Sam tells Elwood about his girlfriend, Bernadette (Rosemarie DeWitt, “Arizona”), who was previously married to one of the men that Elwood shot in the bar. Eventually Elwood meets up with Lila Mccabe (Imogen Poots, “Green Room”) and tells her that he’s owed money for killing Lila’s husband (one of the men at the bar). Lila is nervous but promises to get the money one way or another.
One of the things I liked most about this film was the way that it sort of blended two genres that I’ve always been tepid about into a film that I actually truly enjoyed. This film is pretty much a blend of a western film and a noir-revival movie. It’s a western in the way that it’s structured and the way the characters are portrayed; Jon Berenthal is essentially a stand in sheriff, and Christopher Abbott is a villain apropos of Ian MacDonald as Frank Miller in “High Noon”. The sides are almost immediately set to black and white; we know who is the worst guy and who the good guys are. Now, a defining of sides is not something that’s usually established early on in noir films; usually the sides are murky and unclear. The reason I’d argue this film is half noir is because of the themes, the violent episodes that happen, and also the overall tone. This film belongs to a growing subgenre that I like to jokingly refer to as “Redneck Noir,” films that are usually about crimes carried out by people in low income or rural areas (“Killer Joe” and “Logan Lucky” are two other recent entries in this subgenre).
But while I really dig the overall style and tone of this film, it is far from perfect. One of the biggest problems is with the uneven acting from pretty much every character. Jon Berenthal did the best job, his performance was pretty even throughout. Christopher Abbott, for the most part did a good job, but there were a few scenes that I didn’t quite think he pulled off what he was trying to accomplish. Abbott is great at looking nervous, and giving off an appearance of unease; where he struggles most is when he’s trying to be threatening. Imogen Poots, who I usually like, gave off a rather weak performance; some of her scenes were downright bad. Perhaps the worst acting in this film was when Poots and Abbott meet for the first time on screen. Both of them act nervous, and both come off extremely stilted. I’m not sure what it was with that shoot day, but something was off- that scene just did not flow well. Another problem is that this movie is pretty predictable. Even from the beginning of the film you can pretty much guess how this film will end, and some of the writing is almost on the nose with how obvious some of it’s foreshadowing is.
Verdict:
Overall this isn’t a bad a movie; it’s good, but not great. It’s certainly worth the hour and a half you’d spend watching it. Cool ideas and themes, some gripping action, and some decent performances (for the most part) make this film passable. It may be predictable, but it sure isn’t boring.
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