Tag Archives: Jeffrey Donovan

Movie Review ~ Surrounded

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The Facts:

Synopsis: Former Buffalo Soldier Mo Washington travels West to lay claim to a gold mine. After her stagecoach is ambushed, Mo is tasked with holding a dangerous outlaw captive and must survive the day when the bandit’s gang tries to free him.
Stars: Letitia Wright, Jamie Bell, Jeffrey Donovan, Brett Gelman, Michael K. Williams
Director: Anthony Mandler
Rated: R
Running Length: 100 minutes
TMMM Score: (8/10)
Review: Growing up, I watched my fair share of Westerns on film and television. Anytime I went to my grandmother’s house, I knew that my pleas to watch modern TV would be ignored in favor of programs I’d never heard of. Shows like Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Wagon Train, The Virginian, Rawhide, and the one I could sometimes get into, The Wild Wild West. This is above and beyond the Westerns my parents would drag me to in theaters, or my mom would watch while she ironed. My grandmother also primarily read Louis L’Amour novels, so I was (and am) familiar with this genre’s entertainment landscape. Even so, I might have passed up the new Western Surrounded had it not been for its star, Letitia Wright and a gut instinct I had to give it a look.

The odds do not entirely favor Surrounded if you’re glancing at the base facts. Arriving with little advance buzz and bypassing theaters altogether for a streaming/on-demand debut, this film has been in the can for at least two years, waiting to get released. Screenwriters Andrew Pagana and Justin Thomas have barely any notable previous credits, and director Anthony Mandler is mainly known for stylish music videos, albeit for titans of the industry. While Wright is a BAFTA-winning star on the rise, she’s yet to command a leading role, and her co-star is Jamie Bell, another respectable star that hasn’t come into his A-list potential.

And yet Surrounded is better than you might think and more entertaining than you could imagine. Bolstered off Wright’s superb work and Mandler’s widescreen eye for gorgeous visuals, Surrounded works not like a neo-Western (as so many try to be) but as the kind of Western we would have seen thirty years ago and still be referring back to now. Its old-school ambitions strip it of all the potential genre trappings and make it primarily a two-hander that lives and dies at the hands of its leading characters.

Disguising herself as a man to make easy passage to the West, Moses “Mo” Washington (Wright, The Silent Twins) clutches a most important piece of paper, and it’s not the one that freed her five years before. Instead, it’s a claim to a land of gold she’s been promised, earned after serving as a Buffalo Solider during the Civil War. She’s kept a low profile so far, and boarding a small stagecoach for her trip, she hopes to keep it that way until she reaches her destination. Riding on the back of the coach (some prejudices never die), she settles in for the dusty trip.

The stagecoach doesn’t make it far before they are intercepted by Tommy Walsh (Bell, Rocketman) and his gang. A notorious bank robber that has hidden a recent score somewhere in the nearby vicinity, Walsh is in the middle of mugging the coach members when unexpected heroism results in tragedy for some and severe injury for others. Eventually, Mo is left to watch over Tommy until members of the coach can return with the authorities to carry out justice for his crimes and collect a prime reward for his capture. Tommy is a ruthless criminal, though, and he’ll try anything on Mo to convince her to let him go… who knows what other dangers lurk out of sight as the darkness approaches?

Mandler’s mastery of the look of Surrounded gives early scenes the appropriate golden glow of the Western as we remember it but begins to filter it through the eyes of Mo as the movie progresses into darker territory. The more she becomes entangled with Tommy and the company he keeps/attracts, the chillier the color palette gets. There’s a fantastic action sequence early on, but most of the suspense generated comes from the dialogue between Mo and Tommy as the night wears on, the performances of the actors playing them, and the way Mandler works with editor Ron Patane to keep pacing tight.

Though she finished Surrounded before Black Panther: Wakanda Forever began filming, I found Wright’s performance here a much more convincing argument for her being able to lead her own franchise than that sequel did. Her character development and nerves of steel laid the groundwork for a dynamic figure we immediately take a vested interest in and never waver in support of throughout. Villainy can be an easy job, but it also requires smarts, and Bell makes Tommy nice and smarmy with enough room to change allegiances that you start to trust him even though you (and Mo) know you shouldn’t. In one of his last films to be released, the late Michael K. Williams (Breaking) is, as expected, terrific in a small cameo.

It’s a pity Surrounded didn’t secure a theatrical release because the cinematography from fellow music video lenser Max Goldman is so gorgeous, and Mandler’s direction so astute throughout. Wright and Bell give strong performances that would be nice to see projected on a big screen. While many will see this on a streaming service, it should be available for a few weeks in a theater for those that like that cinematic experience. Any way you are able, make sure you locate Surrounded. Even if Westerns aren’t your genre of choice, this crossover entertainment works on several enjoyable levels.

Movie Review ~ Wrath of Man

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The Facts:

Synopsis: A mysterious and wild-eyed new cash truck security guard surprises his coworkers during a heist in which he unexpectedly unleashes precision skills. The crew is left wondering who he is and where he came from. Soon, the marksman’s ultimate motive becomes clear as he takes dramatic and irrevocable steps to settle a score.

Stars: Jason Statham, Josh Hartnett, Scott Eastwood, Holt McCallany, Jeffrey Donovan, Laz Alonso, DeObia Oparei, Niamh Algar, Eddie Marsan, Rob Delaney

Director: Guy Ritchie

Rated: R

Running Length: 118 minutes

TMMM Score: (8/10)

Review:  Ever since his smash bang debut feature Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was released in 1998 and made him a hot ticket in Hollywood (not to mention catching the eye of future ex-wife Madonna), director Guy Ritchie has gone through various stages of an identity crisis.  While his follow-up two years later, Snatch, delivered the goods with a bigger budget and the star power of Brad Pitt, he stumbled hard teaming up with his then-wife for the messy vanity project Swept Away before firing off two other crime capers seen as pale imitations of his earlier work.  Finally giving himself over to the studio machine, he was behind the monumentally successful (but strangely forgettable) Sherlock Holmes films and the less seen but far better update of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. 

Things were looking grim after his King Arthur movie tanked and even a surprising foray into Disney musicals with the Aladdin remake was also met with middling reviews and marginal box office.  Then, in 2019 it seemed like the Ritchie that showed such a knack for knotty narratives was back (not to mention his eye for luxe style) with The Gentlemen, an impressive but slight crimedy (crime+comedy…did I create a new genre?).  Though not exactly up to pace, it at least showed Ritchie was limbering up to get back in the race with material he obviously displayed a greater interest in spending time with.

I find that I get a little tense when approaching American remakes of foreign films, especially by established directors that have their choice of unproduced screenplays by new writers.  Why take the time to re-do the work of another artist?  You’re just asking to be compared to that earlier work.  Seeing that Ritchie’s newest was a remake of the 2004 French thriller Le Convoyeur, I wondered if Ritchie was stepping back into old habits.  As it turns out, Wrath of Man is Ritchie’s best film in ages, a lean, (very) mean, muscled grunt of a revenge thriller that will have audiences on the edge of their seats.

Before its moody opening credits sequence (oh, how I love a title sequence!), Wrath of Man opens on the robbery of an armored truck gone wrong, a scene viewers see played out from a static position that limits what we can take in.  It’s the first of many ways Ritchie and his co-screenwriters Marn Davies and Ivan Atkinson (adapting the original script from Nicolas Boukhrief and Éric Besnard) work with cinematographer Alan Stewart (Mary Poppins Returns) to point us in the direction they want us to go, which may not always tell the whole truth.  It’s not cheating, mind you, but it’s a form of misdirection for the moment that helps keep the larger secrets of the film hidden longer. 

Sometime later, a man (Jason Statham, The Meg) arrives as the Fortico armored truck company to apply for an open position as a driver/guard for the cash deliveries and deposits across the Los Angeles area.  This is the same company who had the guards held up in the prologue and are still on high alert after the guards wound up dead.  Needing to fill an empty space on their roster, hiring manager Terry (Eddie Marsan, The Virtuoso) appears to think the new recruit is perfect for the job, but we can tell he isn’t entirely convinced he’s the one to hire.  Passing all the background checks and meeting the requirements for the job, he joins the elite squad anyway and is paired with Bullet (Holt McCallany, Greenland) a senior guard with the company.  All the guards are gifted their own nicknames and soon the quiet new employee earns the moniker, H, “as in Jesus H.” 

H isn’t on the job long before a routine run with Boy Sweat Dave (Josh Hartnett, Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later) turns into a tense stand-off between the two men and an array of armed men wanting their deposits.  H’s response to this situation (spoiler alert: he’s a man of hidden talents) impresses the higher ups at Fortico but raises suspicion within the team that there’s more to H than meets the eye.  Everyone has a right to be somewhat concerned because H is there for more than a paycheck and through a series of detours in the narrative that folds the movie around like a pretzel it becomes brutally clear he’s shown up for something no money can buy…payback. 

To say more would spoil that pretzel plot which is baked to near perfection by Ritchie and his rough and tumble gang of amped up actors.  While the pieces start to naturally fall into place with a casual meter, they never present themselves as a workmanlike schedule of beats to hit.  There are some genuine surprises throughout the film and even if the biggest one is almost shockingly delivered as a throwaway line, I found that to almost be kind of amazing, too, because the film clearly thinks it has something better up its sleeves…and it does.

Continuing their decades long working relationship, Statham and Ritchie make a great team and if this represents Ritchie’s best work in years it’s also Statham’s most mature acting on screen to date.  Affording him the opportunity to remain an action heavy while showing range simultaneously, it’s a perfect role for the actor that has been known to make a trove of films that seem interchangeable playing characters indistinguishable from the next.  He receives some nice back-up from the always underrated McCallany as his guide into Fortico and while I’m not entirely persuaded with Hartnett turning up as a gruff and rough big-talker, I was convinced he’d go pale when faced with real life danger.  I’ll opt out of saying how they figure into the plot, but Andy Garcia (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar), Jeffrey Donovan (Lucy in the Sky) and Scott Eastwood (Texas Chainsaw 3D), round out the top-notch supporting cast.  Mostly a male-dominated roster, the few women in the picture are wives that float into the frame to kiss their husbands goodbye on their way to work or cry over the loss of a loved one, but the lone female working at Fortico (Niamh Algar, The Shadow of Violence) is shown as just one of the guys but hops into bed with H after he barely blinks at her.  Strong female roles have never been Ritchie’s most dependable suit and that’s one of the film’s blatant weaknesses.

Now working on a television adaptation of The Gentlemen (smart move), another thriller with Hartnett, Aubrey Plaza, and Hugh Grant (interesting), and a likely sequel to Aladdin (please, no), Ritchie seems to be back in the groove of things.  Films like Wrath of Man are exactly the tone and temperament he excels at and knows when to pull back on.  There were a number of times I noticed acts of violence that could have been shown in greater detail were either omitted or quickly cut away from, giving the viewer the general idea because he’s engineered the film to paint that picture already in our mind.  Combine that with Statham’s blistering performance and Ritchie’s typically interesting song selections and you have a brawler bit of entertainment.

Movie Review ~ Let Him Go

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The Facts:

Synopsis: Following the loss of their son, a retired sheriff and his wife leave their Montana ranch to rescue their young grandson from the clutches of a dangerous family living off the grid in the Dakotas.

Stars: Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Lesley Manville, Will Brittain, Jeffrey Donovan, Kayli Carter, Booboo Stewart

Director: Thomas Bezucha

Rated: R

Running Length: 114 minutes

TMMM Score: (9/10)

Review:  Let’s be straight up real about the last few months in the world of cinema.  While we’ve seen an impressive run of surprising films from the next generation of filmmakers, the old guard of Hollywood has been noticeably absent.  Now, that’s not quite all their fault because this pandemic has sidelined nearly all of the major studio films set for release, waylaying their A-listers with them but also serendipitously making way for a roster of exciting new talent to be seen.  Still, I must admit I’ve secretly been craving a few of those headliners that bring with them a particular caché you just can’t put a price on.  It may mean you know what to expect from a certain performance, yet you’ll know it will get the job done.

Had it not been released in the middle of this strange time, a film like Let Him Go very likely would have made that much of a ripple in anyone’s film-going tide pool.  It’s a pretty quiet and introspective film, one that prefers to keep its audience at arm’s length a lot of the time, much like several of its central characters.  The plot doesn’t vary too far from a standard Western formula that’s been resuscitated numerous times in television and film, though the 2013 novel by Larry Watson which it is based on does manage to incorporate a few interesting curveballs that keep viewers from getting too comfortable.  What makes Let Him Go such a welcome gift right now, and a gift it truly is, are its two central performances and the kind of confident direction that earns trust early on.

It’s a quiet life for Margaret and George Blackledge on their Montana ranch as the film opens.  It’s the 1950’s and they have their only son living with them, along with his wife (Kayli Carter, Rings) and their young grandson.  George (Kevin Costner, Draft Day) is a retired sheriff now content to help his wife (Diane Lane, Trumbo) with the horses on their property and working alongside his son. This peaceful existence is broken by a tragic accident which leaves their grandson without a father and a few years later sees their daughter-in-law get remarried to Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain, Everybody Wants Some!) who gives Margaret an uneasy feeling.  When she witnesses Donnie hitting his new wife and stepchild in public and gets the sense it isn’t the first time, she makes up her mind to bring them back to the ranch…only to find they’ve vanished from their apartment a few miles away.

In a nice reversal of roles, it’s Margaret who is the impetus for action throughout and it’s she who convinces George to go with her to find out where Donnie Weboy has taken their grandchild.  Their journey takes them across state lines, hundreds of miles from home but brings them closer together, bridging a small unspoken divide that has formed since the death of their son.  As they get closer to Weboy and eventually the town that houses the viper’s nest of his family, headed by menacing matriarch Blanche (Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread), they find a deeper understanding of their own grief of loss they haven’t resolved.  Arriving into a situation they aren’t prepared for, they’re instantly thrown off guard by the hold the family seems to have on the town and sense of entitlement they have to any outsider.  They also haven’t encountered anyone quite like Blanche Weboy, nor so they have a clue as to the deadly lengths this mother will go to keep her family together.

It might surprise some people to know Let Him Go was adapted and directed by the same person that gave us the cult favorite holiday film The Family Stone back in 20025.  The lighter tones of that film gave way to a more somber underbelly so we know Thomas Bezucha can navigate the changing of temperatures when necessary.  So really it’s no real surprise he can easily move through Let Him Go’s swiftly shifting moods which often turn on a dime.  In a less assured filmmaker, this could spell trouble and be rattling but Bezucha makes these transitions with ease and inline with the laid-back, casual feel of his film.  It also adds the necessary punch when the film ratchets up some well-earned tension in its final act, leading to a finale that was unpredictable at the time but a foregone conclusion in hindsight.

The best reason to see this one is to watch the kind of career-high work Costner and Lane are doing.  At a time when actors of their stature are being relegated to less showy roles or definitely not sharing the same type of meaty two-hander spotlight Let Him Go provides, both actors are impressive and note-perfect in their emotional journey they undertake.  Aside from both looking like they haven’t aged but a year or so since the mid ‘80s, I easily believed the two had shared a lengthy marriage and, more than that, an understanding of what it takes to be a couple during that time period.  Maybe it’s because of their previous time together as Clark Kent’s parents in 2013’s Man of Steel but, no, it’s more than that.  Costner is not usually this engaged and I feel like Lane has brought out the absolute best in him, something she’s known to do in so many of her co-stars.  If I had to pick, I’d say it’s Lane’s movie by a nose…only because of the added complexity of her character having such a strange parallel with Manville’s scheming villainess.  You know from the moment you lay eyes on Manville she’s going to be trouble, but you won’t be prepared just how bad she’ll get.

Arriving in theaters prior to a release at home, this is one that I was able to screen from my living room and for that I’m grateful.  I’m still not ready to head to the theater yet, even though I’m longing for more A-List star-vehicles like Let Him Go.  I hate for it to feel like I’m short shifting the movie by quantifying its appeal based on all the release date shifts in Hollywood.  This would be a strong movie with excellent performances whenever it was released, it’s just particularly impactful now because we’ve so been needing these kinds of Hollywood star turns.  I wish the awards field were wide enough to embrace performances like Lane’s because she’s so very good in this and Manville’s cackling witch of a woman is the kind of broad baddie that earned Jackie Weaver a nomination for Animal Kingdom back in 2010.  Whether they are play the good character or a bad one, let’s keep rewarding strong female turns in films.

Movie Review ~ Lucy in the Sky

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The Facts:

Synopsis: Astronaut Lucy Cola returns to Earth after a transcendent experience during a mission to space, and begins to lose touch with reality in a world that now seems too small.

Stars: Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm, Dan Stevens, Zazie Beetz, Coleman Domingo, Tig Notaro, Jeffrey Donovan, Ellen Burstyn

Director: Noah Hawley

Rated: R

Running Length: 124 minutes

TMMM Score: (4/10)

Review:  It seems that in Hollywood they have a much easier time giving men kudos for taking on challenging work and, more specifically, challenging characters.  I can’t tell you how many movies I’ve seen based on buzz touting the leading man doing something extraordinary by going the extra mile for a role or disappearing deep within a character.  Hold on to your knickers if that same actor appears as someone unlikable or unrelatable because that’s where the awards chatter begins.  Even in 2019, there are several actors being mentioned for major awards that are doing good work but…work that’s awards worthy?  I’m not so sure.

Natalie Portman has always been an interesting actress to me.  Feeling wise beyond her years from a young age, she managed to bypass the teenage comedies that stunted many of her peers and graduated to adult fare and populist entertainment early in her career.  Nabbing an Oscar-nomination at 23 for Closer before winning one at 29 for Black Swan, Portman never settled into one genre or budget-range, preferring to choose projects based on the scripts and directors instead.  She didn’t get quite enough praise for the divisive Annihilation in 2018 and, well, the less said about the annoying Vox Lux, the better. I was hoping Lucy in the Sky would be a return to the kind of Portman performance I had enjoyed in the past, one that was a little more grounded and connected.

The biggest problem I found in this story loosely (very loosely, it turns out) inspired by the true-life story of a NASA astronaut that traveled thousands of miles and assaulted the mistress of her married lover and former co-worker was that it strayed so far from the truth.  I can understand changing some of the details to protect the innocent but screenwriters Brian C. Brown, Elliott DiGuiseppi, and Noah Hawley (who also directed) have made so many bone-headed changes that what remains is only a sanitized shadow of what really happened.  Also, one important (and, ok, sensationalized) detail has been completely excised.  So the story has been reduced to just another spurned lover tale we’ve seen done countless times before.

Astronaut Lucy Cola has returned to Earth after a journey to space that has left her, as it has many, a changed person.  As she shares with her fellow astronauts, things just don’t look the same on the ground once you’ve seen the entire globe from space.  Living in Texas with her husband and a niece left with them by her irresponsible brother, Lucy sets her sights on returning to space on the next mission in order to feel that same high she felt before.  During her highly competitive and intensive training, she finds a connection with Mark, another astronaut readying for his own mission and the two begin an affair that will cause Lucy to spin-out of the orbit she has set herself in.  Now, as she feels her stability going out of balance and feeling pressure from Erin, a younger recruit, just as eager as she once was, Lucy’s actions get more erratic until she makes series of decisions that will forever change the course of her life.

Always a problem inherent in movies with cheating spouses is that the cheaters face an uphill battle from the audience when they finally have the face the music.  Are we supposed to feel sorry for these characters for getting caught up in a mess of their own making?  Do we excuse Lucy (Portman) walking out on her husband (Dan Stevens, Apostle) because he’s too…nice?  What about Erin (Zazie Beetz, Joker), Lucy’s competition at work vying for a spot in the next space shuttle mission and for the attention of Mark (Jon Hamm, Million Dollar Arm)?  How much does she factor into what ultimately happens between Lucy and Mark?  Ultimately, aren’t all of these people (save for maybe the jilted husband) kind of awful in their own way?  Hawley also awkwardly places Lucy’s niece on the frontlines for much of this action, alternately as an observer and as a participant and that feels like an inconsiderate adjustment to this story.  Involving a pre-teen in this adult sphere of responsibility isn’t appropriate, no matter how out of touch Lucy begins to get.

Hawley has assembled a hard-working cast that feels like they were possibly signed up for a different kind of movie.  Though it starts with some promise, it eventually comes apart at the seams and not rapidly…it’s a slow slog to the finish line. Along the way there are some quite good scenes with Portman convincingly speaking about how much harder it is for women to get ahead in her line of work and conveying the desperation for perfection and achievement.  I also enjoyed what little we see of Ellen Burstyn (Interstellar), though Hawley seems to only want to use her for a few foul-mouthed punchlines.  The more manic the film gets in its latter half, the weirder Portman’s Texan twang gets and I have to wonder if it wasn’t almost intentional.  It’s as if she’s learned to tone down her drawl to compose herself but when she starts to unravel she reverts back to a Yosemite Sam pattern of speech.

Now, I wouldn’t go so far to say Lucy in the Sky represents the kind of performance that should get Portman the same kind of accolades she received for Jackie or her Oscar-winning turn in Black Swan but it is representative of the kind of askew work she seems inherently drawn toward.  Despite a brief foray in recent years into Marvel blockbuster territory with Thor and Thor: The Dark World, Portman has squarely appeared in harder sell pics that take some time to warm up to.  Portman can’t seem to help herself in taking on women with rough exteriors that are cool to the touch but have a fire burning inside waiting to be released.  That she’s found a way to make each one distinct in the way they go about freeing themselves from turmoil is a testament to her creative approach.  It doesn’t quite work to her advantage ultimately in Lucy in the Sky but I can’t imagine anyone else attempting it with such force.

Movie Review ~ Sicario: Day of the Soldado

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The Facts:

Synopsis: The drug war on the U.S.-Mexico border has escalated as the cartels have begun trafficking terrorists across the US border. To fight the war, federal agent Matt Graver re-teams with the mercurial Alejandro.

Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Manuel Garcia Rulfo, Catherine Keener, Matthew Modine

Director: Stefano Sollima

Rated: R

Running Length: 122 minutes

TMMM Score: (8/10)

Review: I must say that the thought of a sequel to 2015’s rock solid Sicario turned my stomach a bit. Why sully the original thrill of that film with a follow-up that moved forward without a few key players? Gone are the star (Emily Blunt), the director (Denis Villeneuve), the cinematographer (Roger Deakins) and the composer (the late Jóhann Jóhannsson) which just left the writer (Taylor Sheridan) along with co-stars Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro. Originally announced as Soldado before changing to Sicario 2: Soldado and ultimately landing on Sicario: Day of the Soldado…it was getting increasingly worrisome that my initial fears would be realized.

Turns out Sony Pictures and Sheridan knew what they were doing all along. Not only is Sicario: Day of the Soldado a worthy follow-up to the original, it signals the start of something I never would have expected…a franchise.

sicario m ([s̪iˈkäːr̺io]): hitman (hired killer)

soldado m, f (solˈdado): soldier (member of an army, person who fights for a cause)

Picking up several years after the events of the first film, Sheridan (Hell or High Water, Wind River) wastes no time in jolting audiences with an opening act that rockets all over the country. Those looking to turn their brains off best look elsewhere because Sheridan needs your attention from the word go. No time is wasted in his economical screenplay that shifts the focus from the efforts of operative Matt (Brolin, Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2) to combat the trafficking of drugs along the Mexican border to a covert operation authorized by the CIA designed to pit rival Mexican drug carters against eachother.

To start this fire, Matt calls up his old friend Alejandro (Benicio del Toro, Inherent Vice) and the two men work in tandem on a kidnapping plot involving the daughter of a Mexican druglord. The plan goes awry, however, and soon Alejandro is tasked with protecting this valuable asset while keeping one step ahead of corrupt police and a whole host of ruthless killers out to recover the young girl or bury her in the desert.

Incoming director Stefano Sollima picks up the reins from Villeneuve with a little less style but no less intensity. This is a fairly straight-forward film that flexes its considerable muscle when it has to but also takes time for quieter moments, such as Alejandro’s conversation with a deaf farmer that reveals more about the family Alejandro lost and is still seeking some kind of vengeance for.

Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir (Prisoners) continues the work of Jóhannsson with his ominous, omnipresent score that grinds at the nerves but doesn’t overwhelm the proceedings. Running just a minute longer than Sicario, the sequel again shows Sheridan’s uncanny knack for producing a script that doesn’t feel like it has an excess material to it. There’s none of the trite padding some lesser action/military films feel the need to employ and while it has a host of characters passing through including the droll Catherine Keener, Incredibles 2, as a gruff CIA leader and Matthew Modine, 47 Meters Down, as a government official, it’s not hard to follow who is being gunned down or who is doing the shooting.

Filled with a few surprising twists and universally strong performances (including Peruvian actress Isabela Moner, impressive as the hostage) Sicario: Day of the Soldado easily justifies it existence and creates interest in seeing these characters go deeper into the dark. Here’s hoping Sheridan has a doozy of a third entry planned…but how about bringing back Blunt? Please?

Movie Review ~ Sicario

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The Facts:

Synopsis: An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by an elected government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Stars: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Daniel Kaluuya, Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Donovan

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Rated: R

Running Length: 121 minutes

Trailer Review: Here

TMMM Score: (9/10)

Review: I can’t tell you how much fun it is to watch a movie by a filmmaker that knows how to turn the screws on an unsuspecting audience. There are moments in Sicario where Denis Villeneuve seems to be taking an almost perverse delight in extending the suspense until it becomes almost unbearable…making for refreshing and exhilarating viewing.

The Quebec born filmmaker made a splash in 2010 with the Oscar nominated drama Incendies, before turning in two very different releases in 2013.  First up was the haunting (and unjustly Oscar ignored) Prisoners, a showcase not only for Villeneuve’s flair for suspense and cinematographer Roger Deakins brilliant cinematography but for Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal’s towering lead performances.  Made before Prisoners but released after was another collaboration with Gyllenhaal, Enemy, and while it was fairly inaccessible and barely made a blip on the art-house circuit it once again demonstrated that Villeneuve knew exactly what he was doing.

Villeneuve and Deakins are matched again in Sicario (the Spanish word for hitman) and it’s yet another cinematic trophy both men can add to their growing wall of accolades.  A harrowing and terrifying look into the war on drugs, the movie pulls no punches and leaves no dark corner unexplored.

The plot of Sicario is so complex and labyrinthine that the full attention of the audience is pretty much required to keep up with Taylor Sheridan’s serpentine script, a lean and mean story that doesn’t have an ounce of excess fat on it.  You’re advised to note everything that’s said because even the smallest detail could play a factor into what will transpire when an FBI agent gets involved with a covert operation involving drug kingpins and Mexican cartels.

I’m of the mindset that every movie needs more Emily Blunt in it.  Often I’ll be watching a film and just wonder what Blunt would have done with various female (or male) roles that may not be quite up to snuff.  Easily transitioning from comedic second-fiddle (The Five-Year Engagement) to action second-fiddle (Looper) to dramatic lead (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) before the 2014 one-two punch of Edge of Tomorrow and Into the Woods, with Sicario Blunt may just have the best performance (and first Oscar nomination) of her burgeoning career.  As principled FBI agent Kate Macer, Blunt has to show a lot of different colors throughout the film and she does so with believable skill.  When she’s offered a chance to volunteer for an undisclosed purpose on a government task force, she sees it as an opportunity for advancement and as a way to help right the wrongs she sees on a daily basis.

Lead into uncertain darkness by CIA agent Matt (Josh Brolin, Oldboy, seemingly getting most of his performance from an ever-present wad of gum), Kate finds herself traveling between Mexico and the U.S. for several nail-biting missions that blur the line between the good guys and the bad guys.  It isn’t long before she’s in over her head, but her pride keeps her treading water even while the sharks start to circle her.

One of those sharks may be Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro, Guardians of the Galaxy, in his best role since his Oscar win for Traffic), even though he’s supposedly on her side.  His motives for tagging along seem unclear and the movie never gets so far ahead of the audience that we know the answer before Kate does.  Even Kate’s partner Reggie (Daniel Kaluuya, Kick-Ass 2) has loyalty issues that are tested along the way, putting Kate on an island by herself where only she is responsible for her survival.

Sicario feels very timely, very now and its situations are ripped from the very real headlines of the war on drugs that rages on along the U.S. border.  A nerve-shredding trip to Juárez, MX finds bodies hanging from highway overpasses as both the marking of certain territory and as a warning for all who dare enter…it’s a city of horrors that are grounded in a frightening reality.

Villeneuve starts the movie with a corker of an opener and only accelerates from there.  Aided by staggering cinematography from Deakins (Skyfall, The Secret Garden) and the droning score from Jóhann Jóhannsson (The Theory of Everything), there’s a sense of dread in nearly every frame.  That can make for a solemn viewing experience but paired with an intriguing story and taut performances, it’s ultimately a thrilling thrill ride of a movie.  From start to finish, top to bottom, it’s excellent.  Sicario is why we go to movies.