“Her near-incompetence in the face of danger makes her relatable in ways very few cinematic assassins have ever been. Paramount is opening the movie in January, the month where Liam Neeson is typically the one to do this kind of dirty work. Lively is hardly the actor’s obvious substitute, though the character she plays — a rock-bottom junkie prostitute — absolutely convinces she has nothing to lose.” - Peter Debrgue, Variety.
A quick update. I’ve started posting short film reviews on www.letterboxd.com. I’ll be tweeting these out as I remember to do so and only use this format for my longer more rambling reviews. Posting short ones to www.thatdylandavis.com is laborious and does not allow the unique dashboard that letterboxd has. If you’re into films, letterboxd is a great platform to refer and post to. I’ll also be keeping track of the Super 70 Podcast’s progress there. Thanks for Mike White of the Projection Booth for letting me know about it.
This is a pretty good film that suffers from some typical problems in Hollywood. 1) There seems to be too much emphasis on the tragedy of the family. There is a 20 minute opener that explains this, and tons of flashbacks about every 20 minutes thereafter. It would have been better to either cut back the opening and have all the flashbacks or cut all the flashbacks down to one and keep the opener. 2) Stephanie's affair with Serra confuses much of what is going on. Firstly, as someone who was introduced as a traumatized prostitute, it would seem that sex is the last thing she would want. Secondly, that point was reinforced when she tells Proctor they can't have sex and then is completely uninterested in B. So her 'falling' for Serra doesn't make sense. Thirdly, there was no time spent on why they fell in love or the motivation of either to commit such a grand transgression as spies. Fourthly, the shots comprising the affair do not make any sense. They look like they are shot in a hallway over the span of an hour, almost like it was an after thought. I suspect reshoots. 3) Though we all have hard times when family members die, and although I cannot imagine going through what Stephanie has gone through, there is a huge difference between that and deciding to get fucked twenty times a day for crack is better than facing grief. The prostitution strain was unnecessary and insulting to the character. 4) There was no lead in. The film could have benefitted greatly by showing Stephanie's decline over time and using a montage to bring the viewer to the brothel (if you left it in). How did she get from suburban upper class London to working in a brothel? Did the insurance not pay as much? Did the family not have insurance that paid triple on air travel death? Was there no settlement from the airline? I'm guessing as the last kin she inherited her parents house and all. What happened to that half million quid? Did she spend it all on crack? Then did she run out of cash and start giving hand jobs at the mall? I hate Boogie Nights, but it did this type of storytelling better. 5) I understand the problems of marketing films. I saw only one trailer for this film in the theatre and it was the same trailer for six months. In that trailer is the finale, which was simply amazing to see. I was very disheartened to find out the trailer exposed the finale and ruined the film. I was waiting for resolution only to find the same thing I saw six months ago. When ten minutes passed, the film was over, and the final scene I thought was around the corner didn't come because it had already passed. 6) This thus did not weight the 'reveal' enough and it made no difference. We simply did not have enough investment in Serra as a character to care like we did in the character of B. I'm not saying B should have been replaced; that would have been an even worse decision. 7) The killing of children, in any context, should be handled with kid gloves. We shouldn't ignore the evil, but we should be mindful of the morality of exploiting the death of children for the purposes of entertainment. Doctor Sleep has a harrowing child sacrifice that is difficult to sit through, but it is handled with such enormous respect for the evil that is happening and the tragedy of such an innocent and potential life that it gives the film enormous weight that is hard to find. Respecting this morality can do that for the story. The death of children in The Rhythm Section is unnecessary, and when it happens, it is quickly glossed over by everyone except Stephanie, who then never brings it up again. It would be best to just leave it out and declare the New York hit a fiasco because of the high profile nature of the bombing. 7) the introduction of Serra's house is rushed and off putting. It's the only scene in the film in which we wonder 'why are we here?' 'How did we get here?' 'What's going on?' It would have been better to spell those issues out for the audience. I'm not an idiot, you don't have to connect the dots, but I do need motive. 8) Apparently I missed the entire correlation between anything happening on scene, and the title of the film. What is the Rhythm Section, exactly? A Black on Black hit squad would have been perfect. 'Because of all the hits.' This explanation is lacking, or I missed it, which is greatly possible.
Despite these huge minuses, the film has several things going for it. Stephanie's motive is solid. Her 'training' is not a Rocky montage. The acting from nearly everyone but especially Blake Lively and Jude Law is well above par. The desperate nature of Stephanie's struggle against men more powerful than her and in most cases smarter than her reminds me of Atomic Blonde. In reality, how Can a petite woman who weighs maybe a hundred and twenty pounds fight a man twice her size and weight. The fight scenes were very well done. There is also a chase scene in the film that is done almost entirely in one shot, and it is extremely impressive. If more of the film was done in similar creative ways perhaps it would flow more. The focusing of the film, near and far, then far and near, and how it careened back and forth not just in the dramatic scenes but in the action scenes as well, was a fantastic tool to emphasize the duality in Stephanie's actions. I know I've listed more of the detractions than additions, but I did like this film, and I'd like to see it again because of all the pluses. The minuses just stuck out more because it has enormous potential and seems like it could be solved with dropping one or two scenes, a bit of editing, and perhaps the introduction of a new ending but not anything radical. Serra's end could have had more weight if we had more time with him. More 'hits', more moments to get us to like this like we liked B. A lot of bad reviews constantly mention Blake Lively's hair. I think the focus is wrong. It's just as fucked up as she is and it's fitting. Everyone who has something negative to say about it seems to be hung up on the second season of Felicity.
This is a good film. Give it a shot. You sat through the Rise of Skywalker, didn't you? This film deserves to be seen more than that.