The Rhythm Section (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
In recent years, Blake Lively has attached herself to some of the most dependable films around: The Town, Savages, The Age of Adaline, The Shallows, A Simple Favor. Unfortunately, with this spy thriller, 'The Rhythm Section' (directed by Reed Morano & based on Mark Burnell's novel), her luck has run out. When we 1st meet Londonite Stephanie Patrick (Lively), she is about to shoot someone in the back of the head. Following that, we jump back in time 8 months to a real low point in her life: her parents, brother, & sister have all died in an airplane crash and, following that catastrophic event, her life had spiraled out of control. Grieving & unable to cope, she becomes a junkie & works as a hooker to feed her habit.
A reporter named Keith Proctor (Raza Jaffrey) finds her in a low-rent brothel & tells her the biting truth about her family's demise: their plane did not crash -- it was blown-up by a coordinated terrorist attack. He's hot on the trail of the killer and, aided by a mysterious secret ex-MI6 contact, Iain 'B' Boyd (Jude Law), he's closing in. Stephanie is hell bent on revenge, so she gets her act straight & heads-off to Scotland where she finds Boyd. He curt & skeptical of her at 1st, but agrees to train her after she swims across an ice-cold loch. Once training is complete, Stephanie goes 'into the field' as a skilled assassin. Her targets include despicable people who were involved with the bombing of the place. She touches base with an ex-CIA agent, Mark Serra (Sterling K. Brown), who seems to know everything & his Intel brings her closer to the evil mastermind behind her family's untimely death.
Despite the author's own screenplay, this adaptation of Mark Burnell's spy thriller left me cold & unfeeling. Blake Lively should be given credit for carving out a nice little movie career after TV's Gossip Girl; that transition is never easy. I've really liked her recent films. But this one doesn't cut it and, though she looks wretched, with pasty skin, bruises galore, track marks, raggedy hair, et al ... I didn't really 'buy' her Oxford student-turned-druggie hooker-turned-assassin transformation. Lively isn't bad at all and, she kicks butt well. But it's simply not my fave performance of hers and, I think said transformation from down-&-out druggie to skilled sniper/assassin occurred unrealistically quickly {no matter the impetus for it happening}.
Jude Law has some nice moments as Stephanie's enigmatic spy-turned-teacher. Sterling K. Brown is okay as former CIA op Mark Serra, but I found Lively's chemistry with Law to be more convincing. There are a few sequences {like a chase} that are well-done throughout the film. But overall, I found 'TRS' to be dull & derivative with your typical doubles crosses, convolutions & verbose expositions. Watching this film, it's easy to be reminded of the Bourne films, Bond, Taken, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or even Atomic Blonde & Red Sparrow. Those last 2 films weren't great, but they featured no-nonsense female spies and, they both come off way better than this offering. Those films had style & true grit. This film is just blech. The shaky cam cinematography is as muddy as the spark-less script. It's grim, messy, dramatically inert & a chore to get through. These movies are supposed to be fun.
A reporter named Keith Proctor (Raza Jaffrey) finds her in a low-rent brothel & tells her the biting truth about her family's demise: their plane did not crash -- it was blown-up by a coordinated terrorist attack. He's hot on the trail of the killer and, aided by a mysterious secret ex-MI6 contact, Iain 'B' Boyd (Jude Law), he's closing in. Stephanie is hell bent on revenge, so she gets her act straight & heads-off to Scotland where she finds Boyd. He curt & skeptical of her at 1st, but agrees to train her after she swims across an ice-cold loch. Once training is complete, Stephanie goes 'into the field' as a skilled assassin. Her targets include despicable people who were involved with the bombing of the place. She touches base with an ex-CIA agent, Mark Serra (Sterling K. Brown), who seems to know everything & his Intel brings her closer to the evil mastermind behind her family's untimely death.
Despite the author's own screenplay, this adaptation of Mark Burnell's spy thriller left me cold & unfeeling. Blake Lively should be given credit for carving out a nice little movie career after TV's Gossip Girl; that transition is never easy. I've really liked her recent films. But this one doesn't cut it and, though she looks wretched, with pasty skin, bruises galore, track marks, raggedy hair, et al ... I didn't really 'buy' her Oxford student-turned-druggie hooker-turned-assassin transformation. Lively isn't bad at all and, she kicks butt well. But it's simply not my fave performance of hers and, I think said transformation from down-&-out druggie to skilled sniper/assassin occurred unrealistically quickly {no matter the impetus for it happening}.
Jude Law has some nice moments as Stephanie's enigmatic spy-turned-teacher. Sterling K. Brown is okay as former CIA op Mark Serra, but I found Lively's chemistry with Law to be more convincing. There are a few sequences {like a chase} that are well-done throughout the film. But overall, I found 'TRS' to be dull & derivative with your typical doubles crosses, convolutions & verbose expositions. Watching this film, it's easy to be reminded of the Bourne films, Bond, Taken, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or even Atomic Blonde & Red Sparrow. Those last 2 films weren't great, but they featured no-nonsense female spies and, they both come off way better than this offering. Those films had style & true grit. This film is just blech. The shaky cam cinematography is as muddy as the spark-less script. It's grim, messy, dramatically inert & a chore to get through. These movies are supposed to be fun.