THE RHYTHM SECTION – “A joyless exercise in revenge cinema”

rythm section

RATING

DIRECTOR

Reed Morano (I Think We’re Alone Now – 2018)

STARRING

  • Blake Lively as Stephanie Patrick
  • Jude Law as Iain Boyd
  • Sterling K. Brown as Marc Serra
  • Max Casella as Leon Giler
  • Daniel Mays as Dean West
  • Geoff Bell as Green
  • Richard Brake as Lehmans
  • Raza Jaffrey as Keith Proctor

SYNOPSIS

Stephanie Patrick veers down a path of self-destruction after a tragic plane crash kills her family. When Stephanie discovers it wasn't an accident, she soon embarks on a bloody quest for revenge to punish those responsible.

REVIEW SUMMARY

Not as interesting as the Bourne films, and not nearly as entertaining as a John Wick outing, Reed Morano’s Rhythm Section is perhaps best described as a joyless exercise in revenge cinema. That is to say, this is one plodding and predictable set of circumstances that takes itself way too seriously. The story is a “been there done that” journey that leaves little to no room for surprises along the way. To say it lags, well, that would be a gross understatement. The camera work is also fairly jarring here; with its fast moving, super close up, and unrefined POV style execution. I get that the filmmakers are going for a gritty and personal approach, but it all becomes more annoying than anything else. What does work however, is Blake Lively as our revenge-seeking heroine. It’s an almost completely unrecognizable turn for Lively, who gives way to an impressive physical performance that's loaded with believability. She also gets to have (and I’m not joking) 6 different hairstyles in the film. Heck, they could have subtitled it: “Blake Lively has fun with wigs.” Ok, given the movie she’s in, maybe fun is a bit of a stretch.

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