Tag: Riz Ahmed

RELAY – Review

Ah, now here’s a real “under the radar” gem. Usually, the quirky modern-day ‘B” pictures are dropped into the multiplex in late Winter or mid-Fall. So, we’re almost past the Summer blockbuster season, the studio “wise men” (two words not often next to each other) are arriving well in advance of the December holidays with a gift for us. This one’s full of razzle-dazzle tech twists and intricate machinations, mixing in elements of crowd pleasers like THE EQLUAIZER (movie series and TV shows), THE STING, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, with a sprinkling from the IMF team for a spicy kick. There are no big action set pieces, but there is plenty of tension when you dive into the wild world of RELAY.


Much as with a Bond flick or Indiana Jones, we’re dropped into the conclusion of a recent “operation” involving the lead character in the film’s opening moments. It seems that everything’s gone according to plan as he observes a rich CEO getting his “just desserts” while his former employee vanishes into the night. We’re then whisked away to the start of another case. A jittery young woman cautiously enters the towering home of an NYC law firm. Sarah Grant (Lily James) was a top researcher/scientist at a major “bio-agricultural” company. She sounded the alarm about a new “insect-resistant” wheat that has the possibility of dangerous, even deadly side effects. The company fired her and insisted she turn over all the research. Sarah left with the files, but is having “second thoughts”. She’s being harassed and threatened, spurring a desire to return the docs rather than “blow the whistle”. Now she fears that her old bosses will “tie up loose ends”.The lawyer who hears her declines to take her as a client. Instead, he scribbles down the number of a person who acts as an “intermediary” to broker the “info exchange”. When she calls the number, she speaks to a rep at the Interstate Relay Service, a company that translates phone calls for the hearing impaired. The messages are not recorded, nor are they kept on file. Typing in at another location is the “barterer,” who we later learn is named Ash (Riz Ahmed). They establish an ID “passcode phrase” (“Cash or credit?” “Check”) and he gives her strict instructions (do it right or I’ll walk away) on how to get the files to him, along with payment, and who to contact at her old job. He keeps a copy of the files forever in a secret safe and makes copies to send to the feds and media in case the company goes after her. But first, she’s got to move to a much safer place, namely an incredibly secure high-rise apartment building. Somehow her move leaks out, and a dark van is parked across the street. Inside is a well-armed “cleaner squad” headed by a man going by “Dawson” (Sam Worthington), who gets her client’s Relay calls from Ash. Will things go according to his elaborate plan? And what happens when the exchanges between Ash and Saeah take a more intimate turn?

In referring to this as a modern “B” movie, I didn’t wish to imply that the stellar cast is anything other than “A+”, particularly the two main leads. First, there is the interesting and intense Ahmed, who has been so great in supporting roles (NIGHTCRAWLER) and terrific as the main focus (acting students will study his work in SOUND OF METAL). For a moment, I thought he was following up on that film due to Ash’s use of the relay service, but it’s a way to avoid making a personal connection. Through those immersive dark eyes will look into the soul of an emotionally wounded, haunted man who must stay in control at all times. This quality doesn’t help him away from work as he sits silently at AA meetings. Ahmed wants to become invisible as he flits from one shadow to the next. But then someone flips the light switch, and we see his defensive cocoon slowly begin to crack. Taking a hammer to it is the ethereal charisma of Ms. James, who lets us see, in her vocal delivery and body language, Sarah go from vulnerable victim to staunch champion of her own destiny. She’s overwhelmed by dealing with the rapid, specific details from Ash, though soon she’s bobbing and weaving like a trenchcoated spy. Their engaging chemistry has us rooting for them to connect beyond the “case”. That’s complicated due to the dead-eyed killers headed by the gravel-voiced Worthington. Every line is spat out like venom, though we can get a glimmer of his reserved respect for his worthy opponent’s intellect. However, he lets us know that he’ll bash in that skull housing that brain, if he gets a chance. I should mention his also intimidating “second-in-command” Rosetti played by the captivating Willa Fitzgerald (who burnt up the screen last year in the fantastic STRANGE DARLING), who is both slinky and sinister as she pursues both Sarah and Ash.

As for the filmmaker who keeps “all the plates spinning”, here’s a big “Welcome back to the big screen” for David Mackenzie, whose last theatrical feature (aside from the Netflix showcase OUTLAW KING) was another engaging thriller, 2016’s HELL OR HIGH WATER. Working from an endlessly clever script from Justin Piasecki (no surprise that it was on the 2019 “Blacklist” of most-liked unproduced screenplays), Mackenzie almost turns the Big Apple into another character, as every street lamp or crowded walkway could lead to a fatal showdown. We’re guided to familiar locales made mysterious with bystanders giving the “stink eye” before possibly lashing out at Sarah or Ash, or maybe walking past. And even though they’re kept apart, Mackenzie and Piasecki convey the longing and yearning for contact that’s denied. Somehow, they make the relay service jargon somewhat “steamy” (at the end of every reply, rather than “stop” in telegrams, they say “go ahead”). I can’t give away too many details of Ash’s “playbook”, I will say that he uses state-of-the-art tech (lots of “burner phones” while making considerable use of the much maligned under-appreciated USPS. Yes, I’m talking about the post office, as Ash gets their tracking numbers, while dropping some unique postal trivia (when this film was shot, there were active post office service centers inside the gate area of a few major airports). As I mentioned, there aren’t elaborate stunt sequences, but many of the near-misses and “drops” will have you on the edge of your seat. That’s before you fall off of it during the stunning, whiplash-inducing finale reveal. There’s been little fanfare about this engaging entertainment (so many talk shows are taking early Labor Day breaks), so I hope that word will spread on this original film that takes its inspiration from so many classic thrillers (could Ash be a 21st-century spin on the Scarlet Pimpernel). Moviegoers will be well rewarded for their effort (it may be tough to locate at the multiplex) and time (clocking in at under two hours) with the cinematic and storytelling delights of RELAY.

3.5 Out of 4

RELAY is now playing in select theatres

FLEE- Review

The following review was originally posted on December 2, 2021

This weekend sees the release of a new documentary concerning a subject that’s been covered extensively in the news over the last several years: the refugee crisis in the Middle East. Yes, it’s been part of the political debate, and countless reports have flooded the news outlets, not to mention feature-length and short-subjects “docs”. And yet this one feels fresh and immediate. Perhaps that’s due of the medium as this is an animated feature (well, about 95% of it), proving that that said medium (it’s not a genre) can be used to tell all sorts of stories (remember Spidey grabbing an Oscar, and the stop-motion drama ANOMALISA). Plus it’s a most intimate tale as it’s a coming of age saga related by a man whose later lifestyle would leave him no choice but to FLEE.


This true story of the now-adult Amin (voice of Riz Ahmed) commences in present-day Copenhagen as he is interviewed by a former classmate and friend Jonas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Amin isn’t eager to share painful childhood memories, as he finishes his education in the US while starting a home with his partner Kaspar. But he indulges his pal with early recollections of growing up in Kabul, during the turbulent 1980s. He romps through the dusty streets while clad in one of his sisters’ dresses, dashing into the kitchen just as his grey-haired mother prepares Dinner. Many of those silver strands came from losing her military pilot husband who was arrested when the new communist regime took power. As the battles crept closer to the city, Amin’s family had no choice but to escape. Luckily his oldest brother, who’s a “cleaner’ in Sweden, meets them in Moscow, the “holding place” until they can join him (he’s trying to get the funds together). Over the next months, the family must hide in the tiny Russian apartment, avoiding the police, as they attempt to leave the country via arduous hiking and a rusted cargo ship all arranged by brutal human traffickers. Through it all, Amin trudges forward while realizing that his sexuality would prevent him from ever returning to his homeland.


Much as with the aforementioned SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, the art of animation is elevated beyond family fables and musicals, to delve deeply into one man’s journey, both geographic and emotional. And though much of the current animated fare is done digitally, this film harkens back to the golden era of hand-drawn, or 2-D, films with the look of a graphic novel brought to vivid life. The main characters are given a simple outline, the thickness resembling a pen point or perhaps a well-worn marker. Basic curved lines and slashes represent the main features like eyes and noses. The colors are natural and subdued, often bathing the characters in a hue to emphasize their moods or the urgency of the sequence (the blues make us feel the cold during a winter trek through the snowy woods to the “escape vessel”). Yet there’s still room for moments of whimsy that might not have worked with live-action (a wink from an 80s action movie star). Early on, we even get a homage to a sketched MTV staple from A-Ha. Best of all, the choices help us focus on Amin and his family, as the bystanders are often rendered with blank faces, while the most harrowing memories are down with a jittery urgency with silhouettes blurring across pale color swatches. And kudos to the sound mixers who place us right in the middle of brutality, then suddenly escort us to the bliss of the countryside. It’s a triumph for the director Jonas Peter Rasmussen who co-wrote the film with its subject Amin Nawabi (their screen voices, Ahmed and Coster-Waldau, are also part of the producing team). My biggest compliment is that it feels like a feature version of the great shorts from the National Film Board of Canada (the highlight of many traveling animation fests). With its distant approach, FLEE. puts us right in the well-worn shoes of this weary world-explorer.

3 Out of 4

FLEE is now playing in select theatres and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas

ENCOUNTER (2021) – Review

The holiday season is often a festive time for families, with lots of parties and out-of-town guests. But what about those families that are fractured and splintered? That’s one of the subjects explored in this new feature drama that’s out right between the two big special days near the end of the year. And speaking of “the end” that’s just what this now single father is obsessed with. I mean really fixated. Which may have been acerbated by the dissolution of his family and the separation from his sons. But he’s got something of a plan, a rescue that’s more of an abduction. So, when this trio goes on the run, just what will they ENCOUNTER?


The opening scenes of this story are told through the eyes and actions of a man on the run, dishonorably discharged soldier, and parolee Malik Khan (Riz Ahmed). He views lights shooting through the skies, perhaps meteors or asteroids that carry microscopic invaders that are spread to the human race by the insect world (mainly mosquitos). In his squalid home, Malik squashes crawling bugs while dousing himself with aerosol repellant. He packs a bag with cans of spray, clothes, and his pistol before hitting the road for…. Cut to the house where his ex-wife Piya (Janina Gavankar) lives with their two sons, pre-teen Jay (Lucian-River Chauhan) and first-grader Bobby (Aditya Geddada), along with her new beau Dylan (Misha Collins). Bobby seems to have formed a bond with his soon-to-be stepdad while Jay has contempt for him, voraciously reading the few letters from papa Malik. Late that evening Malik sneaks into their bedroom, waking them up with the promise of a great adventure on the road. While Piya and Dylan are locked in the garage, the trio drives off into the darkness, as Malik uses a map to plot the fastest way to the “base”. After a meal stop, he tells the boys he has to check in with the said base. Instead, he places a call to his parole officer Hattie (Octavia Spencer). The brief call sends her to the local somewhat disinterested authorities. But when Malik has a violent episode with a law officer, the FBI. led by “Shep” West (Rory Cochrane), scoop up Hattie for info. Can they track Malik down before he does serious harm to the public, himself, or more importantly, the two youngsters?

The role of the troubled father is another in a growing list of impressive performances by the talented Ahmed (whose voice can also be heard in the recent animated documentary FLEE, which he co-produced). He balances a parent’s protective nature, often shielding the youngest from danger, with a state of heightened anxiousness. At times he’s fervent in his “mission’, but his tenuous grasp on reality will try to derail his mania. Malik dearly loves his kids, but his psychological trauma won’t permit him to be “all there” with them. Ahmed conveys this with his stiff body language, labored breathing, and laser-focused glare. The only person that can calm him is Hattie, played with maternal empathy by Spencer. She wants no harm to come to Malik but realizes that he’s got to be “reeled in”, for the kids’ safety. Spencer’s sad eyes tell us that she’s seen this story of mental illness played out before, with a heartbreaking conclusion. The two young actors are surprisingly good, with no cloying cuteness, but feel real and natural. Geddada as Bobby is still the wide-eyed innocent, full of wonder and eager to get past the “baby’ stage. He’s comfortable with Dylan, but is ready to bond with Malik. Chauhan still holds him up as a hero, but his loyalty wavers as he begins to question his father’s “quest”. Cochrane is also strong as the “hangdog’ Shep, who’s doing his best to prevent a tragic outcome, as he fights his own tired pessimism.

Director/co-writer (with Joe Barton) Michael Pearce imbues the opening sequences with a unique visual style utilizing vibrant micro-photography enhanced by CGI effects and animation to bring us into Malik’s paranoid delusions (he’s living an SF conspiracy). Later on, Pearce gives us a beautiful road trip by day, then morphing into a dangerous hellscape by night, with death lurking past every curve of the pavement. Unfortunately, the story veers into action-cliche territory as many leaps of logic lead to “showdowns” and ‘shootouts”. And before the big finale several characters behave in a way to goes against previous behaviors, mainly to ratchet up the tension for the big third act resolution. But despite the script “glitches”, this talented acting ensemble makes for a most compelling and emotional ENCOUNTER.

3 Out of 4

ENCOUNTER opens in select theatres and streams exclusively on Amazon Prime beginning on Friday, December 10, 2021.

FLEE – Review

This weekend sees the release of a new documentary concerning a subject that’s been covered extensively in the news over the last several years: the refugee crisis in the Middle East. Yes, it’s been part of the political debate, and countless reports have flooded the news outlets, not to mention feature-length and short-subjects “docs”. And yet this one feels fresh and immediate. Perhaps that’s due of the medium as this is an animated feature (well, about 95% of it), proving that that said medium (it’s not a genre) can be used to tell all sorts of stories (remember Spidey grabbing an Oscar, and the stop-motion drama ANOMALISA). Plus it’s a most intimate tale as it’s a coming of age saga related by a man whose later lifestyle would leave him no choice but to FLEE.

This true story of the now-adult Amin (voice of Riz Ahmed) commences in present-day Copenhagen as he is interviewed by a former classmate and friend Jonas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Amin isn’t eager to share painful childhood memories, as he finishes his education in the US while starting a home with his partner Kaspar. But he indulges his pal with early recollections of growing up in Kabul, during the turbulent 1980s. He romps through the dusty streets while clad in one of his sisters’ dresses, dashing into the kitchen just as his grey-haired mother prepares Dinner. Many of those silver strands came from losing her military pilot husband who was arrested when the new communist regime took power. As the battles crept closer to the city, Amin’s family had no choice but to escape. Luckily his oldest brother, who’s a “cleaner’ in Sweden, meets them in Moscow, the “holding place” until they can join him (he’s trying to get the funds together). Over the next months, the family must hide in the tiny Russian apartment, avoiding the police, as they attempt to leave the country via arduous hiking and a rusted cargo ship all arranged by brutal human traffickers. Through it all, Amin trudges forward while realizing that his sexuality would prevent him from ever returning to his homeland.

Much as with the aforementioned SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, the art of animation is elevated beyond family fables and musicals, to delve deeply into one man’s journey, both geographic and emotional. And though much of the current animated fare is done digitally, this film harkens back to the golden era of hand-drawn, or 2-D, films with the look of a graphic novel brought to vivid life. The main characters are given a simple outline, the thickness resembling a pen point or perhaps a well-worn marker. Basic curved lines and slashes represent the main features like eyes and noses. The colors are natural and subdued, often bathing the characters in a hue to emphasize their moods or the urgency of the sequence (the blues make us feel the cold during a winter trek through the snowy woods to the “escape vessel”). Yet there’s still room for moments of whimsy that might not have worked with live-action (a wink from an 80s action movie star). Early on, we even get a homage to a sketched MTV staple from A-Ha. Best of all, the choices help us focus on Amin and his family, as the bystanders are often rendered with blank faces, while the most harrowing memories are down with a jittery urgency with silhouettes blurring across pale color swatches. And kudos to the sound mixers who place us right in the middle of brutality, then suddenly escort us to the bliss of the countryside. It’s a triumph for the director Jonas Peter Rasmussen who co-wrote the film with its subject Amin Nawabi (their screen voices, Ahmed and Coster-Waldau, are also part of the producing team). My biggest compliment is that it feels like a feature version of the great shorts from the National Film Board of Canada (the highlight of many traveling animation fests). With its distant approach, FLEE. puts us right in the well-worn shoes of this weary world-explorer.

3 Out of 4

FLEE is now playing in select theatres

Riz Ahmed and Octavia Spencer in ENCOUNTER – Available Worldwide on Amazon Prime Video December 10th

ENCOUNTER will be available worldwide on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, December 10th

Desperate to save his two young sons, Jay and Bobby, from a mysterious threat, decorated Marine Malik Khan (Riz Ahmed) packs them in a car and sets off on a perilous journey across the western U.S. But while racing toward a secret military base in Nevada that may hold the key to safety, the trio encounters danger at every turn. Staying one step ahead of a group of government agents, Malik and the boys find themselves bonding in unexpected ways. As their relentless pursuers close in, and with time quickly running out, each of them must confront hard truths about the world, forcing Jay and Bobby to leave their childhoods behind. A gripping story of a father’s mission to keep his children safe at all costs, ENCOUNTER is at once a riveting thriller and a powerful drama about a family dealing with a seemingly unstoppable enemy.

ENCOUNTER stars Riz Ahmed, Octavia Spencer, Rory Cochrane, Janina Gavankar, Lucian-River Chauhan, and Aditya Geddada

Win Passes To The Virtual Screening Of Amazon Studios’ SOUND OF METAL On Tuesday, November 17

SOUND OF METAL arrives in select theaters November 20, and on Prime Video December 4 in the U.S. and WAMG has your free passes to the virtual screening.

During a series of adrenaline-fueled one-night gigs, itinerant punk-metal drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) begins to experience intermittent hearing loss. When a specialist tells him his condition will rapidly worsen, he thinks his music career — and with it his life — is over. His bandmate and girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke) checks the recovering heroin addict into a secluded sober house for the deaf in hopes it will prevent a relapse and help him learn to adapt to his new situation. But after being welcomed into a community that accepts him just as he is, Ruben has to choose between his equilibrium and the drive to reclaim the life he once knew.

Utilizing startling, innovative sound design techniques, director Darius Marder takes audiences inside Ruben’s experience to vividly recreate his journey into a rarely examined world.

Enter for your chance to win passes to the virtual screening this Tuesday, November 17th, at 7pm.

Leave you name and email address in the comments section below.

No purchase necessary. Open to U.S. residents only.

 R for Brief Nude Images and Language Throughout.

VENOM (2018) – Review

Even though Summer is a recent memory, it’s Marvel time again at the multiplex. Or is it? Yes, that familiar red logo is prominent in all the marketing for this flick. Well, as they say, ya’ gotta’ look at the “fine print”. This is not from Marvel Studios, the film division started ten years ago. Rather it is “in association with” as it states at this flick’s opening frames. That’s because prior to 2008, before going “all in” on features, two of the biggest Marvel Comics properties were licensed out to some major movie powerhouses. The X-Men were snapped up by Fox, which has been releasing “mutant movies” since 2000 (two more are due next year). And after a massive legal brawl, Spider-Man swung over to Sony. That initial Sam Raimi 2002 origin was a box office behemoth. But when Raimi finished his trilogy, a reboot in 2012 and its 2014 sequel fizzled. Wisely Sony joined forces with Marvel Studios, making Spidey part of the Marvel “movie-verse” and launching a solo franchise with 2017 hit SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING. But Sony insisted they’d have their own “Marvel universe” aside from the “web-head” by focusing on Spidey’s impressive roster of villains (really, aside from Batman and maybe The Flash, he’s got the best “rogue’s gallery” in comics). Of course, Warner’s tried that with the disastrous 2004 CATWOMAN (and they’re trying again with the “now in production” THE JOKER). Will Sony have better luck with a comics fan favorite that goes back 30 years? There’s a lot riding on the slithering, toothy man-monster known as VENOM.

The story begins with the final moments of a sleek new space shuttle crashing to Earth (and no, you’ve not walked into the auditorium showing THE PREDATOR). We’re actually in a wooded area in East Malaysia, not the US. As the authorities arrive. we learn that this wasn’t a government project, but rather part of a space mission launched by the “Life Foundation”, a drug and tech mega company headed by Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed). Seems they were bringing back several canisters containing these weird, wiggly alien creatures. And wouldn’t you know it, one of the canisters is missing. Oh oh. As Drake goes on TV to praise the astronaut/scientists that perished, we meet (back in San Francisco), popular maverick cable news journalist/reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy). He’s living the good life, sharing a plush two flat with his lawyer girlfriend Anne (Michelle Williams). Hey, they even have crazy pillow fights before she’s got to rush off to the firm (awww, so cute). But Eddie’s got a boss too, and he insists on an interview with Drake (Eddie distrusts the guy). When he stumbles on to some insider info, Eddie uses it to turn the TV “puff piece” into an “ambush” on Drake. The mogul throws his considerable weight around and Eddie is fired (leading to a nasty break-up with Anne). But back to those aliens, called Symbiotes, who need to “merge” with living beings in order to live on Earth. Unfortunately, the hosts (lab rats and rabbits) don’t survive the merge. Nonetheless, Drake pressures his scientists, headed by Dr. Skirth (Jenny Slate), to begin trials on humans (the homeless recruited with promises of big cash). When the bodies begin to pile up, Skirth contacts Eddie and sneaks him past security to the sprawling Life labs. When Eddie spots a familiar street person writhing in a cell, he breaks her out. This prompts her alien to merge with Eddie. Lucky for him, they’re compatible. Soon Drake’s brutal security forces are on the hunt for Brock. But Eddie’s freaking out about the weird voices in his head. Then there’s the whole “morphing into a multi-fanged, nearly unstoppable, hulking cannibal” thing that has him on edge. And what of that missing alien across the ocean? It couldn’t make its way to the States, could it?

A truly talented cast is chained to a heavy, clunky script that drags them straight down, never giving them a chance to soar. Hardy has dazzled with his talents countless times, but average Joe (lotsa’ ‘dems and ‘dose, y’noze) turned crusading cable news star Brock is an out-of-date cliche that his skills can never really wrangle. Plus, he has to make the countless one-sided conversations with his merged-alien work, but it’s as if he’s Elwood Dowd contending with an obnoxious homicidal “Harvey” (where’s the “holy hand grenade” when you really need it). And thanks to that sloppy script, his Brock has zero chemistry with Williams’s Anne. She seems more like a sorority sister throwing a “hissy fit” at her listless beau after their big split (it doesn’t help that she’s attired in preppy plaid skirts, with a 70’s folk singer wig making her look like an extra in THE PAPER CHASE). So, an action adventure is only as good as it’s villain? Despite Ahmed’s talents, Drake is a sneering Lex Luthor-wannabe (though not the over the top loon that Jesse Eisenberg is as the actual LL in the DC “movie-verse”). His threats against his minions seem hollow, as though he was chewing out the servers at his “pop-up” eatery. The film’s biggest crime would be its treatment of the dazzlingly witty Slate as the doomed “whistleblower”. At least she’s not burdened with an excess of dopey dialogue (unlike the main trio).

Director Ruben Fleischer made one of the most delightful horror-comedies of the last ten years, ZOMBIELAND, but there’s little of that film’s wit and style here (It’s closer to the lunk-headed brutality of his GANGSTER SQUAD). The comedy here is ham-fisted while the action sequences are edited so haphazardly that it’s almost impossible to make out who’s where while mired in CGI ooze. A motorcycle/car chase through the streets of “Frisco (now that’s original) is so tedious I was wondering where the SF police were hiding (was this the night of “The Purge”). As for the title character, well, he’s a “mo-cap” mess with shiny porcelain eyes who bounces about as though he leaped right out of I, ROBOT and I AM LEGEND, or any number of video games. Hardcore fans of the comics will be angered that most of V’s more gruesome…appetites..were curtailed in order to grab the PG-13 rating (really, DEADPOOL and LOGAN were comics-based R-rated hits, so why wimp out). And as with all Marvel flicks we get bonus scenes during the end credits. The first tauts a possible sequel (yeah right) involving a great beloved actor sporting a dime-store tomato-red clown wig. But hang tight, because we’re treated (truly) to 3 or 4 minutes of the upcoming animated feature, SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, which does hold out some hope for Sony’s plans. However, VENOM, like its namesake while likely not be fatal, but will definitely leave you queasy and lethargic. Maybe that cartoon feature on December 14 will be the perfect antidote to this toxic tripe.

1 Out of 5

THE SISTERS BROTHERS – Review

To paraphrase a familiar radio and TV character’s beloved intro, it’s time to “return to those thrilling days of yesteryear”. Yes thrilling and truly dangerous. That would be the very wild West, that is the Western United States and territories of the mid-nineteenth century. Modern moviegoers don’t get much of a chance to see a real “oater” since Westerns became more sporadic, perhaps supplanted in the late 1970’s by the Science Fiction-set fantasies. It’s been almost a year since HOSTILES came galloping into multiplexes. And now another filmmaker “saddles up” for this new story of gunplay in the sagebrush. So, who is tackling the most American of movie backdrops? Why it’s celebrated French writer/director of A PROPHET and DHEEPAN Jacques Audiard (born in Paris, no less) who offers a very unique look at the deadly duo who menaced the prairie, the men known as THE SISTERS BROTHERS.

Their story begins in 1851 at a near-deserted ranch in the dead of night. The two brothers, Eli (John C. Reilly) and Charlie (Joaquin Phoenix), burst in on a disparate group of men, Gunshots echo over the land, and the peaceful setting is soon a blazing inferno. Next morning, Charlie confers with their boss, the rich property owner known as The Commodore. The Sisters Brothers have little time to rest as they are given their next assignment. An aspiring prospector named Herman Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed) has skipped out on a loan and needs to be brought in by any means necessary. Another member of the team of enforcers, scout John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal) has gone ahead to track Warm. Morris will leave word for the men along the trail to San Francisco. Eli and Charlie bicker (as brothers are wont) as they ride through the lush hills and forests, managing to escape death, both from the wildlife and from the residents of an oft-kilter village named, of all things, Mayfield. Their adventures are intercut with the unexpected friendship of Morris and Warm, who hopes to use his scientific skills with a chemical mixture to easily scoop up gold nuggets from the riverbeds. When all four finally meet, the brothers mull over a life-changing decision. Should they continue to be The Commodore’s enforcers, or should they start a new life with Morris and Warm, a life more gentle, and finally put down roots in the land of opportunity that is old California? And will their boss send others to bring them back, just as the Sisters Brothers hope to hang up their holsters forever?

Though he’s saddled (sorry) with the role of the quieter sibling, John C. Reilly’s superb performance really carries this tale of redemption. His Eli has the most complex character “arc”, going from listless “gun for hire” through a realization that he just can’t keep living this way. Though he’s entering the “twilight” of his life, Reilly shows us how an uncultured man is open to change and eager to “better” himself. This is best shown in a sequence in which Eli discovers and is fascinated by the miraculous new invention of the toothbrush, along with its foaming powder (this is echoed later as he is stunned at the wonders of the “water closet”). Just as he amuses us, Reilly pulls at our heartstrings as Eli longs for a true “pure” love, with a red scarf to remind him of that missed chance at bliss. Reilly’s great in the “goofball” misfits of the Will Ferrell team-ups, but here he truly gets to show the range of his talents. Oh, and he is part of an engaging team in his pairing with the “wild card” Charlie played with verve by Phoenix. He’s coarse and crude, but he’s hiding a truly horrific family secret. Unfortunately, Charlie’s drunken swagger is too similar to Phoenix’s recent role as the inebriated cartoonist in DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT. Speaking of duos, this film marks an unexpected reunion of the stars of 2014’s cult classic NIGHTCRAWLER. Oddly the two actors seem to be more “in sync’ this time around. Gyllenhaal’s Morris and Ahmed’s Warm are articulate, thoughtful men who are often “out of place’, maybe two “fish out of water” in the brutal and violent West. Like Eli, Morris has that “itch” and the level-headed Warm draws him into another life option (but nothing like Gyllanhaal’s last Western, the one on the mountain). This film also offers several great, almost cameos, roles wonderfully realized by rising star Alison Tolman (TV’s “Fargo”) and screen veterans Carol Kane and Rutger Hauer (don’t blink).

Audiard’s confident direction (you’d think he had a couple of “horse operas” under his gunbelt) keeps this sprawling saga moving at a brisk clip for the first hour or so. That opening range “raid’ is a real corker, with pistol blasts suddenly lighting up the silent darkness. It concludes with a fiery image that’s so beautiful and horrific it may visit your dreams (nightmares, more likely). That same’s true for the eerie interlude at the saloon/brothel of Mayfield, making us wonder if the “hole in the wall” escaped Purgatory or Hell itself. Unfortunately, the movie’s momentum slackens when the teams join forces on the riverbanks and “gold fever’ strikes. Perhaps about 15 or twenty minutes could have been excised from the screenplay by Audiard and Thomas Bidegain which adapts the lauded novel by Patrick DeWitt. But it’s got a subtle, haunting score by Alexandre Desplat which works so well with the majestic cinematography by Benoit Debie. Their work, along with Reilly’s compelling performance, carries the film through the rough spots of the long, winding trail. It’s not another SHANE or THE SEARCHERS, but the legend of THE SISTERS BROTHERS has scenes that will stay with you long after you dismount the theatre saddle, er…seat.

2.5 Out of 5

THE BROTHERS SISTER opens everywhere and screens exclusively in St. Louis at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas

John C. Reilly And Joaquin Phoenix Featured On New Poster For THE SISTERS BROTHERS

See the new poster for THE SISTERS BROTHERS starring John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Riz Ahmed.

Director Jacques Audiard’s THE SISTERS BROTHERS will premiere this Sunday, September 2 at the Venice Film Festival before heading to the Toronto International Film Festival next weekend.

THE SISTERS BROTHERS opens September 21, 2018 in NY and LA

From acclaimed director Jacques Audiard (Rust and Bone, A Prophet), and based on the novel by Patrick deWitt, THE SISTERS BROTHERS is a reimagining of the cinematic Western as a dangerous, witty, and emotionally cathartic exploration of what it means to be a man.

It is 1851, and Charlie and Eli Sisters (Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly) are both brothers and assassins, boys grown to men in a savage and hostile world. They have blood on their hands: that of criminals, that of innocents…and they know no state of existence other than being gunmen. The older of the two, introspective Eli (Reilly) rides hard with his younger sibling yet dares to dream of a normal life. The younger of the two, hard-drinking Charlie (Phoenix) has taken charge with gusto as lead man on the duo’s assignments. Each increasingly questions, and quibbles with, the other’s methods.

John C. Reilly (left) stars as “Eli Sisters” and Joaquin Phoenix (right) stars as “Charlie Sisters” in Jacques Audiard’s THE SISTERS BROTHERS, an Annapurna Pictures release.
Credit : Magali Bragard / Annapurna Pictures

The Sisters brothers find themselves on a journey through the Northwest, bringing them to the mountains of Oregon, a dangerous brothel in the small town of Mayfield, and eventually, the Gold Rush land of California – a journey that will test the deadly family ties that bind. But, can it also be the path to rediscovering what remains of their humanity?

THE SISTERS BROTHERS also stars Jake Gyllenhaal as learned scout John Morris, and Riz Ahmed as fugitive chemist Hermann Kermit Warm.

John C. Reilly (left) stars as “Eli Sisters” and Joaquin Phoenix (right) stars as “Charlie Sisters” in Jacques Audiard’s THE SISTERS BROTHERS, an Annapurna Pictures release.
Credit : Magali Bragard / Annapurna Pictures

Watch The Trailer For THE SISTERS BROTHERS Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly And Jake Gyllenhaal

Opening in theaters Fall 2018 is Annapurna Pictures’ THE SISTERS BROTHERS. The film, written and directed by Jacques Audiard, stars Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Riz Ahmed.

Based on Patrick Dewitt’s acclaimed novel of the same name, follows two brothers – Eli and Charlie Sisters – who are hired to kill a prospector who has stolen from their boss. The story, a genre-hybrid with comedic elements, takes place in Oregon in 1851.

The film is Jacques Audiard’s follow-up to his Palme D’Or Winning DHEEPAN, which premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

THE SISTERS BROTHERS

opens in theaters Fall 2018.