Wednesday, May 12, 2021


Fussy critic: Found it an entertaining, breezy, escapist thriller with the same justice-is-served Sheridan DNA as Sicario and Wind River but with lower ambitions.  Has some flights of fancy and odd choices — a heavily pregnant Allison riding a white horse through a burning forest, Angelina’s sometimes distracting wig — but satisfyingly delivers on its promise.  Just as Hannah's self sacrifice and bravery in protecting and saving Connor sweeps aside the doubts that have haunted her, Angelina's frequently lauded performance elevated her and the excellent Finn Little's story.  Two damaged, imperfect characters charmingly bonding as they helped each other get through their physical and emotional hurdles made their journey engrossing and enjoyable to watch.  It works well as a taut thriller but would have been better if Warner / Sheridan took the plot seriously and gave it the depth that the audience was led to expect "from the writer of Sicario and co-creator of Yellowstone."  They could have explained how Hannah became the unlikely but respected leader of a team of brawny smokejumpers, showed the botched mission instead of jerky flashbacks with drowned out dialogue, and revealed the anomalies Connor’s dad uncovered that could have raised the stakes and made it a 90's style thriller adapted with the concerns of a 2020s audience.  Those scenes may have well been shot but didn't make the final cut as they kept the film short.  (Perhaps Sheridan may be interested in releasing an extended cut.)  A deeper story could have been the difference between scoring in the 60s vs. 80s on Rotten Tomatoes and getting an A Cinemascore vs a B.  It may have also helped the box office a bit.  It was expected to make $2M opening weekend and made $2.8 so it already outperformed expectations.  Warner hardly spent on promotion and they may have used the budget instead to appease talent reps after the uproar over the unilateral decision to stream their entire slate on HBOMax.  Warner Studios execs may have also been understandably distracted by the just announced spinoff that puts the studio under Discovery and effectively leaves little incentive or reward for improving their current slate's performance.


BoxOfficePro

Third place went to Warner Bros.’ Those Who Wish Me Dead, the new Angelina Jolie thriller that is also currently streaming on HBO Max. Unfortunately, Jolie’s star power couldn’t overcome a tepid theatrical marketing campaign, leading to a quiet $2.8 million debut from a very wide 3,188 locations. (Top markets for the film were Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, Dallas and San Francisco.) The Cinemascore for the film came in at a “B,” while a mixed critical reception puts it at a middling 64% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
 




















Rotten Tomatoes
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