Blake Lively deserves so much better than what was delivered for her with her latest film, The Rhythm Section—out now on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download. Heck, co-star Jude Law warrants better material. So too does the always stellar Sterling K. Brown. Cutting to the chase: It’s worth a solid rental, but not necessarily a purchase.
The flick is one part revenge “thriller,” one part terrorism dissection study and all cinematic foray that feels as if it is taking itself more seriously than what the characters say and do for two hours.
Lively portrays Stephanie Patrick, a woman whose life was turned upside for a myriad of reasons when her parents, brother and sister are all killed when a plane disappeared over the ocean. As we meet her, she is prostituting and addicted to hard drugs in London. A freelance journalist, Proctor (Raza Jaffrey) finds her, and sets in motion the flimsy plot. He informs her that it is now pretty much accepted by intelligence agencies that there was a bomb on that plane, and it was orchestrated by a terrorist named Reza (Tawfeek Barhom). She wants revenge and he wants help getting closer to those involved in downing the passenger plane. That brings Stephanie into the orbit of Jude Law’s former MI6 character … who is so secretive he doesn’t even have a name. Seriously, nowhere in the credits or press releases is there any mention of Law’s character’s moniker. Law’s mystery man exists to take this former prep schoolgirl and mold her into a revenge-wielding killer.
Director Reed Morano (The Handmaid’s Tale and 2018’s I Think We’re Alone Now—which was awesome, seek out that Elle Fanning and Peter Dinklage flick) does the best she can with Mark Burnell’s script. Proof of her talent arrives at several points during the film where it is seriously compelling and suspenseful. Morano does a fantastic job with a car chase sequence that is just bananas and a hand-to-hand combat scene with Lively and a man who quickly teaches us all a lesson in looks can be deceiving. Both are shot with a supreme sense of timing, visual geography and giving an audience who has seen a million action sequences something a little different.
The helmer also does a good job of directing Lively, whose talent audiences are discovering exponentially more with each passing project. Much is expected of the thespian in The Rhythm Section as she is many things to a vast lot of people. It is especially challenging because the arc given the actress who first caught our eye on Gossip Girl, is immense. It is just a shame that much of her work with the character was met with a few eye rolls due to the dialogue she is given to deliver or respond to, as well as some situational elements that are just not well thought out. Like, can you seriously turn a heroin-addicted prostitute, who used to be someone on their way to Oxford to fight and kill trained assassins and terrorists? In a matter of weeks?! Someone who after finally hitting the target the first time with her gun, Law’s response is, “Time to put you in the field.”
That is just one of the handful of moments that are just too much for the suspension of disbelief. There is only so much that can be believed, no matter how much you are enjoying the performance of Lively, Law and Brown. All three are fantastic actors and bring their best. On paper, this thing should be compelling as all get-up. The youngest daughter of a family finds herself tragically and suddenly alone after her parents, brother and sister die in a terrorist bomb explosion aboard a jetliner. After years of guilt (driven by the fact that she should have been on that flight), she breaks down her psychological walls and tracks down every soul that has anything to do with the horrific act and delivers her unique brand of justice. Instead, there are plot hiccups and logistical speed bumps that don’t add up. With each, a fragment of the audiences’ collective attention span gets severed until—sadly—our protagonist’s biggest moment in the sun is met with shrugged shoulders.
The big three do put on a show, and it is their talents—coupled with Morano’s well-orchestrated action sequences—that at least makes The Rhythm Section watchable. There are moments where Lively couldn’t be fiercer. She proves she can kick ass and embody a screen version of a spy in physical aptitude and dramatic delivery It makes us wish that she would get an action-centric script that is worthy of her gifts. Much is expected of her in Morano’s movie. In fact, she carries the thing on her shoulders. Whether she is interacting with Law or Brown, the actress is like a laser beam of intensity and vulnerability—obviously depending on what the scenes requires of her. It has The Movie Mensch thinking someone needs to pen a script about a thirty-something heroine who is thrust into dangerous and action-laden landscape.
Law portrays his nameless soul in a way that, true to form, is supremely mysterious. Stephanie tries valiantly to get to the heart of who this man is, but to no avail. As the British actor loses himself into another role, as only he can, we are reminded of how far Law has progressed since he first burst onto the Hollywood scene in the late 90s. Law was the “It” man of the moment into the 2000s. He tried valiantly to be the classic British dashing lead, a la Hugh Grant, but there was something about the projects he chose and generally how certain ones turned out that it just didn’t fully happen for The Talented Mr. Ripley star. He has since taken roles that may not be above the movie’s moniker on the billboard but are fantastically fitting for him and his skill set. Portraying Watson in Sherlock Holmes? Impeccable. Tackling Karenin to Keira Knightley’s Anna Karenina? Nailed it. He fills that role in The Rhythm Section as well. He knows when to step into the spotlight and when to let Lively let ‘er rip. It’s been fantastic to see Law’s progression.
Then, there’s Brown. He’s very much a supporting player and he too, like Lively and Law, is a slice of piping hot mysterious magnificence. The This Is Us star is former CIA and there’s a layer of uncertainty to his performance that makes sense. The audience is compelled to truly get to the bottom of who this guy is and what side of the fence is he residing. That is all through his performance. What surrounds him, script-wise, takes a lot of forgiving. It says so much about a performer that they can rise above the material and that is exactly what Lively, Law and Brown achieve.
Burnell had to adapt his script from a novel and sometimes that can be a tricky endeavor. Problem is the screenwriter is also the author of the book! If anyone understands the nuances of the characters and their situational drama, suspense and thrills … it should be him. Sadly, as I’ve stated throughout this The Rhythm Section review, the script is what seems to have missed the mark more than any other facet of this production. The author/screenwriter is making his big screen debut with this flick and given how he verbally laid out action sequences that add to the watchability of the film, there is some promise there for Burnell. Perhaps he will learn from this experience, sort out what works and what didn’t, and then return a smarter, wiser and more intuitive screenwriter for future projects.
The digital and Blu-ray versions of this flick find over 40 minutes of never-before-seen bonus features and featurettes that answer those “How did they do that?” questions. This is absolutely a case of the featurettes being better than the film itself.
For starters, there are six deleted scenes: Where’s His Money?, Why Did You Come for Me?, Promise, The Bag, This is your Funeral and My Name is Stephanie.
A fascinating featurette arrives with Stephanie’s Journey. It is quite a transformation that Lively’s character undergoes and what is so special about this bonus feature is that it not only looks at the actress’ stunning physical alteration from blonde beauty to dark-haired extoller of justice, but the character’s emotional and mental transformation. Adding to the resonant factor here is Lively and her thoughts on why this aspect of tackling the role was so appealing.
One of those action sequences that will leave your jaw agape occurs through the streets of Tangier. Never Leave Second Gear delves deep into how filmmakers crafted a car chase that immediate sought to stand out amongst a crowded cinematic “street” of automobile action sequences. In that vein, Fight or Flight is a terrific The Rhythm Section extra that breaks down a number of the stunts and fight scenes and illustrates how they were achieved with such ferocity.
The action-packed climax of the film gets its own featurette and it is a study in getting it right the first time because, well … you have to! One Shot Explosion takes that terrorist bus explosion (that was teased in The Rhythm Section trailer) and shows how director Morano didn’t exactly have a bevy of buses to blow up. Therefore, they had one take to get it right. Talk about pressure!
Production design doesn’t get enough props in the extras of home videos, so it was nice to see Designing The Rhythm Section on the flick’s bonus features. The look of the film, from the sets to costuming, gets the spotlight and its as enlightening as it is entertaining.
Film Grade: C-
Bonus Features: B