Moviefone Editorial

Tag: brad pitt

Movie Review: ‘IF’
(L to R) Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’

Opening in theaters May 17 is ‘IF,’ directed by John Krasinski and starring Cailey Fleming, Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Fiona Shaw, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Awkwafina, and Steve Carell.

Related Article: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer

Initial Thoughts

(L to R) Cailey Fleming and Ryan Reynolds star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’

After spending most of the past decade following the end of ‘The Office’ in “tough guy” mode, playing a soldier, a spy, and an alpha male patriarch (perhaps to distance himself from his nerdy image as Jim Halpert), John Krasinski pivots into family film mode with ‘IF,’ an original live-action feature that he wrote, directed, and co-stars in. But while Krasinski showed some filmmaking flair with the intense ‘A Quiet Place’ and its sequel, his heavy-handed attempt to make a would-be family classic is overwrought and underwritten, giving the usually charismatic Ryan Reynolds and spunky young star Cailey Fleming little to do but stare at some Pixar-esque CG creations.

Story and Direction

Director John Krasinski on the set of Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’

‘IF’ opens on Bea (Fleming), a young girl who loses her mother to cancer before the opening credits even finish rolling. But that’s not all: Bea’s dad (Krasinski) is suffering from a heart condition and requires surgery, forcing Bea to stay at her grandmother’s (Fiona Shaw) New York City apartment while her dad undergoes his procedure (his pre-op stay in the hospital is unbelievably long – whatever he does for a living, he must have great insurance).

Lonely but apparently not going to school, Bea spies some odd-looking characters around the apartment building that lead her to a flat upstairs. That’s where she meets Cal (Reynolds), a strangely out-of-time man who resides in the whimsical apartment with a whole horde of bizarre beings that only Bea and Cal can see. As Cal explains, these are imaginary friends, or IFs for short, who are looking for new children to bond with since their previous children grew up and forgot about them.

Cal takes Bea to Coney Island – apparently it’s perfectly okay for a 12-year-old girl to wander around the city as she sees fit – where he introduces her to a subterranean retirement home for a large contingent of IFs, such as a robot, a flaming marshmallow, a glass of water, a big purple furball that looks like it stumbled over from ‘Monsters University,’ and many more. Most of them are voiced by famous people like Steve Carell, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Emily Blunt, Awkwafina, Matt Damon, Jon Stewart, and Blake Lively, who all don’t get much more than a line or two (even the ones married to the director and/or male lead). The founder of the place, a teddy bear named Lewis (the late Louis Gossett Jr.), recruits Bea to help Cal find new children for the wayward IFs, which Bea apparently finds more worthy of her time than, say, staying by her dad’s side.

(L to R) Ryan Reynolds (Cal), Louis Gossett Jr. (Lewis) and Cailey Fleming (Bea) star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’

‘IF’ wants very badly to be a sort of live-action Pixar movie. While the idea of hanging onto one’s power of imagination even as an adult is a worthy one, and we will give Krasinski a certain amount of respect for taking a big, original swing with his own material, he’s not good enough of a writer to make it work and can’t quite get a handle on it as a director either. The movie continually tries to pull shamelessly and relentlessly at one’s heartstrings, aided so obtrusively by Michael Giacchino’s pervasively syrupy score (a rare misfire from the otherwise great composer) that one wants to tell the music to shut up.

The biggest problem with ‘IF,’ beyond its overt mawkishness, is that Krasinski’s world-building is sloppy and undercooked. Does Bea’s grandmother wonder where she’s going all the time? Does her father? Why can some people suddenly see their IFs for no apparent reason years after having forgotten them? How can IFs apparently open doors and move objects? Sure, this is a fantasy film, and real-life logic doesn’t always apply; but there has to be some sort of internal logic, a set of rules for the world, and that doesn’t seem present here.

There are some funny lines sprinkled throughout the film, and young children may delight in some of the many IFs who populate the story (even if none of them are given anything more than a cursory character sketch), but ‘IF’ meanders along with little urgency and no real sense of what we’re supposed to feel, despite its strenuous attempts to make us feel something.

John Krasinski Cast Many BFFs in ‘IF’

(L to R) George Clooney (Spaceman), Amy Schumer (Gummy Bear), Emily Blunt (Unicorn), Steve Carell (Blue), Flower, Cailey Fleming (Bea), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Blossom), Richard Jenkins (Art Teacher) and Maya Rudolph (Ally) star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’

‘IF’ has a stacked voice cast, although as mentioned earlier, the IFs come flying through so frequently that few get a chance to make any kind of impression. Aside from the kindly, wise Lewis, the IFs who get the most screentime are Steve Carell’s Blue and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Blossom, a sort of 1920s dancer who turns out to be Bea’s grandmother’s one-time IF.

The main human character, Cailey Fleming’s Bea, starts off as earnest and intelligent, but begins over-emoting through the second half of the film; Fleming is still an engaging presence who can probably do better. Krasinski’s dad, a whimsical sort who implores his daughter not to grow up too fast, is too smug to earn much of our empathy, while the usually sparkling Reynolds is forced to play it somewhat morose and passive through large sections of the film. His effortless way with one-liners doesn’t get the workout that this film could use. ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ can’t come soon enough.

Final Thoughts

Cailey Fleming (Bea) and Steve Carell (Blue) star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’

There’s a 10-minute tour through the IF retirement home about half an hour into the movie, in which Lewis tells Bea that she can make whatever she wants happen just by thinking about it (we guess). It’s a potentially interesting idea ruined by overly frantic, busy visuals, ending in an extraneous dance number which has absolutely no bearing on the rest of the plot. It’s also indicative of the problem with the rest of ‘IF’: this is a shapeless movie that feels more like the director playing with all the tools at his disposal yet not firming up the story he wants to tell.

After the success of the ‘A Quiet Place’ films, we suppose it was inevitable that the director would get to indulge himself with a vanity project. And as noted earlier, certain younger audience members may be enraptured by everything going on in the film. But if John Krasinski wants to try his hand at a family movie again, he should concentrate more on a good, focused story and characters, and less on self-satisfied sentimentality.

‘IF’ receives 4 out of 10 stars.
KIPeeXzs3ztnna8SBSoyD1
What is the plot of ‘IF’?

A young girl going through a very difficult time in her life suddenly gains the ability to see the imaginary friends (IFs) of other people who have left them behind. With the help of a neighbor, the little girl attempts to reunite all the IFs with the kids they once belonged to.

Who is in the cast of ‘IF’?
- Cailey Fleming as Bea
- Ryan Reynolds as Cal
- John Krasinski as Bea’s Dad
- Fiona Shaw as Bea’s Grandmother
- Steve Carell as Blue (voice)
- Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Blossom (voice)
- Louis Gossett Jr. as Lewis (voice)
- Emily Blunt as Unicorn (voice)
- Matt Damon as Sunny (voice)
- Sam Rockwell as Guardian Dog (voice)
- Awkwafina as Bubble (voice)
- Blake Lively as Octopuss (voice)
- George Clooney as Spaceman (voice)
- Bradley Cooper as Ice (voice)
- Brad Pitt as Keith (voice)
(L to R) Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘IF.’

Other John Krasinski Directed Movies:
- ‘Brief Interviews with Hideous Men‘ (2009)
- ‘The Hollars‘ (2016)
- ‘A Quiet Place‘ (2018)
- ‘A Quiet Place Part II‘ (2021)
Buy Tickets: ‘IF’ Movie Showtimes

Buy John Krasinski Movies on Amazon
DwFJGNjz
May 15, 2024
Quentin Tarantino Won’t Now Make ‘The Movie Critic’
Oscar® nominee, Quentin Tarantino arrives on the red carpet of The 92nd Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 9, 2020. Credit/Provider: Nick Agro / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.

Preview:
- Quentin Tarantino won’t now make ‘The Movie Critic’.
- Brad Pitt had been attached to star.
- The filmmaker will now target something else as his final movie.
Though it seemed as though Quentin Tarantino had found the movie that he wanted to make as his final film before retiring (at least from directing for the big screen), it appears he has had a change of heart about exactly which film.

According to Deadline, he is now pulling back from that idea –– the film, not the concept of retirement. He won’t now direct ‘The Movie Critic’.

Related Article: Brad Pitt Reportedly Joining Quentin Tarantino’s ‘The Movie Critic’

What has happened with ‘The Movie Critic’ so far?

Quentin Tarantino accepts the Oscar® for original screenplay for “Django Unchained” during the live ABC Telecast of The Oscars® from the Dolby® Theatre, in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 24, 2013.

Tarantino began hinting about his next (and potentially final) movie back in 2023. He’d been inspired by the work of a movie critic in a pornography magazine that the director had seen in his younger days.

Here’s what he said to Baz Bamigboye at Cannes:

“He wrote about mainstream movies, and he was the second-string critic, he says I think he was a very good critic. He was as cynical as hell. His reviews were a cross between early Howard Stern and what [Taxi Driver’s] Travis Bickle might be if he were a film critic. Think about Travis’s diary entries. But the porno rag critic was very, very funny. He was very rude, you know. He cursed. He used racial slurs. But his s**t was really funny. He was as rude as hell. He wrote like he was 55 but he was only in his early to mid-30s. He died in his late thirties. It wasn’t clear for a while but now I’ve done some more research and I think it was it was complications due to alcoholism.”

That fueled a concept about a film critic in 1977, though Tarantino didn’t offer any other details.

He worked on the script after the writers’ strike and then turned his attention to casting…

Who was attached to appear in ‘The Movie Critic’?

Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.’ Photo: Sony Pictures.

So far, one person had been associated with the movie: Brad Pitt, who starred in (and won an Oscar for) ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood’ was on board to appear in the film. But even that was wrapped in mystery –– would Pitt play a new role, or reprise ‘Hollywood’s Cliff Booth, the stuntman who also happens to be something of a movie buff himself?

We may never know, now. Tarantino has hit pause on movies before –– he famously backed away from ‘The Hateful Eight’ after a script leak, only to return after a charity reading saw it earn raves –– but this feels like him simply deciding that his apparently final movie was worth more than ‘The Movie Critic’ could bring.

Will Quentin Tarantino really retire?

Quentin Tarantino on the set of ‘Django Unchained.’

Tarantino has spoken before about his plans to step back from filmmaking:

“I want to stop at a certain point. Directors don’t get better as they get older. Usually the worst films in their filmography are those last four at the end. I am all about my filmography, and one bad film f***s up three good ones. I don’t want that bad, out-of-touch comedy in my filmography, the movie that makes people think, ‘Oh man, he still thinks it’s 20 years ago.’ When directors get out-of-date, it’s not pretty.”

Tell that to Ridley Scott! And Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese…

But in truth, all signs are pointing to Tarantino more switching focus to other projects, including potential TV series, plays and books.

Oscar® nominee, Quentin Tarantino arrives on the red carpet of The 92nd Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 9, 2020. Credit/Provider: Nick Agro / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.

Other Movies Directed by Quentin Tarantino:
- ‘Reservoir Dogs‘ (1992)
- ‘Pulp Fiction‘ (1994)
- ‘Jackie Brown‘ (1997)
- ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 1‘ (2003)
- ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 2‘ (2004)
- ‘Death Proof‘ (2007)
- ‘Inglourious Basterds‘ (2009)
- ‘Django Unchained‘ (2012)
- ‘The Hateful Eight‘ (2015)
- ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood‘ (2019)
Buy Quentin Tarantino Movies on Amazon
UsAjloTG
April 18, 2024
Brad Pitt Boards Quentin Tarantino’s ‘The Movie Critic’
(Left) Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.’ Photo: Sony Pictures. (Right) Quentin Tarantino accepts the Oscar® for original screenplay for “Django Unchained” during the live ABC Telecast of The Oscars® from the Dolby® Theatre, in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 24, 2013.

Preview:
- Brad Pitt is reportedly aboard Quentin Tarantino’s next movie.
- The writer/director is planning to make ‘The Movie Critic’.
- It doesn’t have a studio home but could find one with Sony.
After the strike-enforced shutdowns of last year, big, exciting projects are really getting moving again in 2024.

One of the most anticipated projects is the next movie from writer/director Quentin Tarantino, who has said a few times that this project (his 10th) will also mark his last time working on something for cinemas.

That might not be the most positive sentiment for fans of his movies, but there is some good news –– Deadline reports that Brad Pitt, who starred in ‘Inglorious Basterds’ and won an Oscar for the director’s most recent effort, ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood’ is now ready to sign up to the new film.

Related Article: Quentin Tarantino Reportedly Making ‘The Movie Critic’ as His Next Film

What’s the story of ‘The Movie Critic’?

Brad Pitt plays Jack Conrad in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Tarantino hasn’t specified much about the movie but has previously told Deadline that it’s set around 1977 and “is based on a guy who really lived, but was never really famous, and he used to write movie reviews for a porno rag.”

There’s no information yet on whether Pitt would play the main role or something else, but his involvement is certainly a good sign of forward movement on this one. Tarantino has been tinkering with the script, but word of casting (potential or otherwise) means he’s moving on to the next step –– putting the pieces together to actually shoot.

What else do we know about the film?

Quentin Tarantino on the set of ‘Django Unchained.’

Thus far, we know very little. Tarantino doesn’t have a deal at a studio for the movie, but he could well opt to return to Sony, for whom he made ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood’ and handed him an intriguing deal that means the rights to the movie eventually revert to the director.

We’d guess most studios would want to be in business with the filmmaker, especially if he goes through with his claim that he’ll only make 10 movies. The cachet of releasing Quentin Tarantino’s final movie is enticing –– and he also tends to attract big name actors, who go on to win awards, such as Pitt with ‘Hollywood’.

Will this really be Quentin Tarantino’s final movie?

(L to R) Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt star in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.’

Besides the filmmaker himself, no-one really knows at this point. But he has spoken in the past about wanting to quit before getting stale and picked 10 films as a good number to have directed.

He said this to Playboy in 2012:

“I want to stop at a certain point. Directors don’t get better as they get older. Usually the worst films in their filmography are those last four at the end. I am all about my filmography, and one bad film f***s up three good ones. I don’t want that bad, out-of-touch comedy in my filmography, the movie that makes people think, ‘Oh man, he still thinks it’s 20 years ago.’ When directors get out-of-date, it’s not pretty.”

When will ‘The Movie Critic’ be in theaters?

‘The Movie Critic’ has no confirmed release date right now. But it’ll hopefully be shooting this year.

Director Quentin Tarantino.

Other Movies Directed by Quentin Tarantino:
- ‘Reservoir Dogs‘ (1992)
- ‘Pulp Fiction‘ (1994)
- ‘Jackie Brown‘ (1997)
- ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 1‘ (2003)
- ‘Kill Bill: Vol. 2‘ (2004)
- ‘Death Proof‘ (2007)
- ‘Inglourious Basterds‘ (2009)
- ‘Django Unchained‘ (2012)
- ‘The Hateful Eight‘ (2015)
- ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood‘ (2019)
Buy Quentin Tarantino Movies on Amazon
UsAjloTG
February 1, 2024
TV Review: ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’
(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

Premiering on Prime Video this week, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ loosely –– very loosely –– adapts the 2005 Doug Liman movie that saw Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie playing married assassins unaware of each other’s secret job whose stale relationship is re-ignited when they’re assigned by their competing agencies to take each other out (and we don’t mean on a date).

But the new series shares really only the title and the most basic concept with the movie. Instead, here we have two strangers who apply for a job that sees them partnered up and moving through the various stages of relationships in their fake coupledom even as real feelings develop and the missions become more perilous.

Related Article: Donald Glover and Maya Erskine are Faux Married Spies in the ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ Teaser

Does ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ hit its target?

Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ deployed monsters as metaphor for teenage angst, body changes, and concerns. ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ tries a similar trick (though hopefully without the problematic future Joss Whedon of it all), utilizing the central couple’s various experiences as a mirror for a developing relationship.

It’s not a completely 1:1 situation, though some episodes play to that much more than others (episode 5, for example, sees the duo forced into a situation where their charge, played wonderfully by a superbly grumpy Ron Perlman is effectively a substitute child) but in general, the idea works.

Sometimes the balance of character work to action can be off-kilter, and not everything about the main dynamic works (Donald Glover and Maya Erskine have decent chemistry, though it takes some time to find its groove). Which, we suppose is how all relationships start and end up working.

But on the whole, it’s an entertaining peek into the various marker points of the relationship and the series format certainly offers more scope to explore the character levels than anything in the movie.

‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’: Script and Direction

(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

Though Glover originally developed the show with ‘Fleabag’ creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creative differences saw Waller-Bridge depart and Glover instead create the show with his ‘Atlanta’ cohort Francesca Sloane (who runs the show here).

The writing for the series carries some of the hallmarks of Glover and Sloane’s past work (though none of its experimental, random nature which probably wouldn’t have worked for this). This time around, their focus is on the burgeoning relationships and using the spy missions/job as a giant metaphor for an evolving connection between two people is one that largely works well, even if it does mean there tends to be a larger focus on interaction between the two main characters rather than the action side of things. Jane and John are written decently, though they may end up testing the patience of some audiences.

As for the metaphors, they run the gamut from excellent to exhausting. One episode, where our main pair meet and spend time with another “John” and “Jane” is at times interminable (no fault of the actors involved). But the mission-of-the-week format means that if you don’t spark to one episode, you may well enjoy another.

Directors Hiro Murai, Christian Sprenger and Karena Evans (the first two have ‘Atlanta’ experience on their busy resumes, the latter has focused more on music videos and other TV series) bring a fresh, dynamic look to the show, and if the action moments aren’t quite up there with the likes of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ or ‘Bond’ franchises, that’s because it isn’t the main point here. This is a relationship drama with a side of set-pieces.

‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’: Performances

(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

With the guest cast almost constantly changing (only one or two people beyond the leads appear in more than a single episode), the weight is very much on Glover and Erskine. As people who have both been the focus of TV series they co-created, they’re both more than able to carry the load of leading roles.

Of the two, Erskine comes off better, getting to show more development than the slightly more disconnected Glover. She’s excited for the opportunity to begin with, but you can really see the weight settle upon her as the season moves on. Keeping the metaphor of the relationship going, she becomes more and more disenfranchised as she realizes she’s holding up more of her end in terms both missions and personal life.

Which is not to say that Glover is bad –– his John Smith is a man who seems far less willing to leave his old life behind (a nod towards the usual commitment issues found more often in men than women) –– and he has some superb moments as the relationship develops and, at times, sours.

(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

Neither of the main pair are natural action stars, but they do their best, aided with a decent stunt team.

Around them is an ever-changing roster of others: Paul Dano is a good-looking neighbor who Jane takes a shine to, while Wagner Moura and Parker Posey are the other John and Jane who share the double date that ends awkwardly (and dangerously). Again, as mentioned above, the actors are perfectly fine in their roles, they’re just let down a little by the episode’s script.

Perlman, meanwhile, is wonderful in his role as the mysterious man that John and Jane are assigned to protect.

‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’: Final Thoughts

(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

If it sometimes stretches the concept a little thin, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ is an effective mix of spy thriller and marriage drama with the emphasis on the latter.

Those seeking the next ‘Atlanta’ won’t find that here, but then, that wasn’t the point –– and as adaptations of movies go, this at least has the confidence to truly be its own thing.

‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ receives 7.5 out of 10 stars.

(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

What’s the story of ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’?

Two lonely strangers land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travel, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan.

The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, John (Donald Glover) and Jane (Maya Erskine) navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone.

Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier: espionage or marriage?

Who is in ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’?

The series cast also includes Paul Dano, Billy Campbell, Ron Perlman, John Turturro, Sharon Horgan, Wagner Moura and Parker Posey.

(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

Other Donald Glover Movies:
- ‘The Muppets‘ (2011)
- ‘The To Do List‘ (2013)
- ‘Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day‘ (2014)
- ‘The Lazarus Effect‘ (2015)
- ‘Magic Mike XXL‘ (2015)
- ‘The Martian‘ (2015)
- ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming‘ (2017)
- ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story‘ (2018)
- ‘The Lion King‘ (2019)
- ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘ (2023)
Buy Donald Glover Movies On Amazon
February 1, 2024
First Teaser for ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’
Preview:
- Prime Video’s ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ has launched its first trailer.
- The show stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine.
- The series launches on February 2nd.
Once upon a time, ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith‘ were Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, playing married assassins whose relationship had begun to feel stale. But when they discover their shared, hidden sides, things spice back up –– even if neither might survive it.

In taking that idea, ‘Atlanta’ creator and co-star Donald Glover has given it a slight twist (see below), recruiting Maya Erskine to play Mrs. Smith to his Mr.

From the looks of the first teaser, the show certainly manages to bring both the funny and the action levels, so this is one we’re anticipating.
19793
What’s the story of ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’?

(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

While it has a similar basic concept to the 2005 Doug Liman movie (famously the project where Pitt met and ended up married to co-star Jolie), the new series puts a fresh spin on the story.

Here, Glover and Erskine play two lonely strangers who land jobs working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, world travel, and a dream brownstone in Manhattan.

The catch? New identities in an arranged marriage as Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Smith. Now hitched, John and Jane navigate a high-risk mission every week while also facing a new relationship milestone. Their complex cover story becomes even more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other. What’s riskier: espionage or marriage?

Who also appears in ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’?

Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s cast is full of solid character actors and people known for blending comedy and drama. The ensemble includes Alexander Skarsgård, Eliza González, Sarah Paulson, Sharon Horgan, Ron Perlman, Billy Campbell, Úrsula Corberó, Paul Dano, Michaela Coel, John Turturro, Parker Posey and Wagner Moura.

Related Article: Donald Glover To Write Lando Series With His Brother Stephen Glover

Who has made ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’?

Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

Glover co-created the series with Francesca Sloane, one of his ‘Atlanta’ colleagues. Christian Sprenger, a fallow ‘Atlanta’ veteran, is the main director.

Originally, ‘Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge was aboard to co-write and co-star, but because of creative differences, she left the show in 2021.

Here’s what she told The Hollywood Reporter about it:

“I worked on that show for six months fully in heart and mind and really cared about it — still care about it. And I know it’s gonna be brilliant. But sometimes it’s about knowing when to leave the party. You don’t want to get in the way of a vision. Creative collaboration is like a marriage, and some marriages don’t work out.”

When will ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ be on our screens?

All eight episodes of the show will debut on Prime Video on February 2nd.

(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

(L to R) Maya Erskine and Donald Glover in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

(L to R) Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’ Credit: David Lee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

Other Donald Glover Movies:
- ‘The Muppets‘ (2011)
- ‘The To Do List‘ (2013)
- ‘Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day‘ (2014)
- ‘The Lazarus Effect‘ (2015)
- ‘Magic Mike XXL‘ (2015)
- ‘The Martian‘ (2015)
- ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming‘ (2017)
- ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story‘ (2018)
- ‘The Lion King‘ (2019)
- ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘ (2023)
Buy Donald Glover Movies On Amazon
December 7, 2023
‘Babylon’ Interview: Composer Justin Hurwitz
i2YkPA5Z
Currently available on digital and streaming, and arriving on Blu-ray and DVD beginning March 21st is the Oscar nominated movie ‘Babylon,’ which was directed by Oscar winner Damien Chazelle (‘La La Land’).

What is ‘Babylon’ about?

‘Babylon’ follows the rise and fall of a group of characters during Hollywood’s transition from silent film to talkies in the 1920s.
INbdFjETdVDtpMjNWNclT1
Who is in the cast of ‘Babylon?’

‘Babylon’ stars Brad Pitt as movie star Jack Conrad, Margot Robbie as young actress Nellie LaRoy, Diego Calva as assistant turned producer Manny Torres, Jean Smart as journalist Elinor St. John, Jovan Adepo as musician Sidney Palmer, Li Jun Li as performer Lady Fay Zhu, and Tobey Maguire as gangster James McKay.

The movie also features appearances from Lukas Haas, Max Minghella, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, Spike Jonze, Chloe Fineman, and Olivia Wilde.

How many 2023 Academy Award nominations did ‘Babylon’ receive?

‘Babylon’ has received three 2023 Academy Award nominations including Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score for composer Justin Hurwitz.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with two-time Academy Award winning composer Justin Hurwitz about his Oscar nominated work on ‘Babylon,’ collaborating with his friend director Damien Chazelle, watching dailies and creating music for the elephant.

‘Babylon’ Composer Justin Hurwitz.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch the interview.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to Damien Chazelle’s screenplay for ‘Babylon’ and the themes that you wanted to explore with the score?

Justin Hurwitz: So I got the draft in fall of 2019, and I was just so entertained by it. I mean, my jaw was kind of on the floor for a lot of these scenes, and there were great monologues and really beautifully written emotional scenes as well. So it was just such a great read. The first thing I thought was, “Oh, my God, there’s going to be a lot of music in this movie.” So Damien and I started talking about it.

Of course it’s set in old Hollywood, but what got me excited about it was right off the bat, Damien said he didn’t want the music to sound like 1920s jazz. He didn’t want it to sound like old movie music. He wanted to do something very different than that. So that got me excited, because I was thinking the same thing as I was reading the script. I was thinking super entertaining movie, but I don’t want to have to write period music, and luckily he didn’t want to do that either.

Director Damien Chazelle on the set of ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

MF: You’ve composed all of director Damien Chazelle’s previous movies. Can you talk about collaborating with him, your working relationship, and how the process of scoring one of his films works?

JH: Well, so much of it feels exactly like it did when we were 20-years old working on the ‘Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench,’ which was our student film that kind of ballooned into a small feature. Just the process of sitting at the piano, coming up with ideas, making voice notes, sending idea, after idea to Damien getting, “No, no, no, maybe, no, no, no,” before you finally get, “Yes, I love it, that’s the one.” I rely on him so much to help steer me into my best ideas, and that has never changed. Even the process of sitting at the piano and making little MP3s hasn’t changed. But we’ve gotten more efficient over the years at certain things.

I love the way we have sort of developed it in post-production where we get offices next to each other so he can cut the movie with (editor) Tom Cross for a year or so, and I can be there the entire time, literally sharing a door. We have a suite with a shared door, so I can be in their room all the time and Damien’s coming into my room. We’re just going back and forth working on picture and music. That’s a process we’ve kind of refined over the years, and I love it. Probably my favorite time is when we’re in post, and we’re all under one roof, and we can finish the movie together, and the score can really take shape and come together. So that’s something that we learned from the past couple of movies, and we’ve sort of fallen into those practices.

Damien is full-time with Tom Cross, the editor, so they’re working together, and then Damien’s full-time with me, really. So that’s why we have these shared offices. So he can be very hands-on with the editing and very hands on with the score. What’s great about Damien is he has such a specific vision, and he’s such a specific filmmaker. He knows what he wants visually, sonically, everything, but he also lets creative people do what we do.

So it’s this very tricky balance and I think he’s found the right balance. He does it very well, and you don’t want to work with a filmmaker that doesn’t know what they want. It’s good to work with filmmakers that are very specific, and very hands on, but they need to give the latitude to the collaborators to come up with their own ideas, and explore, and be creative people of our own. So Damien does both of those things very well.

(L to R) Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy and Diego Calva plays Manny Torres in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Related Articles: Damien Chazelle Talks ‘Babylon’ and Working with Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie

MF: Do you watch dailies and take inspiration from the actor’s performances for the score?

JH: Absolutely. There were kind of two phases of scoring this movie. We had to create about an hour of music in pre-production before we could even shoot the movie. So I was doing tons and tons of demos. We were building that for about a year and a half. We were in the studio recording that. All of that was before the movie was shot. I was going off of the script, and I was going off of Damien’s storyboards. He makes literally thousands of pages of hand-drawn storyboards, and he cuts animatics and we build to that.

Then the movie’s shot, and I’m on set. So I’m there experiencing the feeling of the shoot and the scene. The performance is actually live in front of the camera. Then we have post-production and I made about another hour of music in post-production. At that point, that’s more of the traditional film scoring approach, where I’m watching the dailies, the cuts, the scenes, and then the entire cuts.

For that last hour of score, these are the scenes that you have to just watch, and you have to just respond to what’s in the scenes. So the Manny/Nellie cues, those relationship cues, you just have to watch and respond to the rhythms of the dialogue, and the feeling of it, and the way it’s cut, and what you’re seeing in the design of it all. There were plenty of cues of that sort. So there is really kind of two totally different approaches to this movie. The hour of music we did before it was shot, and then the hour of music we did after it was shot, and it’s about two hours of score in total.

I mean, it’s so well planned because like I said, Damien has storyboarded this thing down to the fraction of a second. While I’ve been building the demos, he’s been building the storyboards. He’s like, “Give me two more seconds here, cut a half second from there.” It’s like we are refining this. Of course things change, and that becomes part of my job. I said, an hour of music is created beforehand. I’m still rebuilding that music through post-production as well, because as the cut comes together, we are lengthening, or shortening, or rebuilding, and moving things around. Things are always changing. But I don’t think there were any pieces of music that we recorded that just got cut from the movie or anything that was that drastically rethought when it comes to those pre-recorded tracks.

MF: Finally, what was it like scoring the scenes with the elephant?

JH: Well, I wasn’t on set for the actual defecation scene. But the elephant does burst into the party a little bit later. That was fun because the track “Voodoo Mama” is the track that’s going on, and that’s where Nellie, Margot Robbie’s character is dancing, crowd surfing, and completely owning this room. It’s a real fun jazz band meets rock and roll, meets dance music sort of track. That track, as soon as the elephant bursts through the door, takes a big turn into circus music. So we have kazoos and slide whistles, and the band starts playing almost like a circus band in with all these crash symbols and circus sort of music. So the track takes a big turn there, and that was a very fun genre to play in.

We actually use circus sounds throughout the score. We bring a lot of those sounds back even during some of those really intimate Manny/Nellie cues. Those cues are kind of this mixture of three pianos that have this very fragile, broken, half out of tune quality. But in those cues, sometimes we pull in little circus sounds as well because their relationship is a bit of a circus, and it’s just sort of a motif in this movie. So we had a lot of fun with many different colors in this score, including circus colors.

Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Other Movies Similar to ‘Babylon:’
- ‘Silent Movie‘ (1976)
- ‘The Artist‘ (2012)
- ‘Whiplash‘ (2014)
- ‘Hail, Caesar!‘ (2016)
- ‘La La Land‘ (2016)
- ‘First Man‘ (2018)
- ‘Mank‘ (2020)
- ‘Amsterdam‘ (2022)
Buy Tickets: ‘Babylon’ Movie Showtimes

Where to Watch: ‘Babylon’ Online

Buy ‘Babylon’ On Amazon

‘Babylon’ is produced by Paramount, Marc Platt Production, Material Pictures, C2 Motion Picture Group, Wild Chickens and Organism Pictures. ‘Babylon’ debuts on digital and streaming January 31st, and will be available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning March 21st.
February 22, 2023
Movie Review: ‘Babylon’

Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Debuting in theaters on December 23rd, ‘Babylon’ is the latest film from Damien Chazelle, the writer-director of ‘Whiplash’ and ‘La La Land’. Unfortunately, it is also his weakest effort, though not for lack of ambition and scale.

Starting, perhaps as it means to go on with a desire for shock and even a metaphor for what happens to many of the characters in the movie, ‘Babylon’ features an elephant defecating noisily and filthily across an unfortunate man helping to push the truck it is riding in up a hill, the result also splattering the camera.

The animal is on its way to be the star attraction a lavish Hollywood bash being held in the hills, and one of the people helping to get it there is Manny Torres (Diego Calva), who fortunately avoids being covered in Proboscidea poop.

He ends up hired to help out at the party and has his first experience of roaring ‘20s Hollywood––or at least its decadent, wild excessive side––where sweaty, near-naked crowds writhe in time to jazz music. Drugs and booze are in free supply, all thanks to the host, veteran actor Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) who shows up with his latest soon-to-be-ex-wife, played in a brief scene by Olivia Wilde.

(L to R) Brad Pitt plays Jack Conrad and Diego Calva plays Manny Torres in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Looking to gatecrash is Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), an ambitious young woman convinced she has untapped star power, and who ends up scoring a lucky break, setting her star on the rise as Jack starts to see his own begin to fall.

Manny––who befriends Nellie––is captivated by the idea of working in Hollywood, and sees his own prospects enhanced when one of Jack’s team asks him to make sure the sozzled actor gets home safely. From there, Manny works his way up the ranks, his good ideas for movies helping boost his career in the fictional film studio of the story.

‘Babylon’ is primarily the story of Manny, Nellie and Jack, with some attention paid to jazz musician Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo), who will carve his own path out in the entertainment industry, performer Lady Fay Zhu (Li Jun Li), and gossip columnist Elinor St. John (Jean Smart).

The characters’ arcs weave in and out of each other, as Nellie becomes more and more famous (while her gambling habits and other addictions catch up to her) and Chazelle roams from party to party, interspersed by scenes where movies are made.

Jovan Adepo plays Sidney Palmer in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Around them, Hollywood begins to evolve from the silent era to the age of talkies, and from rough-and-ready shooting in the desert to cavernous soundstages.

Robbie is particularly vibrant in the film, finding different layers to her character as she moves through the business, and is convincing at every step. Whether she’s conniving to get her name in lights, or overhearing people talking her down, this is further proof that she’s one of the best working at the moment. Pitt, meanwhile, commits to the easy charm of Conrad, whose career is on the wane as audiences don’t warm to him once talking pictures come along.

Calva, who is probably best known to American audiences from ‘Narcos: Mexico’, is something of a revelation, a soulful presence in the movie who worries that his soul is tainted as he climbs the executive ranks and then has to help Nellie out of her money problems.

Smart, whose gossip hound flits in and out of the story, is particularly strong, though she’s not often on screen for more than a minute or so. But her big scene with Jack, where she explains his downward slide, is a highlight. Li, meanwhile, who is also largely on the sidelines, makes the most of her role.

Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

And there are certainly elements to recommend here: in some scenes, ‘Babylon’ has a pleasing level of comedy, especially when director Ruth Adler (Olivia Hamilton) and Nellie are trying to shoot a scene in the early sound era, where mic positions, concerns over volume and particularly an overheating cameraman, provide memorable laughs.

A stacked cameo cast largely exists for the audience to play Spot The Actor, with the likes of Eric Roberts, Max Minghella (playing Irving Thalberg, one of the few actual Hollywood legends in the mostly fictionalized movie), Katherine Waterston, Lukas Haas, Flea and Samara Weaving all showing up at different times.

Chazelle unfortunately loses focuses when it comes to the theme of the film, though. Certainly, there is plenty to be mined from the idea of Hollywood and this time, but ‘Babylon’, for all its length and intertwined stories, merely scrapes the surface. The concept that the entertainment industry is a place for excess and fraught with problems for those who seek stardom is hardly a fresh one, and the movie has little to say that is new or interesting.

This is much bigger than his previous efforts, but it soon becomes ungainly, and is loaded down with flabby scenes that add little. Even a crazed moment for Calva, where he’s seeking financial help from the distinctly dodgy James McKay, played by Tobey Maguire, which takes in freaks, torture implements and an alligator, feels like it could easily be lost in the service of reducing the movie’s overinflated running time.

Tobey Maguire plays James McKay in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

The less said about the final montage that wraps up the movie, the better, to be honest. It’s meant to celebrate the movies but ends up an embarrassingly amateur example, cramming in easy highpoints and coming across as something out of a film school offering.

Given that he’s been planning and writing the movie in his head for around 15 years, we’re sorry to report that Chazelle has fumbled this one. ‘Babylon’ is not without its charms and some diversion, but beyond the main cast’s appeal, it is a lot of sound and fury, signifying––not nothing––but not much.

‘Babylon’ receives 2.5 out of 5 stars.

(L to R) Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy and Diego Calva plays Manny Torres in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.
INbdFjETdVDtpMjNWNclT1 Kth9u9mk

December 28, 2022
‘Babylon’ Interview: Writer and Director Damien Chazelle

JiTUVuJK
Opening in theaters on December 23rd is the new film from Academy Award-winning writer and director Damien Chazelle (‘Whiplash,’ ‘La La Land’) entitled ‘Babylon.’

The new movie follows the rise and fall of a group of characters during Hollywood’s transition from silent film to talkies in the 1920s.

The incredible all-star cast includes Oscar-winner Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, Tobey Maguire, Lukas Haas, Max Minghella, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Chloe Fineman, Ethan Suplee, and Lewis Tan.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down in-person with writer and director Damien Chazelle to talk about his work on ‘Babylon,’ what audiences can expect from the new movie, why he was interested in this point in Hollywood’s history, casting Pitt and Robbie, and the importance of music in his films.

‘Babylon’ writer and director Damien Chazelle.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Chazelle, as well as actors Jovan Adepo and Li Jun Li.

Moviefone: To begin with, what would you say to moviegoers getting ready to sit down and watch this film to prepare them for the experience they’re about to have?

Damien Chazelle: That’s a good question. I would say just to prepare yourself for a wild ride. It’s not the kind of movie about older Hollywood that I think anyone is expecting. It’s shocking, it’s wild, it’s crazy, it’s a roller coaster ride, it’s an adventure, and it’s a party. I would say to go in with that in mind.

But beyond that, I don’t know, I wouldn’t say much. I think ultimately I made this movie for audiences, for them to have an experience. I think whatever mindset you’re in when you sit down in the theater for this movie, it will sweep you up and it’s going to take you for a ride whether you want to or not.

MF: What was it about this era in Hollywood’s history, the period moving from silent films to talkies, that really fascinated you and what were some of the themes you wanted to explore with this movie?

DC: Well, a lot of it had to do with just how unhinged the society was at that time. I just hadn’t realized the extent to which people at that time partied, how hard they lived, how hard they worked, and how recklessly and transgressively they operated. It was this circus atmosphere that I think in many ways got lost once Hollywood became a little more sanitized and regulated, and became more of a corporate industry.

The Hollywood in this movie is right before that. It’s the last gasp of the wild West of early Hollywood when it was still unregulated. It was like people pitching a tent in the desert and making their movies, and doing them the way they wanted to. There was just this manic, hysterical atmosphere where anything went. That was key to try to capture that and take that as far as it went.

Brad Pitt plays Jack Conrad in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

MF: Can you talk about casting and working with Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie?

DC: It was amazing. As a director, it’s a dream come true. They’re such seasoned actors so, yes, on the one hand, you’re getting these larger-than-life movie stars, and they’re playing larger-than-life movie stars in the movie, so that’s kind of perfect. But they’re also just real thespians.

They deliver. They know how to craft performances that move you and make you laugh and cry and break your heart. They take you on a ride. I think they help ground this movie and make it human, so that even at its most excessive, larger-than-life, outrageous, shocking moments, you still feel a beating heart underneath. That’s thanks to them, I think, and the rest of the cast.

MF: Margot has a scene in the movie where her character has to cry on cue. Did she actually do that on set, or did you have to enhance it in post?

DC: That is Margot! Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to shoot it. You can’t CG that!

Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

MF: Finally, can you talk about Justin Hurwitz’s music for the film and the importance of music in all your movies?

DC: Music comes early on for me. I work with the same composer, Justin Hurwitz, for all my movies. We’ve worked together since college. We have a shorthand at this point. As soon as I have a script, I hand it to him, and he starts working on the music.

By the time I’m shooting, I’ve got a lot of the music already in place. We can play it on set and we can set the mood with it. We can have the actors dancing to it and thinking about it, and just letting it seep into their body. You get a sense of what the tone is right away. That’s really important to me, and especially with this movie. I knew I needed a very specific tone and a specific kind of energy and pulse, and that’s what the music provides.

Director Damien Chazelle on the set of ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.
INbdFjETdVDtpMjNWNclT1

December 20, 2022
New Trailer and Photos From Damien Chazelle’s ‘Babylon’

Kth9u9mk
Damien Chazelle is no stranger to either star power or turning back the clock to look at historical figures. He’s made Los Angeles, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone sing and dance in ‘La La Land’ and chronicled some of legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong’s life in ‘First Man’.

But for ‘Babylon’, Chazelle is thinking even bigger. He’s got Hollywood on his mind, and more specifically the 1920s, a pivotal time for both the movie industry and the city most identified with it.

At this point, Los Angeles is expanding rapidly, an infusion of money and people arriving, the latter on the hunt for wealth and fame.

Movies, and the performers who star in them, are making the difficult transition from the silent era to talkies, with some careers on the rise and some on the wane. It’s an idea that Chazelle – who won the Best Director Oscar for ‘La La Land’, but saw Best Picture go instead to ‘Moonlight’ during one of the biggest Oscar night surprise moments back in 2017 – has been percolating in his head for at least 15 years, ever since he moved to Los Angeles with his own dreams of success.

“The basic idea was just to do a big, epic, multi-character movie, set in these early days of Los Angeles and Hollywood, when both of these things were coming into what we now think of them as,” he tells Vanity Fair. “I kept putting it off, because it was just a little too massive.”

But with the likes of ‘Whiplash’, ‘La La Land’ and ‘First Man’ under his belt, he finally felt ready to tackle the giant movie he’d been making in his brain for years.

Brad Pitt plays Jack Conrad in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

And he’s recruited quite the star cast, with Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and relative newcomer Diego Calva, leading a sprawling ensemble that also includes Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, P.J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Rory Scovel, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving and Olivia Wilde.

For the most part, the cast are playing fictional folk, albeit based on real movie stars of the time. Minghella is one of the exceptions, playing powerhouse producer Irving Thalberg.

Pitt’s hard-partying Jack Conrad, for example, has echoes of Clark Gable, and Douglas Fairbanks. “He’s reaching a point in his life in his career where he’s starting to look back and starting to wonder what’s ahead,” says Chazelle of the character.

Robbie, meanwhile, is Nellie LaRoy, burning with ambition and energy, who is the Clara Bow or Joan Crawford of the story. And Chazelle sees her as a good fit for the person playing her: “Margot as a person has this— it’s a very Australian sort of thing—brash, bold, hungry kind of edge to her that she was really able to tap into and do a lot of really fun things with.”

And then there’s Calva, playing Manny Torres, a Mexican immigrant who is a wide-eyed newcomer to the world and serves as the audience’s POV.

We’re promised wild, lavish parties, scandals and more when ‘Babylon’ opens in theaters on December 25th.

(L to R) Brad Pitt plays Jack Conrad and Diego Calva plays Manny Torres in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

(L to R) Diego Calva plays Manny Torres and Jean Smart plays Elinor St. John in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Li Jun Li plays Lady Fay Zhu in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

(L to R) Lukas Haas plays George Munn and Diego Calva plays Manny Torres in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Tobey Maguire plays James McKay in ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.

Director Damien Chazelle on the set of ‘Babylon’ from Paramount Pictures.
INbdFjETdVDtpMjNWNclT1

September 9, 2022
Movie Review: ‘Bullet Train’

(L to R) Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brad Pitt in Sony Pictures’ ‘Bullet Train.’

‘Bullet Train’, which opens in theaters today, looks to add some violent fun to a summer movie season that hasn’t had too many original films on its schedule.

Which isn’t to say that the movie is completely original, as Zak Olkewicz’ script adapts Kôtarô Isaka’s novel ‘Maria Beetle’.

Yet in the hands of ‘Deadpool 2’, ‘Atomic Blonde’ and ‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’ director David Leitch, it becomes a stylized blend of hitman action, crossed coincidences and over-explained backstories.

Anchored by a laconic but funny performance from Brad Pitt, ‘Bullet Train’ is the story of Ladybug, an assassin who got out of the game and sought out a therapist after bad luck seemed to haunt his every job. Now, he’s back and looking for a relatively easier job for his first new assignment.

(L to R) Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock star in ‘Bullet Train.’ Photo: Scott Garfield. Copyright (C) 2022 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.

His handler, Maria (Sandra Bullock, who is primarily heard over a phone line) assures him that grabbing a briefcase from a bullet train and getting off at the next station should offer him no real challenge.

Of course, it doesn’t work out that way at all. Turns out, the briefcase has connections to the kidnapping of a lethal crime lord’s son (Michael Shannon is the boss known as “White Death”, while Logan Lerman is his slacker kid), and a variety of other assassins.

Prime among them are Lemon (Brian Tyree Henry) and Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), adoptive siblings who are also two of the most notorious hitmen around, who have rescued Lerman’s character and retrieved the ransom money – which is in the briefcase Ladybug has been sent to grab.

Elsewhere on the train is Kimura (Andrew Koji), looking for revenge on the person who injured his son, The Prince (Joey King), a young woman who uses her youth as a weapon as much as any gun or knife, The Wolf (Benito A Martínez Ocasio), with his own vengeful quest and The Hornet (Zazie Beetz), with a specific target for her poisonous talents.

Brad Pitt stars in ‘Bullet Train.’ Photo: Scott Garfield. Copyright: (C) 2022 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.

With Leitch in charge of the chaos (it’s worth remembering that he, along with Chad Stahelski, helped turn Keanu Reeves into a badass assassin for the first ‘John Wick’ movie), ‘Bullet Train’ is naturally crammed with inventive action. Leitch has spent his career performing stunts, coordinating them and now directing them and he knows how to craft a fun sequence that in places has echoes of Jackie Chan’s use of props as weapons.

There has also clearly been a lot of training involved, so the cast (and their stunt teams) throw themselves into the various fights and plot turns. It’s diverting to see the likes of Brian Tyree Henry, not normally known for his action work, give it their all.

Leitch and co., meanwhile have built a slick-looking set that keeps the action condensed and focused, cinematographer Jonathan Sela’s camera roaming the aisles and, later in the movie, heading outside the train to follow the combat as characters

Where it all goes off the rails (literally, at one point) is in the characters. Though some are handed backgrounds (Taylor-Johnson and Henry in particular), mostly the movie lets fists fill in the details.

(L to R) Bryan Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson star in Sony’s ‘Bullet Train.’ Photo: Scott Garfield.

The problem with prioritizing fight scenes over story is that the latter can’t completely carry the former, and when you have an entire sequence explaining how a water bottle came to be crucial to the plot and yet seems to rely on coincidence to make it work, you’re in trouble.

This is a movie that is all surface and little substance, and while that’s not the sort of dilemma that troubles summer movie audiences too much, ‘Bullet Train’ starts to feel like a numbing collection of traits, quirks and insults, like a movie conceived by some teenagers who figured they could write the ultimate script with all the stabbing, shooting, punches and kicks they could put into one movie.

Cliches crop up all over the place, including the henchman who show up at every station to threaten Ladybug and co., snarling about handing over the briefcase (which serves as a McGuffin in more ways than one).

And given the Japanese setting, it leans heavily on cliched iconography and the movie is relatively light on Asian faces. When they do appear, they’re given stereotypical roles and dialogue, while the Westerners (there a few fake British accents here among the Americans) get the lion’s share of the screen time.

(L to R) Bryan Tyree Henry and Brad Pitt star Sony’s in ‘Bullet Train.’ Photo: Scott Garfield.

Everyone is clearly having a blast beating each other up or figuring out how to survive as the train speeds to its destination, but while that’s fun for a while, it doesn’t always translate to the whole journey of the movie.

Pitt makes a solid stab at breathing life into Ladybug, who is obsessed with fate and luck, and really would rather not get into scraps (but is very adept when he does). And his chemistry with old real-life friend Bullock overcomes the fact that she’s largely off screen.

Likewise Taylor-Johnson and Henry, who generate real squabbling sibling energy but can’t quite make their characters feel more than archetypes. And King (despite some accent issues) makes for a cold, calculating killer.

Shannon gets to parlay his steely menace effectively, making the most of a relatively brief screen time allotment.

Brad Pitt stars in ‘Bullet Train.’ Photo: Scott Garfield. Copyright:(C) 2022 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.

The likes of Ocasio (normally found performing in the music sphere as Bad Bunny) and Hiroyuki Sanada (who plays Koji’s character’s father) are largely wasted in nothing roles.

There are also a couple of big celebrity cameos that we won’t spoil here, and the reveal of Beetz’ character is at least entertaining.

Imagine a crossbreed of Guy Ritchie’s repartee-filled early gangster films with the sort of action-heavy titles for which Leitch has become known and you’ve got the idea for this movie. Some of the comedy works, and a lot of the fight scenes are great, but ‘Bullet Train’ runs out of steam.

‘Bullet Train’ receives 3 out of 5 stars.

Brad Pitt stars in ‘Bullet Train.’ Photo: Scott Garfield. Copyright: (C) 2022 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.
4uWgd3i0nzMxQtEx3yZZ47

August 6, 2022