lxptz - Alex Peters

"US" & "THEM" Hailing from MADtv and veering off into the critically acclaimed series, Key&Peele, Jordan Peele loves a good story. More than that, he loves getting his hands dirty writing a good thriller. Unfortunately, to his quiet desperation all grapes of concept have been stomped and pressed in ways that only with ‘sleight of pen-in-hand’ will another writer be able to work around a plagiaristic endeavor … kind of, unnoticed. Then again, not quite, for plagiarism of concept for just about everything is inevitable resulting in triggering our recall compatibility and overwhelming déjà vu sense of familiarity. “Haven’t we all been in here before?” Needless to say, it has hardly ever stopped the long arm of the shoplifter which extends beyond that of the law. And it did not stop Peele from lifting off the concept of “THE INVITATION” two years prior to his 2017 release ; WHITE boyfriend with BLACK girlfriend driving along to an invitation that turns out to be a cult gathering. On the way they crash into a deer (jump scare thrown in for good measure) and kill it. However, in Peele’s “GET OUT” the genders are reversed ; BLACK boyfriend with WHITE girlfriend driving along to an invitation that turns out to be a cult gathering. On the way they crash into a deer (jump scare thrown in for good measure) and kill it. By the way, did I mention this is a rip-off? Yet with all that glaring similarity in plain sight little did we stop to sense the blast wave of déjà vu but proceeded to carry the director on our shoulders with the victory chant of originality. That said, Peele’s gone and done it again with his 2019 release, “Us”. He had subtly-blatantly plagiarized the concept of “THE OTHERS” (Nicole Kidman, 2001) with more emphasis on jump scares to make up for the lack of intellectual content, complete with a supposed, but highly implausible twist at the end. His title, “Us” being a derivation of the ‘Us and Them’ phrase is a dead giveaway in the parallel storyline of “THE OTHERS”. Case in point of ‘sleight of hand’ writing is having substituted the title, “THE OTHERS” … with “Us”. The result is a hybrid of New York arty-farty, pretentious avant-garde and “WALKING DEAD” theatrics glazed over with the idiotrics of Shyamalan’s epic foiled “THE HAPPENING”. This is nothing but a been-there-done-that flick which is survived solely by Michael Abels’ thunderous soundtrack. Jordan’s gargantuan persona shaped and gained by the mastery of shocking socio-racial content in “GET OUT” has reduced and relegated him back to the quirky comedian [horror-director-wannabe] which is Key&Peele Good acting? Lupita Nyongo (though some of her parts under Jordan Peele’s over-the-top direction may have made her look stupid) Bad acting? Get that father and son, Winston Duke & Evan Alex off the set! Highlights of movie: Every single time Michael Abels score comes on. And, oh yes … the clear high voice of Brian Wilson accompanied by the iconic Hammond organ when “Good Vibration” is played. Enjoyable part of movie experience: Trailer of "PET SEMATARY" before the movie started.