Eric Beck – Google

ABSOLUTELY do not get the mediocre reviews! One of the most interesting and compelling films I’ve seen in a while. Acting was, of course, excellent. Everyone was spot on. Directing was excellent. Cinematography was arresting. Soundtrack was the perfect accompaniment to this taut, haunting mystery. And I just LOVED the editing, and the way it told the story. And the story felt like it was based on a true one. Don’t want to give it away, but we’ve read about these scenarios, and we have a hard time understanding just how dark things can get. But they do, and this film captures that collision between reality and our ability to comprehend and believe it. Damn good film. Grab the popcorn and a drink, and settle in…

First, the lead character, Morgan, is WHOLLY unbelievable. A cleaning lady for an LAPD precinct…is a hot, hip, mod-ly dressed WHITE chick? What?!? I’ve lived in LA for decades, been to multiple LAPD precincts. Absolute RIDICULOUS casting. What, they couldn’t find a Latina actress, in LA?!? Have we turned the clock back 30-40 years? Her home life is absolutely unbelievable as well. Her son is this pre-teen bespectacled math genius who dispenses investment advice. Her daughter is a hottie teen, but troubled because she doesn’t feel as smart as mom or little bro. And she is clearly mixed-race while the boy isn’t. Weird. And her baby daddy - she has a relative new-born - is a clean-cut, ball-less type and NOT the type she would hook up with, ever. This home makes the Cosby abode look like a crack den. And while there are well-read cleaning ladies out there, Morgan knows EVERY random bit of information that is oh so conveniently relevant to the case, like a periodic moon movement that happens on the night of a murder. In one seen, Morgan’s cop friend tries to reach a target to warn him of an attempt on his life, but the target is in a club and can’t hear them. NO attempt to text!!’ What?!? When Morgan and cop get to club, the guy is dead. Gee, show runners, a text would have helped. Find a clever way to kill the guy, for cryin’ out loud. Dialogue is WAY to cutesy and contrived. Set design is forced, i.e., it’s less committed to reality and more to trying to fit a flawed vision. Direction is sub-par, truly. This show has no idea what it wants to be other than yet another Sherlock Holmes rip-off. Ironically, it lacks the very smarts that make Holmes so compelling. This show is a mess, and as procedurals go, a real failure. This show is for the most unsophisticated of viewer. Unwatchable for the rest of us.

The acting is good, of course, with this cast. But the story has been told. It's not the action-packed version of "Taken", and that's just fine with me. But this film simply boils down to guy, who was a bum, is now straightened out, redeems himself with estranged daughter. Certainly, any number of cop stories, medical dramas, heist films, etc., have been told and re-told, with a twist, or something that is compelling to distract from it being essentially the same story as the vary similar film made a few years back. But the great re-tellings have something genuinely fresh. I did not feel any excitement watching this film, just boredom. And when Damon's French host falls for him, I check out. It's not believable, at all, that she would fall for this guy. It's like those commercials or half-hour comedies where you have the very attractive woman, and a guy that compels people to ask, "What is SHE doing with HIM?!?". All that relationship did was check a box, "Romantic interest" and "Helper". And of course, she has a little girl that loves Damon's character. He plays with the little girl, gives her gifts, takes her to games, which endears him to the mom. Seen it too many times. When she says, "I like you, Bill Baker", just before a kiss, I just shake my head. Tired dialogue. People simply don't talk like that.He knows his last name, no reminder needed. "I like you, Bill", would have sufficed . And the twist has the impact of down pillow. This film aimed high. I see the writer/director's vision. But he missed. He didn't get there. The alchemy of all the elements did not produce any sort of synergy. Just a tired re-telling of something we've seen plenty of before.

50% on Rotten Tomatoes (Critics)? 50%?!? Nonsense! My favorite Top Critic Review is from Tom Cogshell at NPR, Los Angeles: "I watched this movie waiting for it to get bad, but it never does." Exactly. Good luck NOT being compelled to watch from beginning to end. Travolta, Dorff, and all the fine supporting actors CRUSH it. The director Maggio has made this feel FAR more like a backwoods mob murder story you might read about in the papers or hear on the news than most of the more "action packed" versions. The sound track conveys the drug wasteland that is Middle (Rural) America really effectively. And while many of these Critics trash pace, dialogue, "genre fatigue", etc., it's just Critics needing something snarky to write. Travolta has insufficient "gravitas"?!? Nonsense. He's human, ala Tommy Lee Jones in "No Country...". And Travolta has gravitas the second he hits the screen. That's why he's Travolta. You cannot take that quality away. "Genre fatigue"? Huh?!? This "genre" is playing out all over the country everyday as Fentanyl and Oxicontin - imported by Big City mobs - destroy one small town after another. Pace? Nonsense. Sorry, but sometimes, you have to break modern screenwriting rules that demand faster narrative pacing if you want to truly absorb characters and situation and deeper meaning. I didn't hear ANY dialogue that wasn't useful to my understanding of character and story. Again, after reading reviews, "I watched this movie waiting for it to get bad, but it never does." Critics gave it a collective 50%. Audiences, a 77%. Trust the Audience. After all, that's who movies are made for.

You will NOT waste 93 minutes, 93 minutes that you'll never get back. Rather, this will be a wonderful entertainment. Well-written, directed, and CERTAINLY well-acted. Gleeson, Cheadle, Strong, Cunningham, Flanagan...all masters at their craft. So, while the story might be familiar - "In he Heat of the Night", or any number of stories about a Big City/Federal cop investigating a murder in a small town with the help of the surly, local country-bumpkin, head cop - these actors create their own moments. The director stays out of the way - a skill in itself - except to bring the best out of each shot, and insure all the elements are there and in the proper place. Camera placement never distracts. So, fresh take on a familiar, but well-written story, revitalized by a great cast and mature direction.

Thoroughly entertaining. Critics will talk about a thin plot, predictability, and of course, a perhaps too much blood. But what's the difference between the Equalizer films and, say, the great, master-less samurai films of Kurosawa. Or Eastwood's Man-With-No-Name Westerns? Or even the Bond films. All predictable, plenty of killin', same basic plots. But who cares about that? When you have a character like Bond, or Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes, or Washington's McCall, you become engrossed with them, their methods and thinking, and them doing their thing. Never gets old. If anything, this film franchise will end too soon, unless they find someone who can ably replace Denzel. Elba? Denzel's son, John, (who's really too young)? Or if a White actor replaces Washington, who is old enough to play a retiree, of sorts, but can portray Washington's power, inner-life, and his stone-cold, next-level brutality when taking out bad guys? I mean, when Denzel crouches down, puts his face within inches of the dying baddie so that the last thing they see is their executioner. Stone...cold. But then Denzel can turn it on a dime, and bring the gentle Hero, embraced by children and adults alike. Few can do that. Wayne couldn't. DeNiro couldn't. Bronson kinda pulled that off. In any case, if you like films, a good use of two hours. Beautifully shot and directed and acted and scored.

The story is a take-off on the film "Fargo", and John Slattery does a good job of capturing that weird, but reality-based Middle-Americana vibe, with his own stylistic touch. I found the film entertaining, compelling. The procedural pace moved well. But mostly, I liked the acting. I am a huger fan of Tina Fey, and she and John Hamm have a proven chemistry from their 30 Rock days. Ther supporting characters fully do their job. The only reason I didn't give it 4 or 5 Stars is because, while the script served the subject and themes and characters and locations, it could have been made of a richer fabric, so to speak. For instance, in Fargo, so much of the film was filled by character behavior, aside from dialogue, action, and the plot points. Character studies, and how simple behaviors had huge story implications. I don't know. I'm not a professional movie reviewer. But this film comes real close to remarkable. As is, it's darn good, and not a bad way to spend a couple of hours of TV time

WAY too much money was spent on this. WAY too much time-jumping around. WAY too much jumpin’ the shark. Becomes downright silly. If it wasn’t for Mr. & Mrs. Spy, two terrific actors, this would be a complete waste of time. As it is, worth checking out to see if it floats your boat, but there’s a good chance you’ll lose interest mid-Ep. 3 or so. WAY too much money spent on this…as if that insures quality.