(CLICK HERE to read my full review in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

With over 50 Academy Award nominations (including five for Best Picture)and a total of 15 Oscar wins, it goes without saying that Netflix has become a major player in the world of movies. But in addition to awards season features, Netflix has also poured millions of dollars into developing their own line of big-budgeted blockbusters. The new poster child for that initiative is “Red Notice”, a $200 million action comedy featuring three of the biggest names in Hollywood entertainment.

Written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber, “Red Notice” stars Dwayne Johnson, the highest paid actor in Hollywood, Gal Gadot, one of the highest paid women in Hollywood, and Ryan Reynolds, a likable schtick-driven actor with an enthusiastic following of his own. That’s a lot of box office star power and also a sizable investment in itself.

Just based on the talent alone, you have a good idea of what you’re going to get from “Red Notice” – plenty of action scenes, just as many laughs, lots of charisma, and an open door for a sequel if this one proves profitable. In other words your standard blockbuster blueprint. But I don’t mean that as a knock. I’ve always had an affection for popcorn movies when they’re done well. Even when they stick close to the familiar formula.

To the movie’s credit, “Red Notice” knows exactly the kind of movie it wants to be, and it sticks to that vision which proves to be both a strength and weakness. Thurber and company stay with what works and have a great time doing it. And you never have to worry about the movie taking itself seriously. At the same time, the relentless gags and overall silliness can get a little exhausting. And those looking for even the smallest amount of dramatic tension won’t find it here.

This fun smorgasbord of genres goes as heavy into comedy as it does action. But it also throws in some heist thriller elements and a bit of swashbuckling adventure. Johnson gets top billing playing FBI beefcake John Hartley, a seasoned profiler with the Bureau who specializes in art crime. The film opens as Hartley and Inspector Das (Ritu Arya) from Interpol arrive at Rome’s renowned Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant’Angelo. Inside the museum is one of three bejeweled eggs given to Cleopatra from Mark Antony. The second egg is in a private collection in Spain and the location of the third remains a mystery.

So why is all this egg talk important? An Egyptian billionaire is offering $300 million to whoever delivers him all three eggs by his daughter’s wedding day. Hartley is in Rome after receiving a tip that renowned con artist Nolan Booth (Reynolds) is in town to swipe egg number one. But there’s a third player who factors into the equation – the sphinxlike “most wanted art thief in the world” (Gadot) who watches from afar with a ton of resources at her disposal.

This fast-moving caper launches with a wild chase sequence in Rome where Booth and the egg slips through Hartley’s fingers. There’s a brief stop in Bali where Hartley tracks down and apprehends Booth. Then its back to Rome where Hartley discovers the egg he has retrieved is fake and he has in fact been framed for the theft by a mysterious shadowy character known as Bishop. Hartley and Booth get shipped to a frigid Siberian prison (don’t ask) where they learn the true identity of Bishop (Gadot).

It may sound like I’m spoiling a lot of the plot but I’m really not. All of that is mostly setup for this around-the-world jaunt that also makes stops in London, Egypt, and Argentina among other scenic locales. Along the way, Thurber puts together a number of high-energy set pieces including a crazy prison escape, a gag-filled fight sequence in Valencia, and a wild car chase through a mineshaft. Not every action scene works (there’s an especially dumb sequence inside a Spanish bullring), but most are entertaining and clearly a huge chunk of the budget went into them.

As for the three stars, each deliver exactly what you expect from them. The magnetic Johnson flexes his big biceps and his bigger personality. The playfully seductive Gadot seems to be having a blast. And the quick-witted Reynolds plays straight to type, with a joke-a-second cadence that offers up plenty of laughs while testing your endurance. Together the trio have good chemistry, riffing on a number of well-worn action movie tropes and checking all the boxes most of us look for in our breezy popcorn escapism. “Red Notice” is out today in select theaters and premieres on Netflix November 12th.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

In one respect the new film “Reminiscence” shines on its star power wattage alone. Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson are a handsome pair and each possess their own uniquely magnetic acting styles. “Reminiscence” also sports an intriguing premise that melds together science-fiction, classic romance and hard-boiled 1940s film noir. If only all of those tantalizing pieces came together as they should.

“Reminiscence” is written and directed by Lisa Joy, the sister-in-law of filmmaker Christopher Nolan. In her ambitious first feature, Joy shows off some of the same imagination as her famous brother-in-law. Her high concept story has all the ingredients of a cool vintage noir – the gloomy narration, the sultry femme fatale, a tortured detective-like protagonist. Also its not-to-distant sci-fi dystopia makes for an interesting setting.

But despite its promise, “Reminiscence” is more of a sampler platter of numerous better films. There’s a touch of “Inception”, a pinch of “The Maltese Falcon”, a dash of “Blade Runner”, and a smidgen of “Minority Report”. It’s also a movie rich with intriguing concepts that are never explored in a satisfying way. That’s because too much time is put into an undercooked romance that has the spark but not the sizzle it needs.

Jackman and Ferguson appeared together in 2017’s “The Greatest Showman” but this is a MUCH different movie. It takes place mostly in Miami where rising water levels have left it (and presumably every other major city) standing in water. In fact, rather than cars, boats are now the most efficient means of transportation. Also, the city is mostly nocturnal with businesses opening up at night so people can avoid the unbearable heat of the day.

Jackman plays Nick Bannister, who has a rather peculiar business that he runs out of an old abandoned bank. With the world so bleak people with nothing to look forward to have started looking back and Nick helps them. In one of many bits of narration he explains his work like this: “Memory is the boat that sails against its current. And I’m the oarsman.” Clear as mud, right?

Basically people come in for sessions in a casket-shaped device Nick calls “the tank”. It was once an interrogation tool during a fairly ambiguous “war” that’s mentioned often but never really explained. Now the machine is used to reconnect people to their favorite memories. And as they do, Nick and his hard-drinking assistant Watts (Thandiwe Newton) watch a three-dimensional holographic projection of what’s going on in their clients’ minds.

One day right at closing time, in walks Mae (Ferguson), a beautiful yet mysterious nightclub singer. Literally within seconds, without much buildup or explanation, Nick is infatuated with her. The two begin a brief love affair until Mae suddenly vanishes. Obsessed with finding her, Nick becomes what the press notes describe as a “private investigator of the mind”, tossing aside his work and even his friendship with Watts to find Mae.

As you can probably guess, his lovesick search for answers steers him down some dangerous paths, and it takes the story in all sorts of directions. And unfortunately the more it branches out the more convoluted it all gets. Both Jackman and Ferguson do their best to keep things interesting while a really good performance from Newton is wasted. Her character’s biggest contributions are nagging Nick to stay out of the tank, downing whiskey, and providing the spark in her one action scene. After that she essentially disappears.

Also the movie teases a captivating world full of corruption, oppression and suffering that’s just begging to be explored. There’s all of this stuff about ruthless land barons buying up all the dry land and the above-mentioned war that left society in shambles. But most of what we learn about it comes through passing mentions in conversations or vague references during some narration. It’s a shame because in many ways the world is more compelling than the story’s central mystery.

In the end, “Reminiscence” ends up being a movie with lots on its mind but no sure way of unpacking it all. Its attractive cast and cool genre blending definitely works in the movie’s favor. But Joy is never able to rev up the kind of excitement a movie like this needs. It just hums along at one temperature, teasing us with a better movie and never quite delivering on what it promises. “Reminiscence” is now showing in theaters and on HBO Max.

VERDICT – 2.5 STARS

Morgan Neville takes a revealing look into the fascinating yet complicated life of chef, travel guru, television host, and author Anthony Bourdain with his new documentary “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain”. Neville doesn’t set out to do an exhaustive dive into the man’s life story. Instead he hones in on Bourdain’s rise from discouraged executive chef at Manhattan’s Brasserie Les Halles to full-blown cultural celebrity. But through it all Neville’s focus remains intently on the man underneath the brash and snarky exterior; the man who sadly took his own life on June 8, 2018. He was 61.

Neville unpacks the enigma that is Anthony Bourdain through his subject’s own words and those of friends, creative partners, his brother, and his second wife among others. Bourdain had an unmistakable physical presence – a tall and slender frame, a thick curly crop of hair, a big toothy smile. Outspoken and often unfiltered, he was more than happy to share his opinions and he didn’t shy away from talking about his drug-riddled past. Throw in his love for punk rock and his two-pack-a-day smoking habit and you have a bad-boy image that would stick with him, whether it was deserved or not.

But as we quickly learn, Bourdain’s larger-than-life persona was hiding the troubled and brittle psyche of a man who never felt comfortable in his own skin. Neville’s film reveals a man struggling in his ill-fated pursuit of true happiness. He gets tastes along the way – meeting and marrying his second wife Ottavia Busia; becoming a father for the first time at age 50. But as one of Bourdain’s long-time television collaborators puts it, reality could never live up to his romanticized view of it.

“Roadrunner” pulls from an assortment of never-before-seen video including private recordings, behind the scenes television footage, etc. They allow us to see the man friends called “Tony” both flourish and struggle in the various stages of his professional life. We get old video showing his love/hate relationship with the kitchen. We see him overwhelmed by the success of his lawless memoir “Kitchen Confidential”. And of course there are countless clips from his wildly popular television shows where he would travel the globe exploring culture and cuisine; introducing American audiences to exotic places and exotic foods.

And of course the film chronicles his final years which Neville handles with a thoughtful yet unflinchingly honest touch. Leading up to his second divorce, it almost seems as if Bourdain had given up on the prospect of a normal life. “I want to be normal. I want to be like everyone else,” he laments only to later admit “I don’t even know what (normal) is anymore.” Then Neville leans on the words of Bourdain’s colleagues and friends to unwrap his unhealthy infatuation with girlfriend Asia Argento. Filming his show became a chore especially for his long-time crew who were finding him harder and harder to work with. And of course it only got darker from there.

Anthony Bourdain was a fascinating figure with a robust and sometimes in-your-face personality that made him easy to love or hate. “Roadrunner” doesn’t try to rewrite the man or soften his jagged edges. In many ways it attempts to make sense of his mystique while also shedding light on the person himself who inspired millions to live their lives to the fullest even as he struggled to find contentment in his own. There’s a bleakness to the film that Neville doesn’t hide from, but that comes with the honesty he brings. It’s what ultimately sets the movie apart from so many other by-the-book celebrity retrospectives. “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” opens in theaters this Friday (July 16th).

VERDICT – 4 STARS

“Fast and Furious” wisecracker Tyrese Gibson is handed a much more serious role leading the upcoming action-thriller “Rogue Hostage”. Jon Keyes directs from a story by screenwriter Mickey Solis. Their movie, set mostly in a Wal-Mart styled department store, starts out with glimmers of promise. But as the tropes start to pile up and the flimsiness of both the characters and the story is exposed, it quickly becomes evident that the film’s title isn’t the only thing that’s generic.

Gibson plays Kyle Snowden, a former Marine suffering from severe PTSD following a traumatic tour of duty in Afghanistan. Now he works for child protective services with his fellow caseworker and friend Clove (Brandi Bravo). Through a couple of vague information drops we learn that Kyle’s wife up and left him and their young daughter Angel (Zani Jones Mbayise). We never learn why, only that her departure has left Kyle in a tough spot.

Kyle’s stepfather, a wealthy local business owner named Sam Nelson (John Malkovich), doesn’t help much. He barely notices Kyle’s struggles, instead offering such unhelpful advice as “You need to find your purpose again.” The hard-to-read Nelson is much more interested in his bid for Congress, and with the election right around the corner optics are everything.

Of course in a movie like this you have to have a baddie and here we get it in the form of Eagan Raize, an angry militant type holding a pretty big grudge. He’s played by Christopher Backus who has both the look and demeanor that the role demands. His introduction is foreboding and frightening. It teases a ruthless and unstable antagonist, driven by something unseen and determined to see his personal mission through. Unfortunately like so much else in “Rogue Hostage”, he too becomes a shallow caricature and the kind of cookie-cutter villain you could plug into almost any movie of this type.

The story is kickstarted when Kyle and Clove rescue a young Mexican boy and stop by Sam’s store to get him something to eat. Inside Sam is prepping to shoot a new campaign ad making it the perfect time for Eagan and his two heavily armed cousins to barge in and take over the place. From there the movie turns into your prototypical hostage flick with Kyle trapped inside with an assortment of surface-level characters – the resourceful store manager Sunshine (Luna Lauren Vélez), a young shoplifter (Holly Taylor), Nelson’s self-absorbed press secretary (Susannah Hoffman) to name a few.

From there nothing about how “Rogue Hostage” plays out will surprise you. Despite hitting some pretty conventional beats, it sets itself up to be a fairly entertaining genre film. But soon all hints at originality start to unravel and it becomes your garden-variety hostage thriller with most of the clichés yet none of the thrills. And it tosses in so many themes yanked from today’s newspaper headlines. Income inequality, white supremacy, guns, the southern border, crony capitalism and more, all handled superficially and with no punch whatsoever. Just more frustration from this unfortunate misfire. “Rogue Hostage” opens tomorrow (June 11th) in select theaters and on VOD.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

When reading reviews of the new horror film “The Resort” I doubt you’ll hear many critics praising it as original, fresh, or innovative. That’s because this watchable yet unremarkable indie is nothing horror fans haven’t seen many times before. Even worse, it’s hamstrung by a tiny budget and hampered by a script that doesn’t have enough ideas of its own to fill the movie’s lean 70-minute running time. It does eventually find its footing but only in the final fifteen minutes or so. By that time I’m guessing a lot of people will have already checked out.

“The Resort” is written and directed by Taylor Chien. It’s simple horror premise goes like this: four friends venture to an abandoned Hawaiian resort that locals believe is haunted by a malevolent spirit. Right out of the gate a story like this comes with a certain degree of baked-in predictably. We know going to the resort is a bad idea. We know the cheerful chums are in for a terrifying surprise. And we have a good idea that not all will make it out alive. So it’s up to the filmmaker and his cast to make this fairly routine horror concept interesting. It can be done, but sadly Chien and company miss their mark.

As you might expect, “The Resort” gives us four of the horror genre’s most overused character types: the serious girl Lex (Bianca Haase), the hot blonde Bree (Michelle Randolph), the hunk Chris (Brock O’Hurn), and obnoxious loudmouth Sam (Michael Vlamis). To be fair the film does offer a couple of welcomed variations to them. For example, Chris is pretty humble and level-headed despite looking like a cover model for a Harlequin novel. And while the occasional ogling from the camera might say different, Bree isn’t the prototypical lustful hottie.

But don’t mistake those slight deviations as equalling good characters. To the film’s credit it tries to give them some depth, mainly during its draggy first 45 minutes when the group arrives at the island and then makes the hike to the resort. Along the way we learn Lex is doing research for a horror novel. Chris has the hots for her. Bree has a deep affection for selfies. And in addition to being annoying, Sam has an endless supply of booze. They all take time to share their thoughts on the paranormal and supernatural, but there’s really nothing to them for us to cling to. The characters are shallow, the performances are rough, and at times their dialogue can be hopelessly cringy.

It takes a while, but the group FINALLY arrives at the once luxurious resort. After some ill-advised exploring and some obligatory carelessness, the four encounter the spirit known as the Half-Faced Girl. Outside of one brief exposition dump, we never learn much about the ghastly apparition and we don’t spend enough time with her to understand how or why she does what she does. There is one really cool and creepy horror bit nestled in that final act. But it’s swallowed up by the film’s murky and uninspired ending that left me with even more questions than before.

The positive side of me likes to think there is a good movie trapped somewhere inside of “The Resort”. Yet I’m having a hard time convincing myself. It’s basically a well-worn idea without an ounce of new flavor. Everything in it has been done before and done better. And when you mix in bland characters, a shallow script, and practically no scares whatsoever it’s hard to find much to recommend. “The Resort” is now available on VOD.

VERDICT – 1.5 STARS

A soldier returns home early from deployment after receiving the tragic news that his wife was killed in a train accident. That doesn’t sound like the kind of premise you would go into expecting a laugh. Yet there is a wild black comedy edge to the Danish film “Riders of Justice” that’s sure to catch a lot of viewers off-guard. But there’s a lot more to writer-director Anders Thomas Jensen’s surprisingly dense and thematically rich story.

From his earliest scenes we get a sense that there is much more to Jensen’s film and his characters. The ever-watchable Mads Mikkelson plays Markus Hansen who returns from active duty in Afghanistan to be with his daughter Mathilde (Andrea Heick Gadeberg) following the death of his wife Emma (Anne Birgitte Lind). She and ten other people were killed during a city train accident that officials attribute to a collision with an oncoming train.

Image Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

We begin to learn more about Markus once he’s home with Mathilde. Both father and daughter are in their own personal states of shock. Mathilde feels the need to express her pain. She wants them to see a family grief counselor and ponders God’s reasons for tragedy. Markus keeps everything pent up. He balks at the idea of therapy or a supernatural purpose. So he withdraws into his own anger, bitterness, denial, and remorse. He grows cold and detached, content to bury his pain rather than cope with it. It makes him appear harsh and indifferent which fractures his relationship with Mathilde even more. Soon her biggest fear is becoming like her father.

A few days later a man named Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) shows up at Markus’ door with information about Emma’s death. Otto, a recently fired data analyst, was on the train and claims the incident was no accident; that it was actually an orchestrated hit meant to kill a key witness set to testify against the leader of a violent biker gang known as the Riders of Justice. Otto along with his batty yet brilliant associate Lennart (Lars Brygmann) lay out their highly detailed discovery built on calculations, probabilities, and quite a few illegally hacked documents and surveillance footage. The cops were quick to dismiss Otto’s suspicions, but for Markus it’s an opportunity to release his pain through vengeance.

The movie’s wacky balance of dark comedy and darker human drama is mostly seen in the relationships between Markus and the trio of Otto, Lennart, and facial recognition specialist named Emmenther (Nicolas Bro). Together the three tech-buddies bring back memories of Byers, Langly and Frohike aka The Lone Gunmen of X-Files fame. But they are more than comic relief and each are imbued with certain layers of humanity. This is especially true for Otto who, in addition to his own personal baggage, is burdened with survivor’s guilt over Emma’s death. In an act of courtesy he gave her his seat on the side of the train that took the brunt of the impact. And being a man obsessed with details, data and calculations, he can’t get over feeling that he should have seen it coming.

Image Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

The group’s dogged hunt for answers combined with Markus’ revenge-driven bloodlust takes them down a dark and violent path. But through it all Jensen never loses focus of his central themes or his characters. They always stay front and center. And as you would expect, Mikkelsen’s brilliance as an actor is on full display. He delivers a strikingly multifaceted performance that sees him play a ruthless vigilante, a classic comedy straight man, a broken and emotionally fragile father and more.

While the black comedy element is one of the film’s strengths, it’s also one of its weaknesses. There are a few times where Jensen pushes the humor a little too far leading to some unfortunate clashes in tone. Even worse, there were a couple of instances where the film’s desire for laughs undercuts a would-be emotionally powerful moment. Yet Jensen always manages to get back on track with his deep and textured story and its myriad of interests. Yes, the movie has good action, good laughs and a steely, grizzled Mikkelsen. But it’s the attention it gives to its themes (coping with death and loss, making sense of tragedy, coincidence versus fate) that really sets the movie apart. “Riders of Justice” releases in theaters in NY and LA on May 14th and everywhere on May 21st.

VERDICT – 4 STARS