David R. Walker

Archive for the ‘Amazon Prime Films’ Category

After the Hunt

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Cast: Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Michael Stuhlbarg, Andrew Garfield, Chloe Sevigny

Running Time: 2 hours and 18 minutes

Film Rating: 6 out of 10

THIS FILM IS ONLY AVAILABLE ON AMAZON PRIME

Sicilian director Luca Gudagnino follows on from the success of his previous film Challengers which was lavishly shot with a strange psychological thriller in which he attempts unsuccessfully to capture the zeitgeist of the early 2020’s in his new film After the Hunt.

Fortunately Oscar winner Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) centres this uneven and ultimately disappointing film which unravels from the middle onwards.

Roberts plays an ambitious philosophy lecturer Alma at the prestigious Yale University where by her and her fellow lecturer Hank superbly played with hyper masculinity by Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge, Tick Tick, Boom) are embroiled in a dangerous and toxic game of accusations and counter accusations when an arch manipulator and troubled student Maggie brilliantly played by The Bear star Ayo Edebiri disrupts their comfortable and privileged lives.

After a particularly boozy party at Alma’s house hosted by herself and her husband, clinical psychologist Frederik expertly played by Michael Stuhlbarg, Hank accompanies Maggie home.

The next day Maggie, Alma’s star philosophy graduate student comes to her professor with a shocking accusation that Hank tried to touch her inappropriately. There is no proof, only insinuation and hearsay.

Simultaneously Hank tells Alma that Maggie has plagiarised her philosophy dissertation and then when he gets accused and fired by the University faculty he explodes and tells Alma that he is a victim of this shallow cultural moment.

After the Hunt unfortunately doesn’t dwell on specifics in a meandering narrative which will leave the viewer slightly confused. Director Luca Guadagnino was keen to make a film that captured the zeitgeist of the MeToo movement in an academic setting but he doesn’t capitalize on a narrative which could have been explosive and challenging. After the Hunt suffers from a poor script and an overlong narrative which makes the film economically unviable.

Despite some great scenes between Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield, the entire film seems to virtue signal about a cultural moment which hasn’t finished running its course, so it’s true impact is impossible to quantify. After the Hunt will challenge viewers perceptions but will not entertain them.

After the Hunt has great potential, but sags in the middle causing the morally questionable characters to unsuccessfully sustain a narrative which lacks resolution.

Luca Guadagnino should go back to the formula which made his hit films so brilliant. After The Hunt fails to equal the brilliance of Call Me By Your Name or even Challengers.

After the Hunt gets a film rating of 6 out of 10.

Canary Black

Director: Pierre Morel

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Rupert Friend, Ben Miles, Goran Kostic, Saffron Burrows, Ray Stevenson

Running Time: 1 hour 41 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

After a swish opening sequence at a fancy apartment building in Tokyo, French director Pierre Morel’s new spy action film Canary Black moves to Zagreb, Croatia, whereby top CIA spy Avery Graves expertly played by British action star Kate Beckinsale (Van Helsing, Total Recall, Contraband) goes a deadly mission to save her kidnapped husband, the seemingly harmless David Brooks played by Rupert Friend (The Young Victoria, Pride and Prejudice, Asteroid City).

Avery liaises with her handler at Zagreb CIA station, Jarvis Hedlund played by the late star Ray Stevenson (The Three Musketeers, Thor, Memory) as she tries to figure out which evil mastermind is behind the kidnapping of David and what on earth is on the encrypted file called Canary Black.

Matthew Kennedy’s refreshingly original gender reversal screenplay, make the woman the main action hero and the victim in this case is the muscular and handsome David Brooks. The villain is the duplicitous Croatian minister Konrad Bresnov played by Bosnian actor Goran Kostic (Taken, The Zookeeper’s Wife).

Naturally Bresnov seeks world domination and wants to use Canary Black which is a dangerous digital spyware to wipe out the superpowers technological capabilities.

As Avery blasts her way to find her supposed husband, she crosses paths with the deputy director of National security Nathan Evans played by Ben Miles (Napoleon, Red Joan, Woman in Gold) in a bizarre sequence in a swanky urban hotel.

Canary Black is a slick, medium budget action thriller with Kate Beckinsale proving that she is indeed the right woman for the job, as a merciless CIA operative who is trying to stop Canary Black and save her husband.

French director Pierre Morel who brought audiences the highly successful Taken films featuring Liam Neeson does a good job of creating an atmospheric action packed spy thriller set in a relatively obscure European city at night.

Kate Beckinsale channels her talents from the Underworld series and does a believable job as the tough as nails spy Avery Graves. Vivienne Westwood supermodel turned actress Saffron Burrows appears at the end of the film as the mysterious Elizabeth Mills pointing to the possibility of a sequel.

Canary Black is a standard action film with a unique gender reversal whereby this time the tough guy is a woman who fends off multiple male assailants to rescue her helpless husband from the grips of an evil megalomaniac.

Canary Black gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is worth seeing as an unpretentious action film with no flashy cars, exotic locations or special gadgets. Just good old fashioned spy craft.

Road House

Director: Doug Liman

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Billy Magnussen, Conor MacGregor, Daniela Melchior, Jessica Williams, Joaquim de Almeida, Lukas Gage, Hannah Love Lanier

Running Time: 2 hours and 1 minute

Streaming Service: Amazon Prime

Film Rating:  6.5 out of 10

PLEASE NOTE THIS FILM IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO WATCH ON AMAZON PRIME

21^st century remakes of 1980’s action movies can be hit and miss but in the 2024 version of the 1989 film Road House, this time starring Jake Gyllenhaal as ex-UFC fighter Dalton who gets a job at a dive bar in the Florida Keys as a bouncer starts off really cheesy but ends with a bang.

That’s thanks to the casting of Mixed Martial Arts fighter Conor MacGregor as Dalton’s nemesis, the psychotic Knox and the fight sequence at the end is riveting. While the script in Road House needed some work, the Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman does maintain the pace of this action remake.

Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) bulks up for the role of Dalton, the muscular tough ex fighter now bouncer who assists Road House owner Frankie played by Jessica Williams as she tries to fend off a vicious biker gang from destroying her property on the instructions of spoilt brat faced rich kid Ben Brandt, wonderfully played by Billy Magnussen who seems to stealing all the villain roles since his turn in the last Bond film No Time To Die.

There are a lot of cheesy bar fight scenes in Road House and the dialogue is naturally not top notch, but Road House is a perfectly entertaining action film to watch especially if viewers are a fan of Jake Gyllenhaal.

The love interest in the film is the local nurse Ellie played by Portuguese actress Daniela Melchior and her corrupt Sheriff father is played by a fellow Portuguese actor Joaquim de Almeida (Fast Five, Desperado, The Hitman’s Bodyguard).

Gyllenhaal plays against type and seeks some of his inner demons which he displayed so brilliantly in the excellent Dan Gilroy 2014 film Nightcrawler, except that he is too good an actor to really be appearing in flashy 1980’s remakes but fortunately his talent and leading man appeal saves Road House from becoming completely disastrous.

Road House is a thrilling action film with a standard storyline of hero comes to town to save the town folk from evil villains except this time the town is in the gorgeous and sultry Florida Keys. Thankfully film makers can do so much with such a tropical location and it’s perfect for complex action sequences involving ski boats and high ways just like in the Bad Boys franchise.

Road House gets a film rating of 6.5 out of 10, it’s not going to win any awards but it is a great way to spend two hours on a rainy afternoon if viewers are looking for a decent film on the streaming sites.