No Sudden Move - Review

 

“No Sudden Move” represents what one can only hope for every time a film comes out: a director working in their favorite genre, place, etc. Steven Soderbergh (“Ocean’s Eleven,” “Logan Lucky”) loves a motley crew and loves the idea of a “gentleman” thief just as much, if not more. While his career has run the gamut, his sweet spot tends to be that of thieves, aiming high and scoring even higher.

Thus his latest film, “No Sudden Move,” which fits very snuggly into that wheelhouse. It’s got crime, quippy dialogue, lots of money changing hands, and a cast that’s almost insanely star studded. Yet, it's also got something Soderbergh hasn’t had in a while: a meandering pace.

You see, the key to a mystery-adjacent film like this is to constantly keep the audience on their toes. Soderbergh is a great director, but he’s an even better writer, and as good as Ed Solomon’s (“Men in Black,” “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”) script is, it's not as good as some of those Soderbergh has written himself. More every quip that falls flat, about three land solidly. It's also hard to say there’s a lot of mystery going on. Solomon’s script doesn’t so much traffic in a secretive mysterious plan as it does just not tell the audience what’s going on. There’s little intrigue as even some of the characters struggle to follow what’s going on.

That’s fine and good, there are plenty of movies that have been made where the main characters have no idea what's going on. But whereas most of those kinds of movies have a big “AHA” moment when everything is revealed, “Move” only musters an “Oh, cool” by the time everything is done. It’s as if you’re watching an elaborate, expertly crafted rube Goldberg machine that results in a piece of toast. It’s not that it's bad, just anticlimactic.

However, thankfully the entire cast is so committed you likely won’t mind. Don Cheadle’s (“House of Lies,” “Iron Man 2”) Curt Goynes leads with a gruff voice and a gruffer attitude. It’s a stark contrast to the actor's otherwise more likable persona and he develops a great rapport with Benicio del Toro’s (“Sicario,” “Traffic”) Ronald Russo. The pair have an entertaining back and forth and develop a believable pseudo friendship over the course of the film’s runtime. They’re effortlessly charming and most will likely want to watch the film just to watch the two of them act opposite each other.

The rest of the cast is almost unfortunately stacked. David Harbour (“Stranger Things,” “Black Widow”), Jon Hamm (“Mad Men,” “Baby Driver”), Amy Seimetz (“The Killing,” “Alien: Covenant”), Brendan Fraser (“The Mummy,” “Doom Patrol”), Kieran Culkin (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Succession”), Julia Fox (“Uncut Gems”), Ray Liotta (“Something Wild,” “Narc”), and Bill Duke (“Black Lightning,” “A Rage in Harlem”) all show up at some point and it's quite a thrill getting to guess who’ll pop up next and why. None of them make as much of an impression as Cheadle and del Toro do, apart from Fox or Duke, but they’re all still fun. Culkin is digging further into his douchebag persona established on his recent projects, Liotta is basically playing himself at this point, and Fraser is absolutely trying to convince us that he, one of the nicest guy’s in Hollywood, can play a bad guy and does a damn good job at it.

Really, there’s one big unfortunate thing hanging over “No Sudden Move” like a cloud. The entire movie is just… good. It's not great, there’s nothing exceptional about it. Cheadle's performance borders on greatness and is the most entertaining part of the movie, but there’s nothing about the film that stands out before or after watching. This isn’t a bad thing at all, not every movie needs to light the world on fire. But it does mean that when credits roll, nothing really sticks with the viewer nor is there an intense need to want to rewatch it.

The film does have a unique look courtesy of cinematographer Peter Andrews (Soderbergh under an alias) and reflects Soderbergh’s fascination with new shooting techniques. Everything looks as if it was shot in a fishbowl or on a cinemascope wide lens and smushed into a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It's definitely a cool look, although it takes some getting used to and could easily leave some viewers with a headache.

“No Sudden Move” is a fun crime movie distraction. It’s nothing exceptionally entertaining or funny, but thanks to a fun cast and solid premise and carried by Cheadle and del Toro, it manages to be a fun time for those already enamored with crime films or Soderbergh films or films that twist so much they might as well be a pretzel. 3.5/5