Written & Directed By: John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein
Cinematography: Barry Peterson
Editor: Jamie Gross and John Lee
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Kenneth Branagh, Marcin Dorocinski, Maria Bakalova, David Morse, Clark Johnson, Wendy Crewson, Josh Hamilton
Lieutenant Troy Brennan takes part in a top secret surveillance mission over Soviet airspace. Things take a sharp turn, however, when he is forced to eject from his plane over the Russian wilderness. He is rescued by a paradoxical Russian native and the two begin to appreciate both their differences and commonalities.
There are some movies you finish and immediately think, “Well… that was fine.” And honestly, that’s probably the best way to describe this one.
I went into it expecting something disposable, and while it certainly isn’t reinventing the action-comedy wheel, I have to admit that I had a decent time with it.
because this is very much a paint-by-numbers kind of movie. You’ve seen this story before. You’ve seen these characters before. You can practically see some of the plot turns coming from the next room.
But every once in a while, it has just enough personality to keep itself from becoming completely forgettable.
Ryan Reynolds is interesting here because, thankfully, this isn’t quite the Ryan Reynolds we’ve seen a million times before. He still has that familiar rhythm and personality, but instead of firing off a wisecrack every thirty seconds, a lot of his humor comes through his reactions to the increasingly ridiculous situations around him. He almost becomes the audience surrogate. The guy looking at everything happening around him and thinking, “Are we seriously doing this?” surprisingly, that works.
Kenneth Branagh, meanwhile, is doing a lot of the heavy lifting literally. He’s getting into the action himself, which is something I’m not particularly accustomed to seeing from him. At this point in his career, watching Branagh throw himself around in an action movie is kind of charming. I don’t know if he’s channeling Sean Connery, taking notes from Liam Neeson, or simply having a really good time, but the man deserves some credit. He’s surprisingly convincing.
Branagh has directed action before, of course, with films like THOR and JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT. So this isn’t exactly unfamiliar territory for him. But seeing him actually inhabit this kind of older action-hero role is one of the more entertaining aspects of the movie.
The problem is that the rest of the film doesn’t exactly rise to their level.
It feels like the kind of movie that probably explains why it ended up on streaming rather than in theaters. There’s supposedly an epic quality to the story, much of it set against Cold War-era Russia, the KGB, and all the usual ingredients for a big, muscular action thriller. Yet somehow, everything feels surprisingly muted.
The movie is set in the 1980s, which at least gives it an excuse to use Russia and the KGB as its primary villains without having to invent some overly complicated modern conspiracy. But even with that built-in atmosphere, the film rarely feels as big as it seems to think it is.
And then there’s the strange feeling that Ryan Reynolds could almost be replaced by just about anybody. He’s not bad. He’s just… there.
Considering how naturally Reynolds fits into buddy comedies, you would think this would be tailor-made for him. But the movie never quite gives him enough material to bring his usual gravitas or comedic energy. Instead, he’s mostly along for the ride.
Oddly enough, the whole thing reminded me of BEHIND ENEMY LINES, except somebody decided to make this movie more of a buddy comedy and turn down the action just a little. maybe that’s why I didn’t hate it.
It’s familiar, but it’s not completely lifeless. It’s basic, but it occasionally has some spirit. It doesn’t offer much you haven’t seen before, but it at least tries to put a slightly different spin on a very familiar formula.
It’s perfectly watchable, occasionally fun, and elevated by a couple of performances that are more entertaining than the material itself. But once the credits roll, I’m not sure there’s much left to say other than, “Yep. That was a movie.”
Not bad. Not great. Just ok
Grade: C
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