Memory

2022 Open Road Films

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 54min

Action ~ Crime ~ Thriller

Starring: Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci, Harold Torres, Taj Atwal and Ray Fearon.

“His mind is fading. His conscience is clear.”

Liam Neeson as Alex Lewis, a hired hitman living in Mexico. He takes on an assignment for a double hit that will take him to El Paso, Texas. His brother has severe Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a nursing home there. Alex leaves for El Paso and stops off to see his brother before embarking on his two contract assignments. His brother is vacant minded and doesn’t acknowledge Alex’s presence. Alex talks to him anyway and presses an old quarter from 1969 into his hand. “Remember that year?, That was a good year.” Alex kisses him on the forehead and leaves for his two assignments.

The first is Ellis Van Camp, the manager of the central processing facility for immigrants in El Paso. Alex waits for him to be alone in his house before entering and forcing Ellis to open his home safe. Alex retrieves the flash drive from Ellis before shooting him and leaves. Alex’s next hit is a young female Mexican immigrant named Beatriz. She was taken from Ellis’s processing facility and placed in a foster home by the police officer that killed her pimp, Papa Leon. Upon entering in the night and seeing that she is a young girl, Alex leaves without killing her, drawing the line at “taking out” children.

He informs his client they need to “Cancel the contract” , but they won’t have it and put out a contract on Alex. So there are three stories going on here, and I’ll try not to give out any spoilers…….

There is the story of Alex dealing with the fast onset of Alzheimer’s Disease and losing his memory just like his brother. And his refusal to kill the girl and his desire to kill those who hired him to kill the girl. Also his desire to kill those who exploited the young girls in the prostitution ring as he watches what’s on the flash drive.
There is the story of the two El Paso police officers tracking the child prostitution ring where Beatriz came from and that Alex is also pursuing.
There is the story of the Police Officer assigned to the case in New Mexico, out of his jurisdiction, who is actually a vigilante seeking justice for the victims of the child prostitution ring who were mostly young girls abducted from Mexico.

It is a little difficult to follow in the beginning, as you watch different scenes unfold that seemingly have no common thread. As you watch remember they are all headed for the same child prostitution ring, they just don’t know it yet. And as the movie progresses their paths all cross. As Alex’s Alzheimer progresses he is forgetting things and having to write them on his forearm. And he is taking medication that has kept it at bay until now, but the pills are no longer being effective as the disease is very aggressive.

It is not one of Liam Neeson’s best but it isn’t his worst either. It was just alright. The storyline was pretty hard to follow, I didn’t put it all together until late in the movie. The action scenes weren’t that good, nor the plot. And some of the acting by the other actors wasn’t top notch. It felt pretty discombobulated as you jump from scene to scene not knowing what they have in common.

So yes, it’s worth a watch (maybe) but it is definitely a “One-off”. I wouldn’t watch it again.

One thumb up, the other down.

The Out-Laws

2023 Netflix

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 35min

Action ~ Comedy ~ Crime

Directed by: Tyler Spindel

Starring: Adam DeVine, Nina Dobrev, Ellen Barkin, and Pierce Brosnan.

“First off stop crying. When I hear babies cry I start to lactate. I can’t ruin another suit.”

Adam DeVine stars as Owen Browning, a bank manager engaged to Parker McDermott (Nina Dobrev). The couple are set to marry in a couple of days and Owen has never met his in-laws because Parker’s parents have been in the Amazon jungle for a couple of years. BUT, out of the blue they call Parker and inform her they are coming into town for a visit and will be there for the wedding. They surprise Owen in their house after work having broken in to the locked house.

Parker is at work and Owen is in the kitchen putting groceries away singing at the top of his lungs how he is going to “boink” Parker tonight. And suddenly there they are, Billy and Lilly McDermott (Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin). To sum it up, Owen’s bank is robbed and he starts to suspect that his in-laws might be the infamous “Ghost-Robbers” and responsible for the heist.

I tried but couldn’t make it all the way through the movie. I made it to the 37 minute mark mainly out of courtesy to Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin. But, God bless them, even they couldn’t save this movie. I thought ,”Well….. I’ll finish it in the morning as I write the review.” I pulled it up on Netflix but couldn’t bear the thought of having to watch it, I tried. I fast forwarded it to see if it got any better, it didn’t. About the time I saw Adam DeVine enter a bank dressed up like Shrek complete with green skin and a water pistol, I was done.

I always put a tagline in my reviews to kind of sum up the movie. Not sure what the tagline for the movie is but when I saw the scene with Adam Devine and Lauren Lapkus, I watched just long enough to hear, “First off stop crying. When I hear babies cry I start to lactate. I can’t ruin another suit.” Yup, that sums it up. It is supposed to be a comedy, but it so full of pre-adolescent humor it was way too stupid and pathetic to laugh at. I felt sorry for Pierce and Ellen for having got involved in this mess of a movie.

Adam Sandler produced the movie and it seemed like there was a skeleton of a script and they just winged it with whatever direction seemed funny to him. I guess I don’t get his sense of humor. The biggest thing that turned me off right away that I couldn’t get past was Adam DeVine. Horrible. I had to quit watching Hubie Halloween because I couldn’t get past Adam Sandler’s voice as Hubie. Adam DeVine’s performance as Owen was terrible, reminded me of a really poor Jack Black impersonation. Just like Hubie, his whining voice and over the top acting attempt at being funny was just too annoying for me to hang.

It’s bad, really bad.

This marks the third movie I couldn’t hang with:

Unfrosted
Hubie Halloween
The Out-Laws

That’s it, that’s the do not watch list. I am going to have to add that to the Top Ten Lists category. The Top Ten movies you shouldn’t watch.

DON”T WATCH IT!!!!!

DON”T WASTE YOUR TIME!!!

That’s my thoughts….

Two Thumbs down, way down!

Brothers

2024 Amazon MGM Studios

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 29min

Action ~ Crime ~ Comedy

Directed by: Max Barbakow

Starring: Josh Brolin, Peter Dinklage, Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei, and Brendan Fraser.

“Family is a life sentence.”

Josh Brolin stars as Mike “Moke” Munger who is recently married and has a baby on the way. His wife is throwing a housewarming party and has invited his in-laws to come. She instructs him to bring home a BBQ Party Platter from work. He works at SWEET ASS BBQ but upon arriving at work his boss informs him that he is fired. He tells Moke that he received a call from the Bureau of Labor and Employment. They informed him that Moke neglected to let them know about his prior criminal convictions and have to let him go. Upon arriving home he is surprised by the appearance of his Twin Brother……..

Jady Munger (Peter Dinklage) who has been serving time in prison for getting caught in a robbery. Jady and Moke had always been a criminal team but that night Jady got caught, Moke escaped and swore off the crime life and has been trying to live a straight life. He has come to convince Moke to do one last “Job”, he can’t do it without him and they both really need the money. Moke reluctantly agrees and they head out on the road. Jady tells him they have to make a stop to a woman’s house he has been corresponding with for the last seven weeks from prison. Moke again reluctantly agrees and they stop, knock on the door, and……

Bethesda Waingro (Marisa Tomei) comes to the door, and Jady and Moke are invited in. Jady has an ulterior motive for meeting Bethesda that Moke doesn’t know about. She is unwittingly going to help them in their “Job”, Jady is going to steal her work badge. Jady and Bethesda go off into the bedroom to spend some time and Moke waits in the living room. And is suddenly surprised by an orangutan who sits next to him on the couch. They hightail it out of Bethesda’s house, Moke running from the monkey and Jady running from Bethesda. They go to the hotel where Moke is surprised by…….

His Mother Cath (Glenn Close), who has been gone for thirty years after running from the police following a jewelry heist. It’s the beginning of a dysfunctional crime family caper full of adventure and laughs. M. Emmet Walsh plays the crooked Judge who is the father of Jail Corrections Officer Farful (Brendan Fraser). Officer Farful used his father to get Jady out of prison to track down Cath who has hidden the unrecovered Jewels and is blackmailing him into finding them. And Brendan as the whacked out very intense Corrections Officer was pretty funny. It was nice to see Marisa, beautiful as ever, as the freaky hippy lady. The Orangutan Monkey was surprisingly completely CGI, given the closeness of the scene with Josh Brolin, they didn’t want to take any chances with a live animal.

I purposely didn’t watch this right away when it came out thinking, “That’s just going to be too silly and stupid for me to handle.” Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage as twin brothers? Look at them, they couldn’t be more different physically. But I was running late last night and really didn’t have two hours to watch a movie and this is a short one. And I thought, I could stand to watch some comedy, something light-hearted. It was everything I thought it would be and more. Yes, it was silly, a little stupid, but then again, that is the point. And it delivered that and much more. It was a familiar plot line and yet it was a little different.

I found myself rooting for Moke and eventually Jady. Trying to do good for themselves and constantly knocked down by life. I really started to believe that they were brothers in spite of their difference physically. Josh and Peter did a great job of convincing me they had known each other all their lives and had that kind of family bond. I enjoyed it, I found myself laughing quite a few times at their antics. And I felt for the two of them trying to be a better version of themselves. And in the end it was all about family, how you never give up on your family, no matter what. I thought that was a good message and a little heartwarming at the end as they gathered for Thanksgiving.

So yes, I would recommend it, just remember it is good clean silly fun.

Two thumbs up!

Above Suspicion

2021 Lionsgate

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 44min

Action ~ Crime ~ Thriller ~ True Story

Directed by: Phillip Noyce

Starring: Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston, Sophie Lowe, Austin Hébert, Karl Glusman, Chris Mulkey, Omar Miller, Kevin Dunn, Thora Birch and Johnny Knoxville.

“That’s the way the devil comes. He don’t come to you as evil. He don’t come to you on fire. He comes as everything you ever wanted. He comes to you as you.”

Emilia Clarke stars as Susan Smith, a divorced mother still living with her ex-husband in Harlan County, Kentucky. Her ex husband Cash (Johnny Knoxville) is a drug dealer and they are both addicted to drugs. Economically there are not many options in town and Susan and Cash survive on welfare checks and drug money. For the sake of their children and economic reasons they live in the same trailer just outside of town, where they also throw parties and sell drugs.

Jack Huston stars as FBI Agent Mark Putnam. Mark has just moved to town with his wife and new baby to investigate a series of bank robberies. The suspect Joe B is currently residing with Susan and Cash along with his girlfriend in the trailer. As Mark investigates the trail of Joe B, it leads him to Cash and Susan. He attempts to convince Cash to cooperate and become an informant but soon realizes that he has a better chance of getting Susan to co-operate.

Susan willingly becomes his informant, already infatuated with this new dark haired stranger in her life. She sees Mark as a way out of the dead end existence she is living and the two quickly become romantically involved. Their relationship becomes very entangled and dangerous for Mark who realizes he is putting his Marriage and career at great risk. He tries to break it off with Susan but she refuses to let go. Mark eventually puts in a transfer request for a different field office and moves his family to Florida.

The movie follows the story of Mark and Susan and their tumultuous affair and horrific ending. After returning to Pikesville, Kentucky to wrap up a case, Mark tries to talk to Susan one last time about letting go. They go for a ride out to the mountain and Susan becomes very agitated and violent at Mark’s insistence that the baby she says she’s carrying is not his. A violent fight ensues and Mark strangles Susan, drops her body in the woods and goes back to Florida.

Over the course of the following year Mark Putnam can’t escape his guilt and remorse and confesses to the crime of killing Susan Smith. Mark was sentenced to 16 years in prison, served ten, and is now re-married and living in Georgia. He was the first FBI Agent to ever be convicted of Murder.

I love the True Story movies and this is one hell of a story. Adultery, jealousy and a crime of passion. I am not familiar with Emilia Clarke but I love her in this. Jack Huston is also very good in this role. Johnny Knoxville does an outstanding job as the drug dealer Cash. I have watched this movie three times now and I would watch it again. It is a great story and movie, but I think that Emilia Clarke’s performance as Susan Smith is absolutely riveting and is what really keeps me coming back.

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!

Emilia Clarke (“Susan Smith”) in ABOVE SUSPICION
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate

Jack Huston (“Mark”) in ABOVE SUSPICION
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate

ABOVE SUSPICION Movie Poster
Courtesy of Lionsgate

Queenpins

2021 STX Films

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 50min

Comedy ~ Crime ~ True Story

Directed by: Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly.

Starring: Kristen Bell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Paul Walter Hauser, Bebe Rexha, and Vince Vaughn.

“When folks use coupons, their oxytocin levels, they kinda spike, like in they get that little tingly sensation. They call it “THE COUPON HIGH”.”

Kristen Bell stars as Connie Kaminski, a three time gold medal winning former Olympic racewalker, currently unemployed and unhappily married in Phoenix, Arizona. Frustrated by several unsuccessful attempts to get pregnant and have a child, Connie has thrown herself into the coupon world. Constantly clipping and stockpiling everything she can get her hands on in a spare bedroom that was going to be the baby room. Her husband Rick, an IRS Audit agent, starts taking on travelling assignments to spend less time at home with Connie as they both deal with the disappointment of not being able to have a child.

JoJo (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) is Connie’s best friend and is also unemployed and living with her mother. JoJo had her identity stolen and it completely ruined her financially. She has started a Youtube channel on saving money and using coupons. Connie and JoJo team up and start a coupon business together after Connie discovers that she can get free item coupons from big manufacturers just by writing a complaint letter. They start selling the coupons on their website SUPERSAVVYSHOPPER.COM. That grows into an illegal operation when Connie learns that the free coupons are printed right across the border in Mexico and hatches a plan to “acquire” them from the facility in Mexico.

They enlist the help of Tempe Tina (Bebe Rexha), who stole JoJo’s identity and is a cyber hacker, to help them set up the illegal coupon operation on a large scale. Ken (Paul Walter Hauser) is a Loss Prevention manager for the local grocery chain A&G where Connie has been using her coupons to shop. When their coupon business starts growing and people start using the coupons, it comes to Ken’s attention and he puts together a case file and approaches the FBI. It then comes to the attention of The Postal Service and Inspector Simon Kilmurry (Vince Vaughn) is assigned to the case.

And what follows is the incredible and hilarious True Story of how a couple of women in Phoenix, Arizona built an illegal multi-million dollar business and the two guys who tracked them down. Ken is a complete a**hole with an inferiority complex. The relationship between Ken and Agent Kilmurry is hilarious, as Ken is a wannabe Law Enforcement agent suddenly thrust into a would be partnership with a real Law enforcement agent. How Agent Kilmurry takes pity on Ken and treats him as an equal is kind of sad yet very funny.

Kristen Bell, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Paul Walter Hauser, Bebe Rexha, and Vince Vaughn all do really good jobs in this movie. It is based on the true story and real life crime case of three women in Arizona. And you know I love the True Story movies. Definitely funny and worth a watch…BOGO!

Two Thumbs Up!