Brad Pitt – STREAMING MOVIE NIGHT

2024 Apple TV+

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 48min

Action ~ Comedy

Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, and Poorna Jagannathan.

“You take a job, you give your word, and that word is the measure of a man.”

George Clooney stars as a New York fixer called by a distressed woman in an upscale Manhattan Hotel room. She was given the number by a friend with the instructions only to call when you find yourself in a dire situation that puts you at odds with the law. She had picked up a young man downstairs in the hotel bar and taken him to her room. Now he is lying in his underwear in a pile of glass, bleeding and seemingly dead. Panicked she has called the number her friend had given her. The fixer who won’t give out his name (and for the purposes of this review shall be called Clooney) instructs her to stay put and don’t touch anything, not even a drink.

Clooney arrives and proceeds to question her and investigate the body lying on the floor. Before he can get started “Fixing” the situation, there is a knock at the door. Before they can address who it might be, someone enters and they both hide. Brad Pitt enters the room and after convincing them to come out, tells them he is the “Fixer” she called. “Fixers” don’t like to use their names so from here on out the second anonymous “Fixer” shall be called Pitt for this little review. As there is some confusion as to which fixer got called first and who is going to “Fix” the situation, Pitt points to the hidden camera in the corner of the ceiling and calls his boss.

She then explains to both fixers and the distressed woman, Margaret (Amy Ryan) who just happens to be The District Attorney of Manhattan, that they will all be involved in cleaning up the mess in her hotel. Clooney and Pitt reluctantly agree to work together and clean up Margaret and send her home with explicit instructions to not look back and “This never happened”. As they are cleaning up the young man and the mess Pitt discovers a backpack filled with 4 bundles of Heroin. Definitely a snag as they both realize that someone will be looking for the drugs and need to address that side of the situation.

What follows is a comedic action filled drama as Clooney and Pitt try to get rid of the body and the drugs. They soon realize through many twists and turns that nothing is as it seems, and they find themselves in the crosshairs of more sinister situations. Right up until the end it does keep you guessing as to what is really going on. It does get a little hard to follow as it twists and turns through the underworld of The Albanian and Croatian Crime Families. Clooney is what you expect, the seasoned professional jeering at the younger newbie Pitt. Reminds me of Ocean’s 11 and their chemistry in that movie.

At the very end as the credits roll there is a video clip of the hotel’s camera footage that really explains a lot and kind of ties the whole plot together. I nearly missed it as the “Next Movie” on the streaming service cut it off. I had to go back to catch the rest of it. So don’t miss that if you watch the movie. I liked it, I thought Clooney, Pitt, Ryan, Abrams, Jagannathan and Buric(who I remember from 2012) all did a great job. There was talk of a sequel but the Director called it off after Apple broke it’s word and contract by keeping the movie solely for their streaming site rather than releasing it theatrically.

Greedy and selfish if you ask me. On researching this movie I discovered the hidden secret on streaming services, they are not our friends. Kidnapping and selfishly holding Major Picture Releases for hostage under the guise of getting more subscribers. I have a ton of movies to review this week but I am going to make room for an Editorial on the Streaming Services and their practices.

So, yes I liked it but I don’t think I would watch it again. Just not that memorable. There are better Clooney-Pitt movies and given Apple’s greed I think I will boycott it and never watch it again. So if you want to watch it you have to subscribe to Apple TV+ for 10.99 a month, or get their free 7 day trial for new subscribers and then cancel within the 7 days. No charge and the movie is yours to watch in that period.

Two thumbs up, maybe……

2022 Paramount Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 52min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Comedy ~ Romance

Directed by: Aaron and Adam Nee

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Brad Pitt.

“Dulcius Ex Asperis……..Sweeter after difficulty.”

Sandra Bullock stars as Loretta Sage, a widowed Adventure Romance Novelist whose life and career has been very negatively affected by her husband’s death five years ago. Her Publisher Beth Hatten (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) has been trying desperately to save her career from going down the tubes and with it her livelihood. She has hired a younger woman to run her social media campaigns and has arranged a highly publicized book tour for Loretta. As Loretta and her publisher arrive at the first stop and public appearance on the tour, Loretta is dressed in a purple sequin sparkly jumpsuit against her better judgement. Beth tells her how important this is and that she also booked……..

Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum), the cover model who portrays the hero Dash in her Romance Novels. Loretta is horrified and wants nothing to do with it but is convinced by Beth to “Go On with the show.” The appearance ends in disaster when Loretta accidentally gets Alan’s wig caught in her watch as she tries to rip off Dash’s shirt to satisfy the female crowd yelling for Dash to do so. Alan falls off the stage and Loretta is left onstage with his wig dangling from her watch. She rushes off stage and heads outside. The doorman calls a car for her, but before it comes she is forced into a car and taken to meet……….

Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), a billionaire who has discovered a lost city on a remote island he believes might be where the lost treasure, The Crown Of Fire is located. He believes that Loretta and her late husband had done extensive research on this subject and will be able to help him decipher the scrolls that reveal the exact location. He explains that he has kidnapped her and they are flying to the island he now owns. As they arrive and Abigail persuades Loretta to cipher the information he needs, Beth and Alan are busy trying to figure out what happened to Loretta. Alan thinks he knows someone who can help find her and calls……..

Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt), a former Navy Seal and a CIA operative. Together Alan and Jack fly to the island to free her. Jack turns out to be a complete bad-ass, a one man army. Kind of like Denzel Washington in The Equalizer Movies, using everything in the room as a weapon to quickly decimate the enemy. From here on out it is a hilarious action-filled adventure as they free Loretta and traipse through the jungle running from the billionaire and his henchmen. There is one last scene in the movie with Brad, Sandra and Channing that appears halfway through the end credits. If you’re not paying attention to the credits you might miss it, it changes what you think is the end of the movie before the credits.

I have seen it three times and still enjoyed it. It is goofy, funny, full of silly one-liners, a rom-com in the end and a great action adventure comedy. I really liked Brad Pitt as Jack Trainer, Channing Tatum is laughable and loveable as “Dash”, and you gotta love anything Sandra Bullock is in.

Two Thumbs up!