Tag: Romance

Fast Charlie

2023   Vertical Entertainment

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  30min

Action ~ Crime ~ Drama ~ Romance ~ Thriller

Directed by:  Phillip Noyce

Starring:  Pierce Brosnan, Morena Baccarin and James Caan.

Keep your friends close and your enemies dead.

Charlie Swift (Pierce Brosnan), aka Fast Charlie, is an experienced hitman working for a longtime mob boss named Stan (James Caan). Charlie is sent on a job with newbie Blade to take out a man named Rollo. Blade has planted a bomb in a box of doughnuts thinking it a genius idea, but things go wrong when the box detonates and blows Rollo’s head to smithereens. Without Rolo’s head it is impossible for Charlie to prove to the sanction of the hit, Beggar Mercado, that the hit was successful. To solve this problem, Charlie enlists the help of Marcie Kramer (Morena Baccarin), who is Rollo’s tough and calm ex-wife. She confirms the body by recognizing a tattoo, and now he has to figure out a way to convince Beggar that Rollo is dead.

Meanwhile, the young and reckless new hitman named Blade has decided to turn on Charlie and take the body and blackmail Beggar with it. When Blade dies in a chaotic accident trying to get away in Charlie’s car, Charlie cuts off Blade’s head and works with Marcie to transfer the tattoo onto Blade’s body so they can pass it off as Rollo’s, faking the proof Beggar needs. When Charlie meets Beggar with the body, he takes the bait convinced it is Rollo, and promptly chucks the body into the swamp and the alligators. He tells Charlie that he wants to meet with his boss Stan, and discuss business. When Charlie tells Stan, he tells Charlie that he wants nothing to do with Beggar…….

Which starts off a chain reaction of action and violence as Beggar tries to dominate Stan’s turf and business. Charlie is apparently the only man standing as Beggar tries to wipe out Stan’s crew, but Fast Charlie and Marcie team up to outwit Beggar and his crew. And what follows is non stop action, violence, dark comedy and romance as Charlie and Marcie fight for their lives and fall in love with each other. It is a bit of Pulp Fiction, The Equalizer and The Mechanic all rolled into one. Not too surprising since Richard Wenk wrote this as well as the screenplay for The Mechanic and The Equalizer Movies.

James Caan plays the part of aging Crime Boss Stan very well. Too well, this was James Caan’s last acting role before he passed away several months later on July 6, 2022. He was 82 years old. Pierce Brosnan did a fantastic job of playing Fast Charlie right down to the accent. Brilliant work! The chemistry between Pierce and Morena felt very natural and engaging, and made the obvious age gap between them seem like nothing t’all. I really liked Morena in this, she is quickly becoming a Streaming Movie Night favorite! She also appears in 2020’s Greenland, the upcoming Sequel Greenland: Migration and Elevation.

I thought this movie was a great little gem! It checks all the boxes for me personally and it was good to see James Caan in his last role. Pierce Brosnan and Morena Baccarin make a fantastic team on screen, and it was a great ride watching them battle it out and fall in love.

Highly Recommended!

Turn off the lights and devices,

Make some popcorn,

Grab a beverage,

and Stream This Movie

on NETFLIX!

The Equalizer

THE EQUALIZER TRILOGY: STORY & TIMELINE

Elevation

The Ballad of Wallis Island

2025   Universal Pictures

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  1 hr  39min

Comedy ~ Drama ~ Music ~ Romance

Directed by:  James Griffiths

Starring:  Tom Basden, Tim Key and Carey Mulligan.

He’s Getting The Band Back Together!

On a misty Welsh island far from the mainland, eccentric two time lottery winner Charles Heath (Tim Key) lives alone with memories of his late wife and a collection of folk music relics. To mark the anniversary of his wife’s passing, he splurges on an unusual indulgence hiring his favorite long-disbanded duo, McGwyer Mortimer, for a private concert performed solely for him. When fading singer Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) arrives expecting a quick payday, he finds himself drawn into Charles’s odd orbit, equal parts wealth and loneliness. What he doesn’t expect is the reappearance of his former musical partner and ex-lover Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), whom Charles has secretly invited too.

Old wounds reopen as the trio collides over dinner, money, and old songs they can barely stand to hear again. Nell, now living quietly in Oregon with her bird-watcher husband Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen), wants nothing to do with her former life onstage. Herb, desperate to revive his failing solo career, clings to the past while resenting it. Charles, meanwhile, treats them both as living ghosts of the happiness he once shared with his wife. As rehearsals stumble forward, tense silences give way to laughter, confessions, and the soft rebirth of their music. In those verses and harmonies, decades of hurt and longing start to fold back into something tender and human.

When a storm lashes the island, everything spills over, grief, love, resentment, and unexpected forgiveness. Herb’s impulsive act to retrieve a drifting lantern ends in a clumsy rescue that finally grounds all three souls in truth. By the time dawn breaks, the concert has transformed into something far deeper: a quiet eulogy for love that outlasts fame. Herb leaves behind his payment and stage name, signing a guitar with his real identity before departing. In the film’s closing notes, Charles sits with Amanda (Sian Clifford) as folk music drifts across the waves, while somewhere inland, Herb begins recording a new song The Ballad of Wallis Island, proof that even broken chords can still find their tune.

What drew me in most about The Ballad of  Wallis Island was the emotional honesty pulsing under its quiet humor. It’s not a loud movie and it doesn’t need to be. Watching Tim Key’s quirky, lonely Charles slowly chip away at Tom Basden’s crusty cynicism through his sheer enthusiasm for life reminded me that connection can be just as healing as grief is deep. There’s a tenderness in how the film handles nostalgia, the ache of remembering who we used to be, the music we used to play, the people we used to love, without ever making it feel maudlin or manipulative. It feels human, awkward, and genuine, the kind of bittersweet storytelling we don’t often get anymore.​

I think that’s why I loved it so much, it reminds us that life doesn’t have to wrap up neatly. The film embraces imperfection, lingering in the missed notes and uncomfortable silences between people trying to find forgiveness. It’s a movie about the quiet miracles of emotional survival, how creativity and companionship can pull us through when everything else falls away. Carey Mulligan’s performance gives the story its heart, a reminder that growth sometimes comes from sitting in the sadness and still choosing to sing. By the closing scene, that final song feels earned, like a life that’s been lived, scarred, and still somehow hopeful.

An absolute Gem of a Movie that started out as an Indie Short Film, I highly recommend this one!

Make some popcorn,

Grab a beverage,

and Stream This Movie!

Currently on Amazon Prime.

Maintenance Required

2025   Amazon MGM Studios

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  1 hr  42min

Comedy ~ Romance

Directed by:  Lacey Uhlemeyer

Starring: Madelaine Petsch, Jacob Scipio, Madison Bailey, Katy O’Brian, Inanna Sarkis, Matteo Lane, Rob Rausch and Jim Gaffigan.

Sometimes Love Needs A Tune-Up

Charlie (Madelaine Petsch) runs a struggling all-female auto shop that she inherited from her father, fighting to keep the business alive in Oakland. She’s fiercely independent but somewhat closed off, finding companionship mostly online where she exchanges anonymous car forum messages with Bullnose, someone who shares her obsession for classic Ford Broncos. Charlie prefers the predictable comfort of engines to the messiness of relationships, choosing her father’s Bronco Marge over any potential romantic encounter.

Across the street, a slick new Miller Boys corporate garage suddenly opens and threatens Charlie’s livelihood. Its local owner, Beau (Jacob Scipio), is charismatic and kind, but he’s really the competition and unknown to Charlie, he’s also her online confidant, Bullnose. While Beau secretly grapples with guilt about his job undermining Charlie, he also finds himself falling for her, both online and in person, resulting in a series of meet-cute mishaps—a shop visit for a classic car, a shared nail salon moment, and eventually, romantic tension that neither can deny.

The truth comes out at a car show, where Charlie realizes her online friend and business rival are the same man. Hurt, Charlie distances herself, but ultimately misses Beau and decides to take a chance on love despite the rivalry. In classic rom-com fashion, her friends Izzy (Madison Bailey) and Kam (Katy O’Brian) cheer her on. The story closes as Charlie and Beau unite both romantically and professionally, suggesting that sometimes both cars and hearts need a little maintenance to keep running.

Maintenance Required starts off strong with a fresh and fun idea, Charlie (Madelaine Petsch) running her dad’s all-female auto shop while unknowingly falling for Beau (Jacob Scipio), her charming business rival and online mystery man. The film pays homage to and borrows from the two classic Rom-Com movies The Shop Around The Corner and You’ve Got Mail. The first half is full of heart and promise, with some great character moments and a feel-good underdog vibe. But as the story moves into the second half, it starts to drag a bit and lose focus. The characters’ choices sometimes feel forced, and the plot leans on predictable rom-com clichés.

While there’s good chemistry between the leads and some laughs, the movie doesn’t quite hit the emotional notes it aims for, leaving the ending feeling a little flat. Overall, it’s an okay watch if you like light romantic comedies but don’t expect anything groundbreaking. And if you are a vintage car enthusiast, you might lose your mind at Beau sticking an EV engine in a classic Ford Bronco! Blasphemy!

Black Bag

2025   Focus Features

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  33min

Drama ~ Mystery ~ Romance ~ Spy ~ Thriller

Directed by:  Steven Soderbergh

Starring:  Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan.

It Takes A Spy To Hunt A Spy

George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender), a hard-nosed British intelligence officer, has been handed a stressful assignment by Arthur Stieglitz (Pierce Brosnan), the head of the National Cyber Security Centre: track down the mole responsible for leaking a powerful piece of cyber-weapon software called Severus. The stakes go from professional to deeply personal once George learns that his own wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), herself an elite agent, has landed on the shortlist of suspects alongside several of their close colleagues. Under intense pressure, George invites all the suspects, including Kathryn, to an unusually tense dinner party, where he employs unconventional, even sneaky, interrogation methods to push for confessions without tipping his hand.

As the investigation spirals, George is forced to confront cracks in both his marriage and his faith in the people closest to him. Suspicion mounts when mysterious clues appear: a hidden movie ticket in the wastebasket, a sudden trip to Switzerland by his wife without telling him, and signs that millions may have been transferred to an overseas bank account in her name. Kathryn finds herself under fire at work and at home, but her relationship with George, built on both trust and professional rivalry, becomes the movie’s driving force as the pair try to outwit a blackmailer playing them against each other.

With suspicion and paranoia swirling, the movie stays laser-focused on psychological tension rather than car chases or shootouts. Every dialogue and sideways glance carries extra weight, especially as dinner party secrets unravel and loyalties are put to the test. Amidst layers of secrets, lies, and suspicion, George and Kathryn face the biggest challenge: their loyalty to each other is tested by the possibility that one of them could be the traitor. Despite the mistrust and high-stakes espionage around them, their relationship proves strong and unbreakable. In the end, George and Kathryn reaffirm that their love and faith in one another are what truly matter, insisting that betrayal is not an option between them. Their partnership stands as a core, human element amid the chaos of spy games and political intrigue.

Black Bag is not your typical action spy movie because it focuses more on psychological tension, character dynamics, and subtle espionage rather than car chases, big explosions, or nonstop action scenes. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, it’s a smart and sleek thriller that unfolds primarily through conversations, suspicion, and quiet moments of betrayal. Instead of flashy set pieces, the film builds suspense around trust issues, particularly within the main couple and their coworkers, and the careful maneuvering in their closed, claustrophobic environments like dinner parties and office spaces. It is a whodunit that is devoid of a lot of action and does move a little slow. You do have to pay attention to the details as George does, to figure things out. It was a different role for Michael Fassbender but enjoyable nonetheless. It does come off as a little cold and sterile where there is not much action and again moves a little slow. But it is more about the relationship of George and Kathryn and how they handle this test of their marriage.

Sure, it’s worth a watch but go in knowing that it is a bit different than your average spy action movie.

Black Bag Coming To Amazon Prime Friday September 5, 2025

2025   Focus Features

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  33min

Drama ~ Mystery ~ Romance ~ Spy ~ Thriller

Directed by:  Steven Soderbergh

Starring:  Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan.

It Takes A Spy To Hunt A Spy

From Director Steven Soderbergh, Black Bag is a gripping spy drama about legendary intelligence agents George Woodhouse and his beloved wife Kathryn. When she is suspected of betraying the nation, George faces the ultimate test – loyalty to his marriage or his country.  It stars Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan. In the film, British intelligence officer George Woodhouse (Fassbender) is assigned to investigate a list of suspected traitors, one of which is his wife, Kathryn (Blanchett).

COMING TO AMAZON PRIME FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2025

We’ll be posting our review of the movie Saturday after we watch it Friday Night.

Join us and let us know what you thought of the movie.