Shailene Woodley – STREAMING MOVIE NIGHT

2024 Amazon MGM Studios

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 36min

Crime ~ Drama ~ Mystery ~ Thriller

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, and Richard Madden.

Jealousy can drive anyone to the edge.

Killer Heat is based on the short story The Jealousy Man by Jo Nesbø. It is from the 2021 book The Jealousy Man and Other Short Stories.

FROM JO NESBØ’S WEBSITE (www.jonesbo.com):

Jo Nesbo is the consummate mystery writer, and his talent for hair-raising suspense and shocking twists are on full display in this inventive and harrowing collection of stories.

A detective with a nose for jealousy is on the trail of a man suspected of murdering his twin; a woman finally overcomes her intimacy issues through a dark encounter with her Peeping Tom neighbor; a fugitive on the run in a remote corner of Norway is lured by a friendly local to what seems to be a wedding ceremony–only to find a much more macabre event.

Contained in this collection are stories of insatiable avarice, unscrupulous lovers, and heartrending fate. With Nesbo’s gift for outstanding atmosphere and complex characters, this is a veritable crime lover’s delight.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Private Detective Nick Bali. He is a former NYPD Detective who has relocated to his father’s empty apartment in Greece following the demise of his marriage. Haunted by the memory of events that led to his failed marriage, and of his daughter, he drinks heavily to block it out. “There’s a calculus to drinking. And if I get the math right, I’ll land in the perfect blackout. No Memories.” Intense jealousy on Nick’s part led to his wife’s cheating and the end of their marriage. It also helped him be a better private Investigator when it came to investigating marital issues between a couple. Through a friend who recommends him, he is contacted by……..

Penelope Vardakis (Shailene Woodley) to investigate the death of her brother-in-law’s identical twin brother Leo Vardakis. Leo and Penelope’s husband Elias were avid rock climbers, having been climbing since childhood. Growing up on the island of Crete with all it’s cliffs was an ideal playground for the two boys. Leo had been rock climbing a cliff Free Solo, which is ascending without any ropes or equipment, relying only on his hands covered in climbing chalk and climbing shoes. He was found at the bottom of the cliff after apparently having lost his footing and dropping 30 meters (100 feet).

Nick flies to Crete where he is met by Penelope who explains that she believes her brother-in-law’s death was no accident. And given the family’s wealth and stature on the island, she has hired him to secretly investigate the murder. Penelope has arranged for him to stay anonymously at a Monastery where she is good friends with the Monks who live there. He settles in and heads to town to start investigating and immediately runs into the Vardakis Family’s influence everywhere he turns. Being a highly successful Billionaire family with generational roots in Crete, they own or have their fingers in everything including the police, the government and the politicians.

This is a Contemporary Noir Thriller complete with voice-over narration by Nick the private eye every step of the way. It feels like those old black and white private eye movies from the past. It is well shot on location in Crete, Greece and is very picturesque. It is not what my dad would call a “Bang Bang shoot ’em up”. It is more of a slow burn as Nick narrates his investigation and findings, and as the plot unfolds. It is based upon the book The Jealousy Man by Norwegian Mystery Thriller Author Jo Nesbø.

I liked Joseph and Shailene in this, I thought it was a good mystery thriller with just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. It is a slow burn but it kept me intrigued as it went along. I have come to like Jo Nesbo and his books, I would definitely recommend them. After all, he is a New York Times Bestselling Author. I personally think he is a good writer and really have enjoyed his books, he is now one of my favorite authors. I am also a fan of this Neo-noir Slow Burn Thriller and a huge fan of Shailene Woodley, and I think you should read Jo Nesbø and watch this movie!

2023 Vertical Entertainment

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 59min

Action ~ Crime ~ Drama ~ Mystery ~ Thriller

Directed by: Damián Szifron

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ben Mendelsohn, Jovan Adepo and Ralph Ineson.

“I’d rather be hated for who I am, than be loved for what I’m not”

Baltimore….New Year’s Eve…….a gunman kills 29 people sniper style. Eleanor Falco (Shailene Woodley) is a Baltimore Police Officer and responds to the scene. FBI Special Agent Lammark (Ben Mendelsohn) is chosen to lead the investigation into the mass murder. The next morning as he addresses the Police Department he happens to overhear Officer Falco and another officer talking about him and is surprised by what she said in response. He questions her about her comments and is surprised by her answers. Impressed with her he decides that he needs her on his special team and requests that she be allowed to be the liaison between him and the Police Department.

As they work together to track down the killer, Agent Lammark realizes that Officer Falco is a very bright and perceptive individual. Looking at her record he surmises that she is also very deeply disturbed and haunted by something in her past. And she might just be the only person that could get inside the head of the man they are searching for. Kind of like a modern day Clarice Starling from Silence Of The Lambs. They work together to hunt down the mass murderer with no clues and Officer Falco’s intuition, while they fight the bureaucratic need for a quick resolution to the city’s nightmarish scenario.

The Director Damián Szifron is a very successful Argentinian Film Director and he co-wrote this movie with Jonathon Wakeham. It is his first foray onto American Films with Vertical Entertainment picking up the movie in 2022 and changing the name from Misanthrope to To Catch A Killer. Shailene Woodley does an excellent job in this movie. I loved her character and the way she played the role. All the way through right up until the end, I was rooting for Shailene and Eleanor Falco. I am a Shailene Woodley fan, there is something different about her, the way she acts and approaches her roles.

Killer Heat was the most recent movie I saw and reviewed with her in it, liked her in that as well. HBO’s Big Little Lies was another good one she was in, as well as the Divergent series. Ben Mendelsohn also did a good job in this movie as The FBI lead man. I think they were both at the top of their game in this one. I loved the storyline as well. A mass murder with no clues, Officer Falco’s tortured psyche and intuition, the battle to find the murderer and the truth while trying to keep the bureaucrats at bay. The movie kind of flew under the radar before it landed on Netflix yesterday and is already Number one on The Netflix Top Ten Movies List.

I enjoyed it and I would watch it again……

And Yes….I recommend it.