Movie Review: The Rhythm Section

Stephanie Patrick (Blake Lively) is on a self-destructive path of drug abuse and prostitution after her family is killed in a plane crash three years earlier, when we are introduced to her after investigative journalist Keith Proctor (Razza Jaffrey) seeks her out to begin the new action/drama The Rhythm Section, offering the revelation that the aforementioned plane was not brought down accidentally, but by an act of terrorism.

This, of course, spurs Stephanie to start training to exact her revenge on those who robbed her of her family. The only problem being that she is not very good at the revenge game. Even after the standard “cleaning up” and subsequent training montage (supervised by ex-MI6 agent Boyd (Jude Law), she still loses pretty much every fight she is in and only comes out the winner by accident or because her opponent is just a bit more inept than she is. What she lacks in ability however, Stephanie readily compensates for with sheer determination.

Blake Lively in “The Rhythm Section.” Photo by COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES. – © 2018 Eon Productions Limited. All rights reserved.

But, therein lies the problem the production fails to overcome. The hero is never actually allowed to become the hero. Thusly, the film groans from one chaotic action sequence to the next without ever allowing any character development for the supposed main character to gestate and blossom. Don’t misunderstand, Lively does as best she can with the role she is given and has shown the ability to splendidly carry a character-driven thriller like The Shallows (2016) quite capably, but she is not allowed to do so here.

While the inept survivor turned vindictive killing-machine trope has recently become something of cliché, The Rhythm Section would have benefited from making Stephanie a bit more of a bad-ass. Perhaps producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli wanted to be clear that they were not trying to create a feminine counterpart to their iconic James bond franchise; but then why bill the film as being coming from the producers of that same series?

Even the introduction of characters like a possibly shady ex-CIA agent (Sterling K. Brown) or the billionaire pervert (Max Casella) – both of whom seem ripped from older James Bond character archetypes – do nothing to lift this story out of the doldrums it is perpetually mired in.

The screenplay, written by Mark Burrell, adapting his own novel, has condensed said novel into such a streamlined story arc that there is very little dramatic heft connecting one scene to the next. Similarly, Reed Morano’s direction is adequate, but there is nothing that propels the story or action forward as entertainingly as it should.

In short, The Rhythm Section suffers from wanting to be a female-driven action film while simultaneously attempting to upend the conventions of the genre it is desperately attempting to be a part of.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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