I hated just about everything in this movie, with the exception of the gay couple, wonderfully portrayed with sincere love and affection by Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli, and the genuinely terrifying image the film paints of constantly drowning to death and waking up on repeat for 500 years.

On the whole, though, this movie looks cheap as hell, with that Netflix filter in Final Cut applied, leaving behind a visually flat and ugly image, devoid of any colour, depth, or cinematic flare. Gina Prince-Bythewood, and her cinematographers Barry Ackroyd and Tami Reiker, shoot the majority of the film in such tight quarters that any scope the subject matter or anamorphic format invites is completely lost. Moreover, any momentum the film tries to establish grinds to a halt by characters constantly stopping to talk in that bullshit action stereotype way of “I’m too tough to tell you what I’m thinking so you’ll just have to infer everything by my scowl.” Charlize Theron’s Andy is so smug, disengaged, and unlikeable that I just couldn’t side with any of her motivations. But the film’s most egregious offender? The horrible use of pop music throughout with the most comically heavy handed lyrics to describe everything you’re seeing.

This is a film with an interesting idea completely squandered by uninspired directing, cliched writing and characters (including the requisite nerdy bad guy CEO), a totally misjudged soundtrack, and off-brand John Wick action. Yeah, I really didn’t enjoy this.

1/5 stars

This remains a powerful story with subtle and effective direction by Clint Eastwood. Watching it again, years later, Kevin Bacon’s performance is the standout for me. It’s not as showy as Penn’s or as twitchy as Robbins’, but is more subtle and nuanced. Quite frankly, everyone is excellent here, and the film is really a showcase for A-class acting.

My issues remain the same in 2020 as they did in 2003: the Savage brother characters are a strange inclusion (full disclosure, I haven’t read the novel upon which this film is based), and appear only to buttress Jimmy Markum’s “legend” tough guy status in their neighbourhood. They also come across as shortcuts to deliver exposition to Jimmy (and by proxy, us the audience) instead of natural connective tissue between scenes. I was thinking of half a dozen different ways Jimmy could have come by certain knowledge in lieu of these guys.

Finally, Laura Linney’s monologue and heel-turn at the end of the film comes off as inauthentic (maybe it’s her attempt at a Boston accent?). I understand its purpose, but there isn’t enough time spent with her throughout the film to really believe she would behave in this way, and as a consequence comes off tonally incongruous with the rest of the film.

However, these are minor gripes in an otherwise strong film, elevated by standout performances, with a heartbreaking and intriguing mystery at its core.

4/5 stars

Lost (specifically, season 5) meets Primer but with 100x the budget. Something tells me this will become better over time once I consume all of the “Tenet Explained” videos, made by people way smarter than me. Not a perfect film, though.

For starters, Branagh, while great, is in a totally different movie. Perhaps by design, his performance skews more traditional cartoon Bond villain, robbing him of any real menace or nuance. By contrast, Washington, Pattinson, and Debicki are all excellent, each displaying enough vulnerability – and mystery – to have me invested in their arcs.

Also, the first half is more interested in getting to the (amazing) set pieces rather than concern itself with plot or character development. However, once the machinations of the time inversion conceit are revealed about halfway, I was hooked.

I also appreciate that Nolan isn’t overly concerned with the minutiae of heists, a la Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy, for example, but would rather just get on with it. While some may see the hand waving in Tenet as lazy, I don’t need to know how certain details will unfold via a montage, only to then watch them play out again. The world building is sufficient enough that I forgive Nolan for eschewing many expository scenes in favour of spectacle.

I saw Tenet in IMAX with two other people present (all socially distant) and boy what a treat. A near private screening, no discernible green screen, practical effects, a pounding score by Ludwig Goransson, and sumptuous 70mm detail of real-world locations. What a concept!

4/5 stars