Movie Review Time

Billionaires aren't the only snakes in strange film Blink Twice

Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum in Blink Twice.

There have been an increasing number of movies critical of the ultra-rich in recent years, including Triangle of Sadness, The Menu, and the Oscar-winning Parasite. But it’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery which the new film Blink Twice most closely resembles, with each featuring a billionaire bringing out a group of people to his private island for nefarious reasons.

The film’s main character is Frida (Naomi Ackie), a cocktail waitress at a space that hosts a variety of private events, including an annual gathering for the tech company owned by Slater King (Channing Tatum). Despite unsavory allegations against him, Frida is enamored with the handsome billionaire, and with the help of her co-worker friend Jess (Alia Shawkat), she manages to get into his inner circle.

Soon, Slater is inviting the two to his island alongside a group that includes Vic (Christian Slater), Sarah (Adriana Arjona), Cody (Simon Rex), Stacy (Geena Davis), Tom (Haley Joel Osment), and more. What at first appears to be the ultimate in luxury starts to turn into a strange experience, with the women all given identical outfits to wear, a den of venomous snakes slithering around the property, and repetitive events leading to the loss of a sense of time.

Directed and co-written by Zoë Kravitz, who’s making her feature film debut in both roles, the film makes no bones about how it views billionaires and their hangers-on. Despite his looks and charming nature, it’s clear from the get-go that Slater is not someone to be trusted. For much of the story, he treats Frida, Jess, and everyone else in the manner of the consummate host, and yet there is a slew of hints that not everything is on the up-and-up.

Kravitz and co-writer E.T. Feigenbaum take their time before letting the other shoe drop, and while a lot of what they show is intriguing, it feels like they’re missing the second act in the three-act structure. The sameness of the group’s activities – laying out by the pool, eating meals, lots of drinking and drugs – becomes wearisome even as Frida starts to investigate the island more intently.

It’s all leading up to a big twist that, without spoiling anything, is confusing and underwhelming at the same time. The implications of the twist would seem to be horrifying, but the actual logistics that would make it a reality don’t appear to have been thought through fully. It also brings up a whole host of questions that wouldn’t exist if Kravitz and her team had tried for a cleaner ending.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with Ackie’s performance, but it feels like a step down from her stronger starring role in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Tatum is suitably suave and creepy, a bit of a turn for an actor who typically plays the hero. The stacked supporting cast delivers some good performances, most notably Shawkat, Arjona, and Slater.

Blink Twice shows some promise for Kravitz as a technical filmmaker, but she has some refining to do on the storytelling front. The film eventually gets to a decent woman empowerment theme, but the missteps along the way make that argument less strong than it should be.

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Blink Twice opens in theaters on August 23.

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Movie Review

The life of an actor is far from rosy in dramedy Misty Green

Photo courtesy of A24

Rosalind Eleazar in Misty Green.

For every well-known/successful actor in Hollywood, there are thousands of others whose lives are more tenuous as they struggle to find work. The new film Misty Green is about one such actor who, after a period in the limelight, now finds herself on the outskirts of the industry, just hoping to find her way back in.

Misty (Rosalind Eleazar) won an Emmy for a 2000s-era TV show that still gets her recognition, but not much work. Still living in the apartment of a recently-deceased man with whom she was having an affair, Misty spends her days sleeping in and her nights getting blitzed on alcohol and drugs. She seems to be heading nowhere fast until a few things coincide to break up her routine.

The man’s wife (Amy Landecker) shows up and tells her she has seven days to vacate the apartment; Misty’s brother, Jay (Daniel Kaluuya) — who is bipolar — arrives after being kicked out of his facility for non-payment; and Jordan (Chris Rock), a former colleague with whom she had a falling-out, reappears in her life, offering a possible chance to rehabilitate her image.

Written and directed by Rock (his first feature since 2014’s Top Five), the film is a funny and excruciating look at how the entertainment industry might actually work. Misty is her own worst enemy thanks to late nights fraternizing with unsavory characters like Zach (Adam Driver), who deals in drugs and women in equal measure, but her frustration proves warranted when her agent, Randy (Topher Grace), and casting directors like Rhonda (Tracie Thoms) hardly give her the time of day.

Misty tries her best to stay positive, but when jobs like singing in a bar are the best she can do, the mountain seems insurmountable. Rock does an effective job of demonstrating the elements that are within and without Misty’s control that affect her ability to regain her position in the industry. The chip on her shoulder is almost as big as the bias some have against her, and other negative circumstances don’t help matters much.

There are many small touches that Rock and his crew put in the film to give it an air of authenticity. Filming in Los Angeles (a rarity these days), Rock uses both subtle and overt shots of homeless people in the city, suggesting that the line between the haves and have-nots is a fine one, especially with Misty on the verge of not having a place to live. He also has cameos from a few of his funny friends, including a bit of meta-casting of Anthony Anderson (who has faded a bit after starring in Black-ish) in a bit part as a cop.

Eleazar, a British actor best known for appearing on the Apple TV show Slow Horses, is a magnetic presence as Misty. The character herself is somewhat cringey in her decision-making, and Eleazar sells every bit of her righteous indignation and self-defeating actions. The supporting cast is great across the board, including Rock, Driver, Kaluuya, Thoms, Grace, Anna Kendrick, and Rich Sommer.

Misty Green makes you rage against the Hollywood machine, laugh at the various ways different people deal with its maddening quirks, and hide behind your fingers as Misty chooses options that don’t help, either voluntarily or because her back is against the wall. It’s a powerhouse of acting that gives a unique angle on the inner workings of Hollywood, one that ironically might be competing for awards at year’s end.

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Misty Green is now playing in theaters.

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