Love Lies Bleeding (Minor Spoilers)(2024)

 

**This post contains MINOR spoilers**

The Story- Working as the manager at a local gym in New Mexico, Lou (Kristen Stewart) meets Jackie (Katy O’Brian), an aspiring bodybuilder. Lou finds happiness with Jackie during a rocky romantic relationship, but the sudden appearance of FBI agent O’Riley (Orion C. Carrington) disrupts Lou’s quiet lifestyle. Lou struggles to juggle murder, dead bodies, and tumultuous relationships with her father, Lou Sr. (Ed Harris), her sister Beth (Jena Malone), her husband, JJ (Dave Franco), and a kooky woman named Daisy (Anna Baryshinkov).

My Thoughts- Kristen Stewart believably plays a quirky and awkward young woman, who’s dealing with a lot. You can tell she wants to distance herself from her family, but she loves Beth too much to ignore her abusive relationship with JJ. Stewart also brings an emotional side to Lou. The weight of working a dead end job in a small and hopeless town is clearly crushing Lou’s spirit. But Lou is still willing to help others, while she navigates a lot of tricky paths in her own life. The big test? Lou has to choose between her family, standing up to her father, and her relationship with Jackie. 

Jackie appears, and we’re not exactly sure what’s going on with her. Is she just a drifter and a shameless opportunist? Does she actually love Jackie? All the questions surrounding Jackie are definitively answered as the story progresses. Jackie is tough, she’s strong, and she doesn’t put up with bullshit. But you can also see someone, who’s hurting inside, because Jackie has a few vulnerable and emotional moments.

Katy O’Brian does an excellent job of portraying Jackie. She starts out as this happy and positive lady, who’s determined to chase her dreams. But she gets sucked into a whirlwind of chaos, as she struggles to hold herself together before she completely cracks. 

Jackie and Lou together? Well, there’s no denying it’s a toxic relationship. Jackie ran away from her hometown, chasing a new life. Lou is miserable. She hates her father, she misses her mother, and Lou knows there’s a low ceiling for her future, if she doesn’t leave New Mexico.

It’s love at first sight, when Jackie walks into the gym, but things go downhill quickly, when Lou gives Jackie steroids. Jackie quickly spirals out of control, but Lou NEVER gives up on her. The romance between Lou and Jackie is truly one of Love Lies Bleeding’s greatest strengths, filled with turbulent ups and downs. And kudos to Katy O’Brian for shifting gears to a more frazzled and angry version of Jackie during the ‘roid rage fits.

Ed Harris does it again with another good performance. Lou Sr. is a mean and crusty old bastard, a devious manipulator, who won’t stop until he gets what he wants. On top of all that, Lou Sr. is oddly fascinated with bugs. Harris plays a powerful man, but it’s hard to ignore the truth: Lou Sr. is a relic of the past. He’s an old man, who’s desperately clinging on to the power of being a big fish in a small pond, because without his status as a scary big shot, his life is empty. It’s kind of sad and pathetic, when you step back and look at the big picture.

Hats off to Dave Franco for his performance. JJ is scum. He’s a cheater, he beats his wife, and JJ is a sniveling coward. Franco does a fantastic job with JJ’s body language, his demeanor, and some good facial expressions. You can take one look at JJ, and you’ll instantly know this guy is a bad dude, with a cold and nasty mean streak.

It’s almost impossible to not feel any sympathy for Jena Malone’s Beth, a caring mother and a dedicated wife. She takes care of everything around the house, but she’s married to a monster. They don’t actually show JJ beating Beth, but the aftermath is equally horrifying. The scars, the bumps, the bruises, and Beth lying in a hospital bed with that huge knot on her face is an unpleasant sight. Also, the dinner date scene with JJ, Beth, Lou, and Jackie is genuinely uncomfortable to watch. You can feel the awkward tension at the table, and the situation reaches a boiling point, when JJ overreacts after Beth accidentally drops food on his lap.

Anna Baryshinkov could’ve stole the show here with more screen time. Daisy is a nutty and obsessive stalker. The lovey-dovey feelings she has for Lou are not reciprocated. She loves Lou, she’s willing to do anything to have a relationship with her, but Lou can’t stand Daisy. The mere sight of Daisy annoys Lou to the point, where it’s easy to believe she disgusts Lou. To top it off, Daisy’s story has an unfortunate ending before the credits start rolling.

Rose Glass’ work behind the camera is just phenomenal. Love Lies Bleeding looks and feels like a hypnotic fever dream. So many shots with great details, and the small New Mexico town is a perfect setting for this one. Lou’s hometown is a desolate and quiet hellhole out in the middle of nowhere. It’s a dreary and depressing place that kills any hopes and dreams. Escape is the only way to make it, because it’s a town that’s populated by too many people, who are stubbornly stuck in their own ways, and the bad guys hold too much power.

I’m also glad they didn’t lean into 80’s nostalgia too much. It’s a more subtle approach with the wardrobes, the hairstyles, the cars, and the phones. I can clearly see the movie is set in the 80’s, without constant in-your-face reminders in every scene, or every other scene. That’s enough for me.

Love Lies Bleeding fires on all cylinders. It works as a crime drama, it works as a thriller, and there’s some good black humor during the final moments of the movie. The overall cast is excellent. Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian share great chemistry as two people, who are willing to do anything for each other, no matter how risky the consequences are after the smoke clears. 

A bloody and strange fairy tale filled with violence and some gruesome gore, Love Lies Bleeding lives up to its title by delivering a wild and chaotic love story. Lots of bumpy ups and downs for Lou and Jackie, setbacks that should’ve marked the point of no return for both women. 

Going with the happy ending was the right move. Why? Because after all the bloodshed, the betrayals, and dealing with messy family drama, it’s safe to say Lou and Jackie truly earned their freedom from Lou Sr., a man who’s clearly hell-bent on being a tyrant and a nasty control freak. And there’s always a chance Jackie will get another shot at entering a different bodybuilding competition! 

Rating- 9/10

Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Working as the manager at a local gym in New Mexico, Lou (Kristen Stewart) meets Jackie (Katy O’Brian), an aspiring bodybuilder. Lou finds happiness with Jackie during a rocky romantic relationship, but the sudden appearance of FBI agent O’Riley (Orion C. Carrington) disrupts Lou’s quiet lifestyle. Lou struggles to juggle murder, dead bodies, and tumultuous relationships with her father, Lou Sr. (Ed Harris), her sister Beth (Jena Malone), her husband, JJ (Dave Franco), and a kooky woman named Daisy (Anna Baryshinkov).

My Thoughts- Kristen Stewart believably plays a quirky and awkward young woman, who’s dealing with a lot. You can tell she wants to distance herself from her family, but she loves Beth too much to ignore her abusive relationship with JJ. Stewart also brings an emotional side to Lou. The weight of working a dead end job in a small and hopeless town is clearly crushing Lou’s spirit. But Lou is still willing to help others, while she navigates a lot of tricky paths in her own life. The big test? Lou has to choose between her family, standing up to her father, and her relationship with Jackie. 

Jackie appears, and we’re not exactly sure what’s going on with her. Is she just a drifter and a shameless opportunist? Does she actually love Jackie? All the questions surrounding Jackie are definitively answered as the story progresses. Jackie is tough, she’s strong, and she doesn’t put up with bullshit. But you can also see someone, who’s hurting inside, because Jackie has a few vulnerable and emotional moments.

Katy O’Brian does an excellent job of portraying Jackie. She starts out as this happy and positive lady, who’s determined to chase her dreams. But she gets sucked into a whirlwind of chaos, as she struggles to hold herself together before she completely cracks. 

Jackie and Lou together? Well, there’s no denying it’s a toxic relationship. Jackie ran away from her hometown, chasing a new life. Lou is miserable. She hates her father, she misses her mother, and Lou knows there’s a low ceiling for her future, if she doesn’t leave New Mexico.

It’s love at first sight, when Jackie walks into the gym, but things go downhill quickly, when Lou gives Jackie steroids. Jackie quickly spirals out of control, but Lou NEVER gives up on her. The romance between Lou and Jackie is truly one of Love Lies Bleeding’s greatest strengths, filled with turbulent ups and downs. And kudos to Katy O’Brian for shifting gears to a more frazzled and angry version of Jackie during the ‘roid rage fits.

Ed Harris does it again with another good performance. Lou Sr. is a mean and crusty old bastard, a devious manipulator, who won’t stop until he gets what he wants. On top of all that, Lou Sr. is oddly fascinated with bugs. Harris plays a powerful man, but it’s hard to ignore the truth: Lou Sr. is a relic of the past. He’s an old man, who’s desperately clinging on to the power of being a big fish in a small pond, because without his status as a scary big shot, his life is empty. It’s kind of sad and pathetic, when you step back and look at the big picture.

Hats off to Dave Franco for his performance. JJ is scum. He’s a cheater, he beats his wife, JJ is a sniveling coward, AND it’s revealed he’s an informant for the FBI. Franco does a fantastic job with JJ’s body language, his demeanor, and some good facial expressions. You can take one look at JJ, and you’ll instantly know this guy is a bad dude, with a cold and nasty mean streak.

It’s almost impossible to not feel any sympathy for Jena Malone’s Beth, a caring mother and a dedicated wife. She takes care of everything around the house, but she’s married to a monster. They don’t actually show JJ beating Beth, but the aftermath is equally horrifying. The scars, the bumps, the bruises, and Beth lying in a hospital bed with that huge knot on her face is an unpleasant sight. Also, the dinner date scene with JJ, Beth, Lou, and Jackie is genuinely uncomfortable to watch. You can feel the awkward tension at the table, and the situation reaches a boiling point, when JJ overreacts after Beth accidentally drops food on his lap.

Anna Baryshinkov could’ve stole the show here with more screen time. Daisy is a nutty and obsessive stalker. The lovey-dovey feelings she has for Lou are not reciprocated. She loves Lou, she’s willing to do anything to have a relationship with her, but Lou can’t stand Daisy. The mere sight of Daisy annoys Lou to the point, where it’s easy to believe she disgusts Lou. To top it off, Daisy’s story has an unfortunate ending before the credits start rolling.

Jackie, as a GIANT, pulverizes Lou Sr.! It’s a bizarre ending. Yes, Lou Sr. got what he deserved, and I’m glad Lou didn’t pull the trigger. She obviously wanted her father to rot in prison, because killing him would’ve been too easy. A small part of me was hoping for a more serious tone during Lou Sr.’s beat down. Lou Sr. was truly an evil man. He deserved to suffer, but Giant Jackie playing around with Lou Sr., while Lou watches with a smile on her face crossed the line for being too silly for me. 

Although, I guess you have to look at the ending through Lou’s eyes. She deeply loves Jackie, and it’s obvious Lou admires her. For Lou, Jackie is someone, who’s larger than life itself, so it makes sense that she sees Jackie as a giant, who’s beating the crap out of her father, a man, who’s directly responsible for a lot of heartache in Lou’s life. 

To add to that, I have to believe steroids played a big part in Jackie’s hallucinogenic transformations. Going back to the scene, where Jackie brutally murders JJ, you’ll notice Jackie is taller, towering over JJ’s mangled corpse.

Rose Glass’ work behind the camera is just phenomenal. Love Lies Bleeding looks and feels like a hypnotic fever dream. So many shots with great details, and the small New Mexico town is a perfect setting for this one. Lou’s hometown is a desolate and quiet hellhole out in the middle of nowhere. It’s a dreary and depressing place that kills any hopes and dreams. Escape is the only way to make it, because it’s a town that’s populated by too many people, who are stubbornly stuck in their own ways, and the bad guys hold too much power.

I’m also glad they didn’t lean into 80’s nostalgia too much. It’s a more subtle approach with the wardrobes, the hairstyles, the cars, and the phones. I can clearly see the movie is set in the 80’s, without constant in-your-face reminders in every scene, or every other scene. That’s enough for me.

Love Lies Bleeding fires on all cylinders. It works as a crime drama, it works as a thriller, and there’s some good black humor during the final moments of the movie. The overall cast is excellent. Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian share great chemistry as two people, who are willing to do anything for each other, no matter how risky the consequences are after the smoke clears. 

A bloody and strange fairy tale filled with violence and some gruesome gore, Love Lies Bleeding lives up to its title by delivering a wild and chaotic love story. Lots of bumpy ups and downs for Lou and Jackie, setbacks that should’ve marked the point of no return for both women. 

Going with the happy ending was the right move. Why? Because after all the bloodshed, the betrayals, and dealing with messy family drama, it’s safe to say Lou and Jackie truly earned their freedom from Lou Sr., a man who’s clearly hell-bent on being a tyrant and a nasty control freak. And there’s always a chance Jackie will get another shot at entering a different bodybuilding competition! 

Rating- 9/10

Underwater (2020)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Norah (Kristen Stewart), a mechanical engineer at an underwater research and drilling facility, rushes to safety after a sudden disturbance causes severe damage, killing a number of her fellow crewmates. Led by Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), Norah, Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), Liam (John Gallagher Jr.), Emily (Jessica Henwick), and Paul (T.J. Miller) all struggle to survive with a limited number of escape pods and resources. Captain Lucien’s solution? Walk across the seafloor of the Mariana Trench to the Roebuck Station using special hi-tech suits.

The risky mission takes a bizarre turn, when the crew realizes they’re being hunted and picked off by deadly creatures. Pushing forward is the only option, as the crew carefully travels to Roebuck, and Norah is forced to make a difficult decision. 

My Thoughts- Kristen Stewart’s performance as Norah truly encapsulates how you would expect someone to react to an unprecedented situation, especially a situation that involves vicious monsters. The anxiety, torn emotions for making tough choices, and the emotional weight of realizing you might die, without a funeral or a proper burial. Norah is compassionate, selfless, and scrappy, the unlikely heroic character, who has to push through one brutal loss after another, when she realizes she can’t save everyone. 

Vincent Cassel delivers a solid performance as Captain Lucien. Lucien, the leader, who strongly prioritizes the safety of his crew over everything, including his own well-being, while constantly trying to reassure the crew that everyone will make it out alive. 

The rest of the crew? It’s a familiar set of characters you’ll notice from other similar horror films. T.J. Miller’s Paul is the jokester and the comic relief character, who’s obsessed with Alice In Wonderland (he also carries around a stuffed rabbit). Emily freaks out and panics at the first signs of danger. John Gallagher Jr. has a healthy sense of humor as Liam, just a step below Paul for laughs, as the guy, who lightens the mood after, or during the more serious moments throughout the movie.

Rodrigo, Lucien, and Paul are all dead. So what’s next? Cthulhu appears! Things go from bad to worse, when Norah spots Cthulhu at the Roebuck Station. Great execution, good timing, and a nice surprise for the Cthulhu reveal. The shot with Norah shooting the flare gun, leading to the flash that reveals Cthulhu’s monstrous figure really works as an awe-inspiring visual.

Norah sacrificing herself to save Emily and Liam? Not too shocking, because as soon as Norah noticed the damaged escape pod, you knew what was coming. Still, it’s a strong ending, and a thrilling emotional roller coaster. Emily pleading with Norah to reconsider her choice, the pods containing Liam and Emily racing to the top, while they’re chased by Cthulhu, and the other creatures, and that massive explosion. Norah, after Lucien’s death, filled the role of the leader, who had to make gut-wrenching decisions. 

I did get a kick of Kristen Stewart’s defiant and calm demeanor before she destroyed the Roebuck Station. Norah’s final words about being lost in the darkness, including the final “let’s light this s*** up” zinger right before the explosion engulfs Cthulhu and the creatures? That’s how you stick the landing for a fantastic ending!

Underwater is a strange case for me. The movie is set 2050, creepy and menacing creatures, and the BIG reveal towards the end for a legendary creature is a good jaw-dropper. But there’s just something missing in Underwater. Considering the material they had to work with, there’s a noticeable lack of oomph, or consistent sparks here. 

One problem for me is they relied on one too many jump scares. That, and outside of Norah and Lucien, the rest of the crew features too many thin characters. Also, I was hoping they would’ve explored the obvious coverup from the company, and the moral dilemma about drilling in the ocean, something Emily touched on earlier in the movie. 

But Underwater is still a solid and entertaining sci-fi horror film. Underwater quickly bursts out of the gate, because the chaos starts within the first ten minutes. There’s a good balance of running from and fighting off the creature’s attacks, and the crew sharing heart-to heart moments with each other, or joking around, allowing the story to breathe, when it needs to at certain points. 

Norah and Lucien’s relationship is one of the bigger highlights in the movie, with Lucien relying on, trusting, and pushing Norah to believe in herself. A strong sense of claustrophobia in tight spaces, some decent laughs, a good amount of genuinely tense scenes with the creatures, the attacks, and the main characters waiting for the right moment to make a move, fight back, or escape. The methods used for the deaths and the kills are kind of repetitive, but there’s still a lot of brutality for a PG-13 horror film, toeing the line for the necessary squirmy reactions, without needing graphic levels of gore and gruesome kills. 

And I can’t say enough about how much I loved the ending. Predictable with how everything played out? Yes, but the last stand still packs a strong enough punch to get the job done.

Rating- 7/10

Underwater (2020)(Minor Spoilers)

 **This post contains MINOR spoilers**

The Story- Norah (Kristen Stewart), a mechanical engineer at an underwater research and drilling facility, rushes to safety after a sudden disturbance causes severe damage, killing a number of her fellow crewmates. Led by Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), Norah, Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), Liam (John Gallagher Jr.), Emily (Jessica Henwick), and Paul (T.J. Miller) all struggle to survive with a limited number of escape pods and resources. Captain Lucien’s solution? Walk across the seafloor of the Mariana Trench to the Roebuck Station using special hi-tech suits.

The risky mission takes a bizarre turn, when the crew realizes they’re being hunted and picked off by deadly creatures. Pushing forward is the only option, as the crew carefully travels to Roebuck, and Norah is forced to make a difficult decision. 

My Thoughts- Kristen Stewart’s performance as Norah truly encapsulates how you would expect someone to react to an unprecedented situation, especially a situation that involves vicious monsters. The anxiety, torn emotions for making tough choices, and the emotional weight of realizing you might die, without a funeral or a proper burial. Norah is compassionate, selfless, and scrappy, the unlikely heroic character, who has to push through one brutal loss after another, when she realizes she can’t save everyone. 

Vincent Cassel delivers a solid performance as Captain Lucien. Lucien, the leader, who strongly prioritizes the safety of his crew over everything, including his own well-being, while constantly trying to reassure the crew that everyone will make it out alive. 

The rest of the crew? It’s a familiar set of characters you’ll notice from other similar horror films. T.J. Miller’s Paul is the jokester and the comic relief character, who’s obsessed with Alice In Wonderland (he also carries around a stuffed rabbit). Emily freaks out and panics at the first signs of danger. John Gallagher Jr. has a healthy sense of humor as Liam, just a step below Paul for laughs, as the guy, who lightens the mood after, or during the more serious moments throughout the movie.

Underwater is a strange case for me. The movie is set 2050, creepy and menacing creatures, and the BIG reveal towards the end for a legendary creature is a good jaw-dropper. But there’s just something missing in Underwater. Considering the material they had to work with, there’s a noticeable lack of oomph, or consistent sparks here. 

One problem for me is they relied on one too many jump scares. That, and outside of Norah and Lucien, the rest of the crew features too many thin characters. Also, I was hoping they would’ve explored the obvious coverup from the company, and the moral dilemma about drilling in the ocean, something Emily touched on earlier in the movie. 

But Underwater is still a solid and entertaining sci-fi horror film. Underwater quickly bursts out of the gate, because the chaos starts within the first ten minutes. There’s a good balance of running from and fighting off the creature’s attacks, and the crew sharing heart-to heart moments with each other, or joking around, allowing the story to breathe, when it needs to at certain points. 

Norah and Lucien’s relationship is one of the bigger highlights in the movie, with Lucien relying on, trusting, and pushing Norah to believe in herself. A strong sense of claustrophobia in tight spaces, some decent laughs, a good amount of genuinely tense scenes with the creatures, the attacks, and the main characters waiting for the right moment to make a move, fight back, or escape. The methods used for the deaths and the kills are kind of repetitive, but there’s still a lot of brutality for a PG-13 horror film, toeing the line for the necessary squirmy reactions, without needing graphic levels of gore and gruesome kills. 

And I can’t say enough about how much I loved the ending. Predictable with how everything played out? Yes, but the last stand still packs a strong enough punch to get the job done. 

Rating- 7/10

Jumper (2008)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- After a failed attempt to impress his crush, Millie (AnnaSophia Robb), and a run-in with his pesky bully, Mark (Jesse James), a young David Rice (Max Thieriot) accidentally discovers he has the ability to jump. A Jumper can instantly teleport to any place on earth, and David uses his powers to escape his strict and abusive father, William (Michael Rooker).

Years later, David (Hayden Christensen) has mastered his powers, using jumping to rob banks, so he can live a luxurious lifestyle. David finds Millie (Rachel Bilson) working at a bar. He convinces Millie to travel with him to Rome to see the Colosseum, fulfilling one of Millie’s childhood dream vacations. 

But the trip is disrupted, when David runs into another Jumper named Griffin (Jamie Bell). To make matters worse, David and Griffin are hunted by Roland Cox (Samuel L. Jackson). Roland leads the Paladins, a secret group fiercely dedicated to capturing and killing Jumpers. David will need Griffin’s help to stop Roland and protect Millie. And David’s situation takes a bizarre turn, when his estranged mother, Mary (Diane Lane) reappears.

My Thoughts- Samuel L. Jackson and Jamie Bell easily deliver the two best performances here. Jackson is a mean and relentless jerk, and he does a fantastic job of selling Roland’s hatred for Jumpers. You really believe Roland is genuinely disgusted by Jumpers, and he will do anything to exterminate them. Also, the obsessive religious fanaticism tied into the Paladins and Roland’s character truly helps solidify his status, as a clear-cut villain throughout the movie.

Jamie Bell plays the angsty tough guy type. He’s closed off and refuses to open up to David about his past, and Bell brings believable intensity to Griffin. Griffin can be a loose cannon, but he still has enough common sense to be responsible, when it matters.

The dynamic and the relationship between Griffin and David hits all the right notes. David is reckless and greedy with his jumping abilities. His lifestyle draws too much attention. Griffin? He quietly lives in a cave. Sure, you could say Griffin is a bit unhinged, but he’s careful and far more disciplined than David. 

As the story progresses, we learn that Mary is a Paladins. That’s why she abandoned David and his father years ago, because as a Paladins, she had to make a choice: leave the family, or kill her own son. It’s kind of a somber ending, when David realizes his mother simply moved on and continued living her life without him. She lives in a nice house, and David has a sister named Sophie (Kristen Stewart).

I wouldn’t say they reach eye rolling levels, but Jumper is loaded with a lot of familiar cliches. As a kid, David is shy and socially awkward. He has a crush on his dream girl, but his bully Mark is one of the dark clouds hanging over his life. 

William? He’s the typical verbally abusive drunk father, but it’s possible to have sympathy for him. Mary bailed on the family, leaving William to raise David on his own. That’s a lot of stress and heartbreak to deal with alone, but William changes as David ages. You can see he wants to have a relationship with his son. He wants to understand him, and William lies to Roland in a failed attempt to protect David.

Jumper delivers some good thrills, but they kind of went overboard with showing how cool it is to be a Jumper. David eating on top of a Sphinx’s head in Egypt is one moment that sticks out, and Griffin showing off his advanced skills to steal a Mercedes, jumping through the dealership at full speed without breaking the glass. Early on the movie, it’s easy to understand what jumping is and how David and Griffin do it, so some of the “jumping is so cool and awesome!” scenes were unnecessary. 

Jumper features a solid cast, and it’s a movie that moves at a quick pace. The runtime flies by with consistent action and a good sense of urgency, as David and Griffin figure out their next moves. 

Jumper is a decent and fun action/sci-fi film, but it also feels incomplete. David and Mary accepted they’ll always share an awkward relationship, and they’re also on opposite sides of the never ending war between Jumpers and Paladins, so that’s a cliffhanger. Millie finally accepted David for what he is, and they end the movie with David and Millie in a seemingly happy relationship. Griffin? David left him trapped in the wires (large amounts of electricity hinders a Jumper’s ability to jump) in another country. Will Griffin trust David again? Or is he looking for revenge?

Roland is still alive, stuck in the Grand Canyon with no help to escape. And we don’t know what happened to William after David dropped him off at the hospital. A lot of loose ends, but we’re in 2024 now, and Jumper was released all the way back in 2008. I still haven’t seen it, but the Impulse series has two seasons. The problem is, Impulse is a stand alone series, so it’s not connected to this movie.

They planted enough seeds to lay the foundation for a sequel, and Jackson could’ve been an excellent villain. Jumper wasn’t perfect, but the potential was there, and the premise definitely had more roads to explore.

Rating- 5/10

Coming Attractions- Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

 

Director- Rose Glass

Cast- Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Ed Harris, Jenna Malone, Anna Baryshinikov, Dave Franco

Release Date- March 8, 2024

Everything about this trailer for Love Lies Bleeding is just perfect. The music, the scenes with Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian together, and you can see there’s a strong possibility for Ed Harris to deliver a show stealing performance. 

Yeah, the trailer shows a lot, and maybe they gave away too much. But it’s still the kind of trailer that’ll get you pumped up for the movie. You get the feeling there’s not going to be a happy ending, and Kristen Stewart’s Lou has already chosen Katy O’ Brian’s Jackie over her own family. High expectations for Love Lies Bleeding, a presumably brutal and violent love story featuring top notch acting.

American Ultra (2015)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) is a convenience store clerk living in a small town in Virginia with his girlfriend, Phoebe Larson (Kristen Stewart). Mike’s peaceful and ordinary life is upended, when he’s attacked by two unknown assailants. 

Mike is targeted and hunted by dangerous operatives, while he’s caught in the middle of a deadly feud between CIA agent Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) and her coworker and adversary Adrian Yates (Topher Grace). Phoebe and his drug dealer buddy Rose (John Leguizamo) are Mike’s only allies, but Mike soon learns shocking secrets about himself and the reasons behind the government’s relentless pursuit to eliminate him.

My Thoughts- Jesse Eisenberg plays to his strengths with his familiar quirky and socially awkward persona, and it’s something he always excels at. Mike is a peaceful and carefree pothead. But he’s also a klutz and he’s not too bright at times, so the irony of Mike quickly switching gears to be this lethal and efficient sleeper agent is just hilarious. 

The boyfriend/girlfriend chemistry between Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart is fantastic. Mike is a stoner. He’s clumsy, he continuously makes stupid mistakes, but Phoebe never gives up on him. She knows he’s a good person with a big heart, and she’s willing to risk her life to protect him. Stewart and Eisenberg were believable as an unusual couple. Phoebe plays the role of his protector, and it’s easy to buy into the fact that these two are willing to do anything to keep each other safe.

Topher Grace did a good job as a pompous and condescending weasel. Connie Britton’s Victoria is a perfect foil for Grace’s Yates. Victoria is a kind, hard working, and compassionate person. She wants to protect Mike, because she knows he’s innocent. On the opposite side, Yates is a selfish and cold jerk, who climbed the corporate ladder with brown nosing and butt kissing. He sees Mike as a disposable asset. It’s his chance to further advance his career, and the dynamic between Britton and Grace is one of the true highlights here.

The approach on how to use Bill Pullman’s Raymond Krueger throughout the movie really works. Krueger’s appearances are limited, so when he shows up it’s more of a big deal, and you’re not exactly sure what his precise title is. It’s clear he outranks Yates and Victoria, and Pullman brings a commanding presence to Krueger. You firmly know he’s the boss, and Krueger means business, whenever he shows up.

Walton Goggins delivers one of the top performances as Laugher. You can immediately see Laugher is someone who has a few screws loose. Laugher is a top pick for a lot of the good comedic moments, because he’s a pesky and persistent stinker, who keeps coming back to terrorize Mike and Phoebe. Goggins perfectly sells Laugher’s nutty and violent personality, with that crazed look on his face and the constant cackling. He’s Mike’s main adversary in hand to hand combat and Yates’ got to guy throughout the movie, and Goggins truly nailed this character.

As far as John Leguizamo goes, I could’ve done without the N word stuff with Rose. It’s not malicious at all, but Rose definitely leans more towards the cringey side at times. Leguizamo is solid enough as the paranoid and low level drug kingpin, so the N word stuff just felt unnecessary. 

Tony Hale deserves credit for a noteworthy performance as Pete Douglas. He’s a nice and genuinely good guy, who turns into a nervous mess, because he’s torn between helping his friend (Victoria) and Yates, who bullies him and threatens his life, if he doesn’t fall in line.

When Mike finds out who he truly is, and Yates is still holding Phoebe hostage, it’s easy to guess how things will play out. Phoebe was actually Mike’s handler, and she wasn’t completely honest with him, so you know he’ll go through the dilemma of wanting to trust her again, because he believes she betrayed him. It all leads to the big showdown at the end, where Mike has to take on the rest of Yates’ Toughguy team and rescue Phoebe. It’s a predictable series of events, but the wild finale still delivers some good action and fight sequences. 

They did a good job with the contrast between Yates’ Toughguy sleeper agents and Victoria’s Wiseman sleeper agents. Yates’ agents are cold and more ruthless. On the flip side of that, Mike came from the Wisemam program. He’s someone who’s compassionate. There’s humanity in him, and he’s noticeably different from Laugher, who’s a mindless killing machine following orders. The differences between the Wiseman and Toughguy programs is a reflection of Yates and Victoria’s personalities. It’s a hilarious and ironic twist, with Mike being a stoner and a slacker as the success story over Yates’ supposedly more efficient team with tighter screws. 

The final showdown between Mike and Laugher delivered a satisfying brawl. Mike and Laugher were the two star recruits from their respective programs, so it made perfect sense for both guys to be the last men standing. There’s a heartfelt moment, when Laugher admits defeat and admires Mike’s performance and progress. Laugher talks about being broken (Yates used mental patients for his program), and Mike refuses to kill him, because he finally sees Laugher as a human being, who fell into an unfortunate situation.

There’s more irony when Yates is killed by Krueger for his massive blunder. Early on in the movie, Yates threatened Pete with death by execution outside, and that’s exactly how Yates was killed. The only difference is Yates wasn’t shot in “the f****** head,” but he still got what he deserved.

American Ultra has a happy ending. Victoria clearly receives a promotion with Pete by her side. Phoebe and Mike are working together as agents, and they can finally embrace their relationship. Also, it’s cool and unique how they ended the final moments of the movie with Mike’s The Adventures Of Apollo Ape & Chip The Brick cartoon. The success of Mike and Phoebe working together is shown through the cartoon, and it’s truly a fitting ending for this one.

American Ultra is a sharp and fun action comedy with a solid cast. The laughs and humor are consistent, and Mike trying to propose to Phoebe is a big running gag here. Mike is always trying to find the right moment to pop the question throughout the movie, but something always goes wrong. Mike finally gets his chance and Phoebe accepts after the big fight at the end, but the happy moment gets cut short, when Mike and Phoebe are tased by the agents. American Ultra has a strong pulse. There’s never truly a dull moment here, and after so many years, it’s still one of Jesse Eisenberg’s best films.

Rating- 8/10