01 Jul No Sudden Move Review

NO SUDDEN MOVE

dir. Steven Soderbergh starring Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Hamm, David Harbour, et. al

The one constant in the world, the one thing that keeps society from tearing itself apart is the fact that at some point in every crime movie, the plan has to go completely wrong. Such is the case in No Sudden Move, the latest from crime connoisseur Steven Soderbergh. Set in the 1950s, the film gives the audience a wild ride through rival gangs, racial divide, murder, backstabbing, double crosses, and of course failed plans. The job is simple: two small time criminals (Cheadle and del Toro) are hired to keep an eye on the family of a company man while a third criminal (Culkin) takes the man to his job to retrieve an item from his boss’ safe. What follows is a wacky turn of events as back stories are laid out, hidden motivations are revealed, fall guys and patsies outsmart their would-be killers, and the audience learns yet again that cold, hard cash can be the downfall of almost anyone. Aided by Soderbergh’s typical solid direction, a light bouncy score to accompany it, and one great scene with Matt Damon, No Sudden Move isn’t a happy ending of a film, but an overall satisfying one.

Starring Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro (two veteran actors with multiple ties to Soderbergh’s films), No Sudden Move pairs the two in a foe-turned-friendly coupling that toes the line between being an unlikely friendship and an opportunistic partnership. For Cheadle, playing an aging criminal without much to his name but dreams of owning property, his character of Curt Goynes represents the scrappy, hardscrabble mentality of a person who’s never happy with what he has. With the exception of one scene showing what could have been, we don’t get much time to reflect on Curt due to his nature of constant hustling to find answers and exploiting situations to further his gains. On the other side of the team is del Toro playing Ronald Russo, a different sort of criminal with goals of his own of making a new life with his ladyfriend. While Goynes is constantly laser-focused on the endgame, Russo takes a more meandering approach to things, preferring to (often) stop and take a few nips of liquor while mulling over decisions or conducting business. While the relationship starts frosty, mostly due to Russo’s worldview, eventually the team becomes a cohesive unit while working to accomplish the mission.

Fleshing out his world of two-bit criminals, actors like Kieran Culkin, Jon Hamm, and Brendan Fraser join the ride as well. While Culkin and Fraser are smaller players in the overall scheme of things, they work with with the material they’re given, especially Culkin. Amy Seimetz as the beleaguered wife of David Harbour carries a good brunt of the emotional weight of the first act after the family is pulled into a few days of misery and suffering. Julia Fox and Ray Liotta, in the movie for less time than Seimetz and Harbour, still come to play in what ends up being one of Soderbergh’s best ensemble casts since the Ocean’s films. A shoutout must be given to Bill Duke, who exudes the same aura of cool, aloof, and reserved in every appearance he makes in film.

Directed by veteran filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, the film bears the marks of his flair for style: odd camera choices (akin to filming entire productions with an iPhone) give credence to a surrealism that’s akin to a peek behind the curtain. Soderbergh wants the audience to see it for exactly what it is: a fun story being told with the characters having fun in their roles. His clever use of camerawork to manipulate the audience is a time honored Soderbergh classic; hiding items and people just beyond the borders of the frame or using obstacles to obscure reveals are abound throughout the film, leaving audiences no choice but to sit back and enjoy the ride. At 115 minutes, it doesn’t feel dragged out or rushed. It’s paced solidly enough to let our characters get their motivations (for good or ill) and show us how those motivations play through to to the end. Of the few criticisms of note, the storyline that kicks off the entire movie, David Harbour’s character Matt Wertz being forced to retrieve a file from his boss, seems to mostly peter out around halfway through the movie. As the twists and turns start mounting, that plot point seems to be sacrificed to the editing gods as the story briefly flickers back to the Wertz family just to remind the audience they still exist.

Overall, No Sudden Move is yet another feather in the cap of Steven Soderbergh, who’s managed to carve himself a nice spot into the crime/thriller genre. A plot that is complex enough to require full attention, yet not so convoluted as to completely lose the viewer, the film hovers in a sweet spot of being what I like to call a “phones off” film. The theme of overreach and greed are less thinly veiled and more blatantly on the nose as our main characters are never satisfied with what they could possibly walk away with. As with all good crime films, the art of the double cross is alive and well as the third act constantly surprises with its twists, revelations, and sidesteps. A chemistry that grows between Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro is one of the main selling points of the movie, and both veteran actors rise to the task. A stylish crime thriller that spans across the racially tense, rapidly developing 1950s Detroit landscape serves to be perfect counterprogramming to those averse to the more bombastic nature of summer blockbuster films. No Sudden Move is streaming on HBO Max.

Review by Darryl Mansel