...watching this last night just compelled me to have to leave a review this morning.
First of all, believe the 4-stars-and-under reviews; I wish I had. Some caveats:
Since the writer/director younger sister is listed second in the credits, I was going to blame nepotism at first for casting her as the ineffective actress playing Zoe, the spoiled rich kid. However, upon closer inspection, I see that the younger Ms. Jewson actually played "Sarah," not Zoe. I had to rack my brain to try to remember who "Sarah" was - I'm pretty sure she was one of the two "Press" people in the opening sequence of the movie.
(The opening sequence BTW really sets your action expectations very high based on how well and coolly and professionally Noomi acquits herself. Too bad there are only a couple of other likewise high-octane action set pieces that reach that level the rest of the movie.)
So, no, the writer/director's younger sister did not play Zoe, so there must be another unknown reason why they chose such an incompetent actress to play essentially the co-starring role of Zoe.
The 3 or so competent action set-pieces really aren't worth wasting the time to watch the entire movie - you're better off trying to find a compilation of the action highlights somewhere else, and spending your time watching Liam Neeson's "The Commuter." Although nowhere as good as his original, ground-breaking "Taken," "The Commuter" at least has competent acting from principal and secondaries, good directorial pacing, some engaging keep-you-guessing twists and question marks, good in-close hand-to-hand fighting set-pieces, and the overall feel of a professionally-made movie.
"Close" was not even close on any of those points (other than the aforementioned 3 Noomi action highlights, everything in-between felt like plodding filler). Noomi deserves better scripts and direction. You have been forewarned.
First of all, believe the 4-stars-and-under reviews; I wish I had. Some caveats:
- when Noomi Rapace is in a fighting scene, she is actually pretty good
- unfortunately, there aren't that many of those scenes
- this is not what I would call an "action thriller;" not well-sustained on either of those points
Since the writer/director younger sister is listed second in the credits, I was going to blame nepotism at first for casting her as the ineffective actress playing Zoe, the spoiled rich kid. However, upon closer inspection, I see that the younger Ms. Jewson actually played "Sarah," not Zoe. I had to rack my brain to try to remember who "Sarah" was - I'm pretty sure she was one of the two "Press" people in the opening sequence of the movie.
(The opening sequence BTW really sets your action expectations very high based on how well and coolly and professionally Noomi acquits herself. Too bad there are only a couple of other likewise high-octane action set pieces that reach that level the rest of the movie.)
So, no, the writer/director's younger sister did not play Zoe, so there must be another unknown reason why they chose such an incompetent actress to play essentially the co-starring role of Zoe.
The 3 or so competent action set-pieces really aren't worth wasting the time to watch the entire movie - you're better off trying to find a compilation of the action highlights somewhere else, and spending your time watching Liam Neeson's "The Commuter." Although nowhere as good as his original, ground-breaking "Taken," "The Commuter" at least has competent acting from principal and secondaries, good directorial pacing, some engaging keep-you-guessing twists and question marks, good in-close hand-to-hand fighting set-pieces, and the overall feel of a professionally-made movie.
"Close" was not even close on any of those points (other than the aforementioned 3 Noomi action highlights, everything in-between felt like plodding filler). Noomi deserves better scripts and direction. You have been forewarned.
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