RULES OF THE GAME (NO SUDDEN MOVE)

 

Steven Soderbergh's 'No Sudden Move' is such a wonderfully executed film noir, you'll find yourself wondering if it feels just as good watching it in black and white.

Nearly every character seems to be on the make in this 115 minute pot boiler which evokes memories of Orson Welles' 'A Touch of Evil' and other 1950s classics.

Set in Detroit in 1954, Don Cheadle plays a low level gangster Curt Goynes who desperately needs cash following his release from prison, so he can flee the city before some old acquaintances catch up with him.

Curt quickly finds himself in the back of a car with Brendan Fraser's mysterious figure Doug Jones behind the steering wheel, lured by the promise of quick cash.

Along the way, they pick up Benicio del Toro's Ronald Russo who is having an affair with a mobster's wife Julia Fox's Vanessa Capelli.

Ronald and Curt are linked up with Kieran Culkin's Charley and are asked to help steal a file from an office safe for Jones' bosses.

Wearing eyemasks, the gang break into the suburban home of David Harbour's General Motors accountant Matt Wertz before the school run and hold his family at gunpoint.

While Curt and Ronald remain in the family's home with Matt's wife, Amy Seimitz's Mary, his teenage son Noah Jupe's Matthew Jr and young daughter, Lucy Holt's Peggy, Charley reveals Matt is having an affair at work.

Under their plan, Charley will head with Matt into work who will lean upon his mistress, Frankie Shaw's company secretary Paula Cole to give him the combination of the safe and deliver the file to him.

Ashamed that his extra-marital affair has been exposed in front of his family, Matt nervously makes his way into the GM office.

As Paula confronts him about not leaving his wife, he desperately seizes details of the combination of the safe from her desk and barges into his boss's office to open it.

The safe, however, is empty.

Panicking he leaves with another file and passes it on to Doug Jones at a rendezvous and is told to return with Charley to his terrified family and wait.

In classic film noir style, the heist goes awry with fatal consequences and it isn't long before Curt and Ronald are butting up against Jones, Vanessa's husband, Ray Liotta's Frank Capelli and Matt's boss, Hugh Maguire's Folbert in a bid to find out more about the file, recover it and make a quick buck off it.

However things are further complicated by Curt striking a deal to cut Bill Duke's gang boss Aldrick Watkins in on the action to clear a debt.

But can he fully trust Watkins?

And how will Ronald and Curt avoid being tracked down by John Hamm's Detective Joe Finney?

Soderbergh crafts a wonderfully nostalgic slice of film noir for HBO Max built around a robust but delightfully playful script by Ed Solomon.

Not only is it well written and exceptionally acted but the film is also inventively shot by Soderbergh under his cinematography pseudonym Peter Andrews in a manner reminiscent of Carl Franklin's 1995 film noir 'Devil in a Blue Dress'.

With its images often dipped in amber, the grainy quality and the use of tilted, low angled shots and fish eye lenses give the film a suitably rough around the edges feel.

Regular collaborator David Holmes also provides a typically classy musical score.

But the cast also seem to be having a ball.

Cheadle is suitably driven as Curt who always seems to walking a tightrope.

Del Toro is also back to his mumbling best as a worn down, racist, low level crook with a fondness for whisky.

Harbour undoubtedly turns in his best film performance to date, while Fraser evokes memories of Orson Welles in 'A Touch of Evil' using his bulk to impressive effect.

Liotta revels in the chance to play yet another sleazy Mobster, while Fox is as cunning as her real life surname and Hamm is dependable as ever as Finney.

Seimetz, Jupe, Holt, Shaw and Maguire also contribute effectively to this assured period piece, with Bill Duke also providing a menacing presence.

Matt Damon is effective too in a pivotal, uncredited cameo role which cleverly ties the story into a much more sinister, corporate shenanigans tale about the motor industry.

With its cast drawn from the 'Ocean's' movies, 'Traffic,' 'High Flying Bird,' 'Out of Sight' and 'The Girlfriend Experience' TV series, 'No Sudden Move' feels like the most Soderbergh film.

But what's also delightful about 'No Sudden Move' is the messy nature of the plot.

Events go wrong, characters panic and are then forced to think on their feet.

As with the best film noir, you are not quite sure of everyone's intentions and you are often trying to keep an eye out for the slightest hint of betrayal.

The period detail is spot on in a film where the director is on top of his game and having fun on the fringes of the studio system.

'No Sudden Move' is unquestionably a love letter to a golden Hollywood age.

But it expresses its love in a much more satisfying way than David Fincher's technically impressive but ultimately frosty movie industry tale 'Mank'.

Soderbergh recreates the magic of those sleazy Hollywood thrillers of old featuring morally compromised characters.

At one point, Damon's Mr Big tells Curt and Ronald they think they are cheating the system but are actually small pawns in a game where the rules always apply.

Fortunately, Soderbergh has a firm grip on the rules of film noir and his faithful application of them results in a terrific piece of entertainment.

('No Sudden Move' received its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 18, 2021 and was made available on Sky Movies and its streaming service Now TV in the UK and Ireland on October 8, 2021)

Lokasi:

Berbagi :