Rebel Ridge

Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Starring: Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen, Steve Zissis, Zsané Jhé, Dana Lee, James Cromwell
Running Time: 131 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

Rebel Ridge gets right down to business in its tension filled opening scene, as director Jeremy Saulnier sets the tone, showing considerable restraint with his own tightly constructed screenplay. While the amount of violence is surprisingly small considering the situation, that threat still hovers over every scene, despite it remaining a last resort for those involved. With a protagonist more afraid of what he'll do when all other options run out, the other side holds all the power, at least temporarily.  

His antagonists also don't want a mess, partially to avoid calling attention to their crimes, but mostly because racism and arrogance prevents them from seeing their victim as a serious foe. Saulnier takes a methodical route, having his characters make logical moves as suspense builds with a handful of reversals and turns. That this avoids the fate of lesser, forgettable police corruption dramas can be traced to those decisions, as well as a commanding, quietly powerful performance from its lead. 

Former Marine Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) is cycling through Shelby Springs to post bail for his cousin Mike and buy a truck when he's hit by a police car and aggressively detained by officers Marston (David Denman) and Lann (Emory Cohen). They cuff and question Terry, seizing his $36,000 as drug money, preventing him from posting Mike's bail before he's transferred to a state prison. After the courthouse clerk refuses to help, his co-worker Summer McBride (AnnaSophia Robb) intervenes, digging deeper to pull some strings. 

Running out of time, Terry tries takes matters into his own hands by filing a report, bringing him face-to-face with police chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson), who mocks and manipulates him, igniting a feud that spirals out of control. But Sandy has no idea who he's really dealing with, and as Terry and Summer inch closer to uncovering a larger conspiracy, both become targets, fighting to survive long enough to expose the truth.

The roadside stop that kicks off the film is scary for how commonplace the illegal procedures and accompanying brutality seems for Shelby Springs police. Watching the two officers nonchalantly escalate the situation, it's clear this isn't their first rodeo, as much of the suspense hinges on whether Terry will do or say anything to further set them off. But we know compliance isn't the issue here, and his polite cooperation won't make a difference, dashcam or not. The cops' minds are already made up, and when this ends, you can't help but feel relief it wasn't worse, even if Terry's problems are just starting. 

One of the best aspects to Pierre's intense work are the subtle, wordless cues he gives off that Terry would far rather settle this entire ordeal in a peaceful, diplomatic way. He knows how much worse this get if he loses control, giving the police more excuses than they already have to pin what they want on him. But because his cousin's life hangs in the balance, all bets are off as he reaches the breaking point.

The frequently underappreciated Don Johnson is effectively deplorable as Burnne, inhabiting this self-proclaimed big shot who believes himself untouchable in a small town where corruption's already poisoned the well. What starts as a verbal battle of one-upmanship between the two adversaries eventually devolves when Burnne pushes Terry too far and finds out that he messed with the wrong guy. Even while openly expressing his desire to just disappear and make a fresh start, the ex-Marine isn't about to back down or take the easy way out. 

Summer's own conscience won't allow her to stand by and watch injustice unfold, fully aware of all the risks involved. Having also been through some stuff and beaten down by the system, she shares with Terry a natural instinct to help people, whatever the cost. A nearly unrecognizable Robb is phenomenal in sketching out this aspiring lawyer who's had much of her adult life ripped away due to mistakes and circumstance. By film's end, she'll wind up in a situation almost as dire as his, which isn't something viewers would have necessarily assumed at the start.

A surprisingly intelligent final act features some twists and shifts in allegiances caused by Terry's decision to stand his ground and end this once and for all. It also contains the lion's share of violence, made only more impactful by Saulnier milking the story until it eventually explodes in the last thirty minutes. It's edge-of-your-seat exciting, but even here there's a sense of consistency to the proceedings that reflects the lead character's committed pursuit for justice.

This is a grade A potboiler, but you don't walk away thinking only about the shootouts, car chases or plot machinations. What looms largest are the extreme measures this man must take to topple a crooked system rotting from the inside out. He knows that when playing a rigged game there's sometimes no choice but to just toss the board and make your own rules.    

Old

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Embeth Davidtz, Emun Elliott, Kailen Jude, Gustaf Hammarsten, Francesca Eastwood, Matthew Shear, Kathleen Chalfant
Running Time: 108 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)  

Before Jordan Peele, we had M. Night Shyamalan. And his latest, Old, promises we could very well be stuck with him for a while. While that's not quite as bad as it sounds, it's become impossible to overlook the constant comparisons between these two filmmakers, each of whom have cited The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling as their primary inspiration. Peele can be grateful for having only directed three pictures, knowing he'll have a long way to go before his career could possibly be stained with the wild inconsistency that's plagued Shyamalan's. After a mini-resurgence of sorts with Split, he backslid again by trying to create his own Shyamalaniverse with the poorly received Glass. Now watching Old, you come to the realization that despite a superior concept to work from, not a whole lot has changed. 

Shyamalan seems interested in delivering impactful social commentary, but unlike Peele, it just doesn't seem to hold his interest for long, as he falls back on thrills, kills, and yes, final twists. The result here is a colossally mixed bag that's sometimes unpleasant to watch, both for its directionless hysterics and meandering execution. The oddest thing is that parts of it really work and you can imagine him delivering a successful screen adaptation of Pierre Oscar Levy's Swiss graphic novel, "Sandcastle," that's a compelling treatise on time and mortality. Elements in this compelling premise fleetingly connect, but aren't fluidly presented, resulting in some over-the-top moments that may bring back painful memories of the unintentionally hilarious lion attack scene in the director's own The Happening. It's interspersed with other wacky, wild sequences that just don't fit, leaving little doubt that Shyamalan was more interested in delivering non-stop action than following through on all the untapped thematic potential this idea contained.  

Currently going through a divorce, Guy (Gael García Bernal) and Prisca (Vicky Krieps) Cappa are taking their children Maddox (Alexa Swinton) and Trent (Nolan River) to a tropical resort for a final family vacation together. Welcomed with open arms by the resort manager (Gustaf Hammarsten) and employees (Francesca Eastwood and Matthew Shear), the kids befriend Idlib (Kailen Jude), the manager's young nephew, before they're all transported via van to a secluded beach. While there they meet three additional parties of vacationers: surgeon Charles (Rufus Sewell), his wife Chrystal (Abbey Lee), their young daughter Kara (Kylie Begley) and Charles' mother, Agnes (Kathleen Chalfant). Spouses Jarin (Ken Leung) and Patricia (Nikki Amuka-Bird), and a rapper known as "Mid-Sized Sedan"(Aaron Pierre). 

After the corpse of Mid-Sized's companion is discovered and strange incidents occur related to the travelers' preexisting medical conditions, it's clear something's very wrong. When another unexpected discovery reveals a phenomena on the beach that's causing everyone to age at alarming rates, they unsuccessfully attempt to escape. With beachgoers now suddenly dropping liking flies, the remaining survivors race against time to find out why, with the hope of preserving however many precious hours remain on their lives.

The film's most problematic portion arrives just as the nightmare scenario on the beach unfolds. In what feels like twenty minutes to a half-hour of pure chaos, various characters are scrambling like chickens with their heads cut off to figure out what's going on. In fact, decapitated chickens might be the only thing absent, as their misfortunes aren't merely limited to rapid aging, but violent knife attacks, suicides, cancerous tumors, psychosis and dead babies. How Shyamalan managed to escape an 'R' rating can only be chalked up to judicious editing that goes out of its way to avoid showing too much. This leaves us somewhere between a 'PG-13' horror thriller and an 'R' rated philosophical drama, though likely alienating both sets of audiences by not fully committing to either. 

None of this is offensively bad so much as repetitive and a little silly, as we're left wondering if there was a less hyperbolic way to introduce the premise. Shyamalan inexplicably plays coy by holding out on the rapid aging reveal, a surprise that would have worked better if the movie wasn't already titled Old and the trailers and commercials didn't give it away. But he persists, filming the two characters from behind, not showing them and using every visual trick he can to string us along before pulling back the curtain to reveal a new pair of older actors taking over the roles. 

In a sea of performers chewing on scenery (see Rufus Sewell's raging maniac), Thomasin McKenzie and Alex Wolff do provide affecting turns as teen versions of siblings Maddox and Trent. The movie is all the better for focusing on them, and when Shyamalan grabs control of the premise, it's easier to appreciate what's done well, such as the make-up and effects work that believably age the characters at five and ten year intervals. There's also a sequence involving the Cappa family that cuts to the core of what this film could have been. Of course, your level of attachment may vary since the sheer number of deaths and different actors playing the same characters serve to keep viewers at an arm's length for much of its running time.

Featuring a twist ending that's somehow eye-rolling and serviceable all at once, there's a sense the material didn't need to be this overcooked and we could have done without a body count high enough to make Michael Myers blush. Stakes diminish when multiple characters are expiring every two minutes, so it's kind of a miracle Shyamalan even pulls off what he does, especially considering how familiar we've become with his gotcha finales. He deviates from the graphic novel by leaving less up to the imagination, but as far as wrapping things up, it probably falls on the higher end of his writing output.

Those clocking the screen time of Shyamalan's trademark cameos will be either delighted or depressed to learn that this appearance is his biggest yet, both in terms of length and function. What's less of a surprise is that Old is all over the place, as the polarizing filmmaker again challenges himself and us by depicting protagonists threatened not only by an unseen, existential menace, but themselves. And much like most of his work, seeing this just to say you did isn't the worst idea in the world. At least by now, it's easier to know exactly what you're in for.