artdirector@sfreporter.com
Movie
The moves of No Sudden Move are indeed sudden. You could make the argument it’s a purposeful style—the use of Warner Brother’s old studio card at the beginning is a hint you’re getting something like the great spy thrillers of the ’70s, a la The French Connection. You aren’t getting that.
Steven Soderbergh’s latest crime thriller is engaging and at its best when it has fun with the premise. Don Cheadle and Benecio Del Toro (both of whom starred in Soderbergh’s Traffic 21 years ago) play old-timey criminals who take on an easy job holding a family hostage for a few hours. But the simplicity is only a facade, the crime is far more complex than either anticipated and things—get this—fall apart. The criminal corporate espionage world of Detroit’s automobile industry in the 1950s draws them into a plot that changes and moves like a cheerleading routine.
As a meat-and-potatoes crime thriller, No Sudden Move feeds, but after the sixth or seventh twist, it’s almost like screenwriter Ed Solomon (the Bill & Ted movies) is begging you to understand he’s clever. It’s the cinematic equivalent of that literary type you meet at a party; he’s cool, but keeps following you around to talk to you about Dostoevsky even when you’re getting in your car to go home. Soderbergh is checking boxes and moving on to the next thing.
No Sudden Move is shot in anamorphic wide lens for God-knows-what creative decision, but it’s like watching the actors through the fish tanks at Petco. This isn’t a direct-to-streaming accident, either—it would’ve looked just as foolish in a theater. No longer can we give brownie points for pretend-CinemaScope and fake old-timey choices. (Yes, Mank, this is also directed at you)
Fan of the Ocean’s 11 series, or anything from the Coen Brothers? Here you go, have fun. There’s no shame in being entertained by No Sudden Move. You’ll kill two hours and forget about it by the next day.
6
+ It’s, uh, kinda fun?
- Bad logic; wide angle lens distracts
No Sudden Move
Directed by Soderbergh
With Cheadle and Del Toro
HBO Max, R, 115 min
