X
- 2019
- R
- The Orchard
- 1 h 51 m
- 2019
- R
- The Orchard
- 1 h 51 m
Summary Cousins from New York, Vincent (Jesse Eisenberg) and Anton (Alexander Skarsgård) are players in the high-stakes game of High-Frequency Trading, where winning is measured in milliseconds. Their dream? To build a straight fiber-optic cable line between Kansas and New Jersey, making them millions. But nothing is straightforward for this fla...
Directed By: Kim Nguyen
Written By: Kim Nguyen
- 2019
- R
- The Orchard
- 1 h 51 m
- 2019
- R
- The Orchard
- 1 h 51 m
The Hummingbird Project
58
6.1
Where to Watch
Summary Cousins from New York, Vincent (Jesse Eisenberg) and Anton (Alexander Skarsgård) are players in the high-stakes game of High-Frequency Trading, where winning is measured in milliseconds. Their dream? To build a straight fiber-optic cable line between Kansas and New Jersey, making them millions. But nothing is straightforward for this fla...
Directed By: Kim Nguyen
Written By: Kim Nguyen
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
58
50% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
38% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
12% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
58
50% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
38% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
12% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
This hummingbird soars. It has that based-on-a-true-story feel, with all the urgency and verisimilitude of a real-life tale. A sad and visceral indictment of our society under the guise of a thriller, Kim Nguyen’s rousing cinematic elegy will sneak up on you, like its titular moth.
Surprise! The Hummingbird Project basically works; it’s intriguing; the actors play it just straight enough to make it feel like a fact-based drama (though it isn’t) with a few darkly comic details.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
6.1
45% Positive
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
48% Mixed
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
7% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 User Ratings
6.1
45% Positive
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
48% Mixed
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
7% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
It's absolutely not a perfect film, but there's enough in it to make me pleasantly surprised. Jesse Eisenberg is great - probably his best film since The Social Network. And Eric Northman is excellent as his cousin and business partner. The glue that holds the film together is Michael Mando, who plays Nacho in Better Call Saul. He fills largely the same role in this picture as he does in BCS - he executes, but he also has the moderating-force-level conscious that literally saves lives. The mechanics of the "race" are the weak points, as are the venture capitalists funding the project. But there's much more good than bad here.
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As the geological, financial and personal barriers the cousins face grow increasingly absurd, the movie works up a satisfying sweat.
Although sometimes it gets bogged down in the details of drilling, The Hummingbird Project extracts enough entertainment value from an unpromising premise, greatly helped by Jesse Eisenberg finding the humanity in his hustler.
While treating entrepreneurism like a classic Greek tragedy isn’t a bad idea in theory, Nguyen’s script is more than a little clunky, and the imagery nakedly self-serving. It’s a film about two people digging a hole so they can make ten more dollars per transaction, no matter how handsomely it’s presented.
A halfway interesting story with a few too many ideas and a lack of tonal cohesion.
The way that conflict plays out is also surprisingly plodding.
Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgård endeavor to build a fiber-optic line between Kansas and New Jersey to boost stock market trading speed. Eisenberg continues with his typical fast-talking neurotic, but manages to elicit moments of genuine emotion. Skarsgård effectively works his best nerd with specs and a shaved head. The saga twists with multiple setbacks, leading to frustrations and complications, logistical and personal. It's an interesting story, but the subject isn't especially compelling and the narrative never grabs attention.
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(Mauro Lanari)
Some expert specialists in the field complained about the technological nonsense, others about the story that seems to be written by a different screenwriter for each protagonist. It left me with a sense of incompleteness and I didn't understand where it wanted to go, with Don Quixote and David versus Goliath thrown there almost at random.
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Production Company
Item 7,
Belga Productions
Release Date Mar 15, 2019
Duration 1 h 51 m
Rating R
Tagline We're all driven, until we are pushed over the Line.
Awards
Canadian Screen Awards, CA
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
Directors Guild of Canada
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Canada China International Film Festival (CCIFF)
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
