The Rhythm Section

Name: The Rhythm Section
Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Released: January 31, 2020
Duration: 109 min
Rating: 45
Cast: Amira Ghazalla, Bill O'Connell, Blake Lively, Daniel Mays, David Duggan

2020

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 44 Ratings

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4.2

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4.2	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 44 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: January 31, 2020 | R

Starring: Amira Ghazalla, Bill O'Connell, Blake Lively, Daniel Mays, David Duggan, Degnan Geraghty, Elly Curtis, Geoff Bell, Ibrahim Renno, Ivana Basic, Jack McEvoy, Jade Anouka, Jude Law, Matilda Ziegler, Max Casella, Nasser Memarzia, Nuala Kelly, Raza Jaffrey, Richard Brake, Shane Whisker, Sterling K. Brown, Tawfeek Barhom, Una Carroll

Summary: Stephanie Patrick (Blake Lively) is an ordinary woman on a path of self-destruction after her family is tragically killed in a plane crash. When Stephanie discovers that the crash was not an accident, she enters a dark, complex world to seek revenge on those responsible and find her own redemption.

Director: Reed Morano

Genre(s): Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 109 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Mick LaSalle

Jan 29, 2020

It’s Lively’s movie, and it’s she who kicks this superior thriller up an extra notch, to the point that it’s not only worth seeing for the excitement and thrills, but for her. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Jan 29, 2020

This isn’t an easy role, but Lively aces it. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Jan 29, 2020

The lyrics aren’t all that. But in an action film, it’s tempo that matters. The Rhythm Section never loses the beat. Read full review

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

Jan 29, 2020

An always welcome presence, Law is the only cast member in The Rhythm Section to give the impression that he had any fun making the movie, playing B as a survivalist sourpuss with impossible reflexes. Nonetheless, he is consistently dressed and lit as though he were posing for a watch ad. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Jan 30, 2020

Unevenly paced and with a miscast lead, the movie fails to get us to care about its automaton main character as she goes through the motions in a generic spy thriller. Read full review

Fionnuala Halligan

Jan 29, 2020

Like the book, Reed Morano’s film is long on atmosphere and short on the kind of detail a spy thriller needs to be credible. Read full review

Joe Morgenstern

Jan 30, 2020

Still, human doesn’t leap to mind, even though Ms. Lively works hard to inject blood in the veins of her feminist avenger. The Rhythm Section isn’t a human movie. It’s as cold as the waters of that loch, and nowhere near as lucid. Read full review

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User Reviews

igorangelico

Jan 31, 2020

What a great character development film. This is not about action, explosions or crazy murders. Is about someone that is at the bottom and developes an amzing "armor" in the inside and tries to revenge her family. The direction is genius, the pace is slow so that we can try to catch theWhat a great character development film. This is not about action, explosions or crazy murders. Is about someone that is at the bottom and developes an amzing "armor" in the inside and tries to revenge her family. The direction is genius, the pace is slow so that we can try to catch the story. good job… Expand

2 of 5 users found this helpful23

AWESOM-0

Apr 30, 2020

This movie is more of a 6.5 for me but I’ll be generous and give it a 7. There are parts of this movie I liked but the plot got a little weak half way thru the movie. I don’t understand the negative reviews.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MarkHReviews

Feb 14, 2020

In his first screenwriting effort, Mark Burnell seeks to expand the action movie genre. He and Director Reed Morano (“The Handmaid’s Tale” TV series) succeed, but only partially. “The Rhythm Section” is based on the book by the same name, one of four in Burnell’s series of StephanieIn his first screenwriting effort, Mark Burnell seeks to expand the action movie genre. He and Director Reed Morano (“The Handmaid’s Tale” TV series) succeed, but only partially. “The Rhythm Section” is based on the book by the same name, one of four in Burnell’s series of Stephanie Patrick novels.

As the film opens, Stephanie (Blake Lively) is a drug-addled prostitute grieving the loss of all her immediate family in a plane crash. An investigative journalist informs Stephanie that there was a bomb on the plane. Stephanie decides to pull herself together and go after those responsible. Along the way, she’s mentored and trained by the enigmatic “B,” (Jude Law). Mayhem ensues.

“The Rhythm Section” uses two structural elements to push the boundaries of the genre. First, it’s an action movie where there’s no real action in the first 50% of the film. This creates the risk that the typical adrenaline-obsessed audience member will become bored. But it also creates the opportunity for actual character development. There’s time for Stephanie to discover her resolve, realize that she’s not very good at being a killer and, over time, improve. This is actually a refreshing shift from the boxer who does four push-ups, runs up the steps of the Philly Art Museum and is fully prepared to fight for the world championship. (Yeah, I went there.)

The second structural difference is that Stephanie, instinctively, is not a very good killer. This allows Morano and Burnell to frame her initial assignment in a very non-traditional way, focusing on her sheer terror, not giving her the cold, emotionally distant competence we’ve come to expect from these characters. In that sense, Stephanie becomes less superhero and more Everyman. It’s an interesting premise – what would happen if the average person decided to train to kill people.

Lively and the supporting cast are first-rate. Lively’s performance makes a strength of her character’s inner contradictions. Jude Law goes against type, taking a break from playing the Pope (“The Young Pope,” “The New Pope,” “Pope Springs Eternal”) and Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick. Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us” TV series) takes a break from hunky vulnerability to embrace a role which suggests that males, shockingly, are not always emotionally accessible. The problem with “The Rhythm Section” is that it ultimately will frustrate almost everybody. People wanting and expecting an action movie won’t have the patience to wade through all this character development. People coming for an atmospheric character study will find the last half of the film much too predictable. Hence its box office bust.

Having said all that, this is the type of film that deserves interest, not condescension for its obvious flaws. We say we want Hollywood to offer rethinking of a genre and not reboots, character development and not just cartoons. “The Rhythm Section” actually makes that effort… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

GinaK

Feb 6, 2020

Blake Lively had enough “presence” to keep me interested in her performance, but the director lets her down by not making the pace furious enough and the screenwriter by not making the plot interesting enough. Her character’s desire for revenge seems real for about 15 minutes, but most ofBlake Lively had enough “presence” to keep me interested in her performance, but the director lets her down by not making the pace furious enough and the screenwriter by not making the plot interesting enough. Her character’s desire for revenge seems real for about 15 minutes, but most of the time she is as much the hapless victim of dumb situations as fearsome avenger. Sadly, Jude Law’s character is merely a plot device to keep things mindlessly limping along, and you feel more sympathy for the graphic physical beating Lively takes than for her sadness and psychological pain.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TVJerry

Feb 7, 2020

When the movie starts, Blake Lively's character is a junkie prostitute. She's sunken to these depths because her family was in a plane crash. Turns out it was actually a bombing, so thru a series of unlikely events, including intense training by ex-MI6 agent (Jude Law), she sets out to wreakWhen the movie starts, Blake Lively's character is a junkie prostitute. She's sunken to these depths because her family was in a plane crash. Turns out it was actually a bombing, so thru a series of unlikely events, including intense training by ex-MI6 agent (Jude Law), she sets out to wreak revenge. Unlike Jennifer Lawrence in Red Sparrow and Scarlett Johansson in several recent movies, Lively doesn't become a superhuman-ish hero. She remains vulnerable, physically and mentally, but still manages to thrash thru some physical feats and acts with continual intensity. Sadly, nothing about this film is especially exciting or surprising.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

fiftywordreview

Feb 5, 2020

The writing is lazy - major plot points are reached without any real buildup and stiff characters are difficult to root for. Save for a few stylish action sequences, there is very little here to garner a viewing.

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

Broyax

Apr 16, 2020

J'aime beaucoup Blake Lively, cette grande et athlétique blonde qui aurait pu faire une 'Atomic Blonde' stupéfiante... mais la place était déjà prise par une autre blonde très étonnante et disons-le, nettement plus convaincante !

Car si Blake est très lovely et surtout désireuse de faireJ'aime beaucoup Blake Lively, cette grande et athlétique blonde qui aurait pu faire une 'Atomic Blonde' stupéfiante... mais la place était déjà prise par une autre blonde très étonnante et disons-le, nettement plus convaincante !

Car si Blake est très lovely et surtout désireuse de faire l'actrice haut de gamme et psychologique dans quelque rôle recherché (de composition ?!) elle n'est pas encore à la hauteur... Il faut dire que son rôle a été écrit par un ou des stagiaires et que le film entier sombre dans le ridicule et fait vraiment trop penser à une certaine Nikita bien de chez nous : souvent imitée mais jamais égalée... Jude Law qui profite du poids de ses années pour apparaître plus mûr (et moins beau gosse superficiel) endosse le rôle du formateur et... et après j'ai pas mal usé de l'avance rapide pour tout dire... puis j'ai arrêté, car il ne se passe quasiment rien là-dedans... déjà qu'il s'agit d'un mauvais, très mauvais psychodrame mais en plus, ça se traîne. Lamentablement. De graves problèmes de rythme dans cette vengeance sans rythme ! et sans intérêt.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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