X
- 2020
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 49 m
- 2020
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 49 m
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.
Directed By: Reed Morano
Written By: Mark Burnell
- 2020
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 49 m
- 2020
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 49 m
The Rhythm Section
45
4.1
Where to Watch
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.
Directed By: Reed Morano
Written By: Mark Burnell
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 36 Critic Reviews
45
25% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
53% Mixed
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
22% Negative
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 36 Critic Reviews
45
25% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
53% Mixed
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
22% Negative
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
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.
Unlike many of the other films of its ilk, The Rhythm Section never feels the need to move beyond Stephanie’s sadness and sense of loss. This is really a tragedy thriller more than it is a revenge thriller.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 46 User Ratings
4.1
20% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
39% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
41% Negative
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 46 User Ratings
4.1
20% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
39% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
41% Negative
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
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 the story. good job
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The Rhythm Section is wonderfully acted by Blake Lively and immersively directed by Reed Morano, creating a tense and mostly engaging thriller.
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.
The movie is made well, if you’re buying what it’s selling, and if you don’t consider a story or a script as crucial to the quality of a thriller.
Take away the shaky cam, the indie-film sheen, the “brave” close-ups of Lively looking wretched, and what’s left has all the depth of a 1970s B movie.
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.
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 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 **** and not reboots, character development and not just cartoons. “The Rhythm Section” actually makes that effort
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Took too long to get going. a revenge movie that has an overlong beginning of protagonist in despair then long sequence of stumbling into getting ready and "anti terrorist training". somewhat realistic I suppose in that it shows what kind of happens when "ordinary" people aren't really ready for dangerous situations. a little difficult to follow at times.
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(Mauro Lanari)
Spy and killer by chance, then the phases of training and hunting men through apprenticeship steps, skills superior to those of professionals and so on according to an action script seen too many times. "The Rhythm Section" noteworthy is the dated one of Maureen Tucker and John Cale in "I'm Waiting for the Man" (Velvet Underground 1967) and that of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" in the Sleigh Bells' cover.
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[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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Production Company
Paramount Pictures,
Global Road Entertainment,
TMP Films,
Ingenious Media,
Eon Productions,
AGC Studios,
Babieka,
Endeavor Content,
Whitebeard Films
Release Date Jan 31, 2020
Duration 1 h 49 m
Rating R
Tagline Witness The Birth Of An Assassin
Awards
Irish Film and Television Awards
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
ReFrame
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Critics Choice Super Awards
• 1 Nomination
