movies 2021 | World War Joe

The best kinds of movies show adversity in the face of failure. That putting in hard work is the best way to get success and the easy way out is never the answer. Writer Dan Gilroy decided to go in the complete opposite direction with this movie.

Two for the Money [2005]: Review - High On Films

Two For The Money is about a man named Brandon, played by Matthew McConaughey, who makes money advising people on sports betting. After growing success, Brandon is approached by Walter, played by Al Pacino, who operates one of the biggest sports advising firms in the world.

Quickly Brandon is taken under Walter’s wing and experiences the high life of being a celebrity and making more money than he knows what to do with. Brandon’s ego soars to new heights and eventually starts making picks at random and asking his employees “So who do you like this weekend” to simply prove that whatever he writes down will happen.

Then, something very odd happens, Brandon starts losing. And losing. And losing. Until Brandon reputation is in jeopardy and Walter’s company is on the verge of bankruptcy. Brandon decides to go back to the old him. The guy who would study up on games, call coaches and medical staff to get some inside info, and spending every waking hour on his job. But keeps losing worse than ever. Clients call Brandon after losing all their money, desperate for advice or just to tell him off.

With a massive upcoming football game, Brandon does the unthinkable, he flips a coin. After telling Walter of this, Walter doubles down and “guarantees” victory. Which means, “you tell us how much you’re betting. You lose. We cover. That’s risk-free sports betting,” a move that would surely lead to Walter’s demise.

Brandon desperately tries to get Walter to reverse this, but Walter refuses. I don’t know if at this point Walter even believes in Brandon or just loves the drama. The movie’s climax is simply Brandon leaving. He writes a goodbye note to Walter, heads to the airport where he watches the end of the game and leaves. Somehow Brandon’s coin flip was correct, Walter’s company is saved and that’s it.

So, we had a movie whose message is “if the going gets tough, run”. Imagine if Brandon was wrong. He would be running out on Walter, who is now finished. Having to pay back millions he doesn’t have to sports betters. This gamble could’ve easily gone South. And what about all the people who Brandon got into debt? Not a good message. Not a good movie.

3/10

Simptastic Joe

Mute Teaser Takes Netflix 40 Years Into the Future

I think this is how Duncan Jones wrote this movie. He had an idea about a mute bartender looking for his girlfriend and another idea about military medics interrogating people for the mafia and decided to combine them.

Mute feels like an incomplete idea. Its very interesting. Great style, fun characters, action and looks esthetically pleasing, but like most Netflix products it falls apart the longer the story goes on. Alexander Skarsgard and Paul Rudd were incredible as usual, but like I said before these two could’ve led their own separate movies.

Netflix unveils first trailer for Blade Runner-esque movie Mute

The movie is mainly about Leo, a mute man, looking for his “girlfriend” Naadirah I say in quotes because I don’t really know if they are exclusive. It seems like Leo is constantly friend zoned. So Naadirah goes missing and Leo goes on a journey to find her and digs up more of her troubled past. Its interesting, but not as good as Rudd’s story as Cactus Bill. Bill is a military medic deserter who now lives in Europe, making money doing jobs for the mafia. His best friend Duck a pedophile who is a pediatrician just so he can spy on children. Creepy, but I like these twos story a lot better than Leo’s.

Eventually you learn that Bill and Naadirah had a daughter and Bill killed his ex because she was going to take his kid away. The relationship reveal kinda came out of nowhere and seemed like a random way to connect the two stories. A lot of this movie scenes are “cool” ideas, but ultimately didn’t need to happen or lead anywhere logically.

Netflix's 'Mute' Movie Director Breaks Down 4 Memorable Scenes

In the end, Leo kills Bill and Duck knocks out Leo just to fix his voice box granting him the ability to talk, because Duck wants Leo to apologize to him for killing Bill…..yea….Netflix am I right?

Overall, the movie wasn’t terrible, its just a few tweeks here and there could’ve made this movie stand out. I don’t think Rudd was the best choice for Bill. Yea, Rudd is an incredible actor, but Bill is a ruthless killer who can turn from smile to fits of rage in a second. I didn’t think it was a great idea having him crack jokes throughout the movie.

Obviously, the ending was a terrible choice, but just the overall story wasn’t that interesting. The big twist was to sudden and didn’t have any buildup to it. They could’ve built an entire movie around Bill solely, but chose to try to combine two ideas that didn’t mesh together well. A better idea would be if Naadirah, in her secret life, somehow was involved with the mafia Bill was working for and that’s why she was taken in the first place.

Mute. It is not often that I watch something… | by Art K. Warren | Trash Can Movie Reviews | Medium

Overall, this is a very forgetful Netflix movie that had a lot of potential and incredibly acting by Skarsgard and Rudd. 5/10

World War Joe

Share this:

Share this: