My Movie Journal is Better Than Yours

Notes History

Date Viewed	Venue	Note
07.02.21	Internet	Steven Soderbergh with a fantastic cast doing a neo-noir set in 50s Detroit. Another solid genre offering that was very watchable. Probably not one to return to over and over again, but still super decent. I think it achieves that hard thing of fitting into an older genre without it being a comment on that genre itself. This felt like it could've been made back in the 50s (with the exception of whatever crazy short lenses Soderbergh used to get so much distortion on the sides of the frame). I got big Odds Against Tomorrow vibes casting-wise. Robert Ryan could easily have played the Benecio role, Belafonte replacing Don Cheadle, and Gloria Grahame swapping in for Julia Fox (who I'm sorry to say I thought was the weakest of the bunch here as the mobster's wife. Her delivery felt pretty fake, especially when compared to Amy Seimetz (it also doesn't help that they look pretty similar. For a minute I thought they were the same character)). SPOILER ALERT I really liked that the macguffin in this case was a catalytic converter and the Big 4 were the insurmountable evil empire that always ends. as a GM employee, I fully support this.