No Sudden Move

UK Release Date. 10 October 2021
Certification. 15
Running Time. 1 hour 55 mins
Director. Steven Soderbergh
Cast. Don Cheadle, Kieran Culkin, Matt Damon, Benicio Del Toro, Bill Duke, Julia Fox, Brendan Fraser, Jon Hamm, David Harbour, Noah Jupe, Ray Liotta, Amy Seimetz, Frankie Shaw.
Rating. 51%

Review.

Throughout his career, Steven Soderbergh has proven himself to be a fantastically adept and eclectic filmmaker. From his debut feature, Sex, Lies, and Videotape to the Academy Award-winning Traffic his undoubted talent shines through. But I would suggest that Soderbergh is most at home with stylish, film noir crime capers - the likes of Out Of Sight, The Limey and Ocean's Eleven. I expected much of No Sudden Move.

The film boasts an impressive cast - Don Cheadle, Kieran Culkin, Benicio Del Toro, Bill Duke, Julia Fox, Brendan Fraser, Jon Hamm, David Harbour, Ray Liotta, and an uncredited appearance by Matt Damon. The velvety-smooth, sensual cool of Out Of Sight and Ocean's Eleven is replaced by a different type of cool. 1950's cool. A more relaxed, effortless cool. The rounded curves of classic cars and stunning vintage a-line dresses reference the old-school film noirs of the 1950s, such as Touch Of Evil, Kiss Me, Deadly and Rear Window. But No Sudden Move is a modern twist on the 1950s film noir, more in the tradition of Devil In A Blue Dress, Hollywoodland or L.A. Confidential.

No Sudden Move has its high points, particularly the early sequences in the Wertz family household. Dialogue is tight and exposition lacking. No Sudden Move is a clever film. Soderbergh wants the audience to work. We're putting the pieces of the jigsaw together at the same time as the main characters.

But then, just when the film threatens to ignite, it falters. I can't quite put my finger on it. Soderbergh doesn't make any blatantly obvious errors, but the final third simply whimpers. The screenplay, by Ed Solomon, sprawls in several directions as the storyline advances. Perhaps the interlocking treacheries and double crosses get more and more extreme and convoluted? Perhaps the late in-the-game exposition is unmerited. Whatever the reason, there isn't the climatic payback I expected. As such, No Sudden Move fails to live up to expectations.