Another
movie that didn’t garner any Oscar nominations, despite some buzz to the
contrary. This film is a strong new
addition to a well-worn genre, anchored by a strong central performance from
Nicole Kidman.
Erin is a
tenacious detective but a personal wreck, a hard drinker who struggles to keep
it together at work and has difficulty navigating her fraught relationship with
her troubled teen daughter. When a
reminder of an important, traumatic case from earlier in her career resurfaces,
she’ll stop at nothing to retrace her steps and finally bag the criminal who
got away all those years ago.
First
off, I like the way the story rolls out, following Erin’s present-day
investigation and interspersed with flashbacks of her fateful undercover
assignment from 17 years ago. Some
characters we meet first in the present and then jump back in time, while
others we see first in the flashbacks and then see again in the present
day. The events of the past inform the
now, and we gradually learn of the mistakes and missteps from Erin’s younger days
that drive her determination to finally finish what she got wrong all those
years ago.
It’s
worth noting that this is a story that, at its bare bones, has been made
countless times before – “damaged detective hellbent on solving a deeply
personal case” – but the damaged detective at the heart of that story is almost
never a woman. It’s great to see how
complex and messed-up Erin is: the rules
she bends or breaks in her single-mindedness, the sloppy mistakes she makes
because she’s drunk, the sins of her past she’s trying to make up for. It’s nice to see a female character put
through those same paces and allowed the same range of humanity as many a
gritty male antihero before her. Kidman
does a fine job in the central role – she’s shrewd and hard-nosed, reckless and
relentless, and deeply, deeply flawed.
Other
notables in the cast include Sebastian Stan as Erin’s partner in the undercover
flashbacks and the always-wonderful Tatiana Maslany as a key figure in Erin’s
investigation, past and present. Kidman
and Stan play well off each other and both do a nice job with the added wrinkle
of playing characters that are pretending to be someone else. Meanwhile, Kidman, Maslany, and other cast
members juggle the demands of playing characters at two different points in
their lives, showing how the years have changed them. We also get a couple of familiar faces from Halt and Catch Fire alumni, Toby Huss
(Bos) and Scoot McNairy (Gordon.)
Warnings
Violence,
sexual content, drinking/smoking/drug use, language, some gross moments
(vomiting,) and strong thematic elements.
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