{"id":19910,"date":"2020-01-30T15:39:45","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T23:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=19910"},"modified":"2020-01-30T15:39:45","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T23:39:45","slug":"the-rhythm-section-doesnt-hit-the-right-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=19910","title":{"rendered":"THE RHYTHM SECTION Doesn\u2019t Hit the Right Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ever wonder about the origins of superspy James Bond and\nasked yourself questions like whether a personal trauma during his formative\nyears might have pushed him to join MI6, or what the training regimen one needs\nto take on to become an elite fighting machine might be? Well, the new film The\nRhythm Section<\/em> does an unintentionally effective job of explaining why filmmakers\nhaven\u2019t tackled these issues on the big screen. The answers just aren\u2019t as\nsurprising, exciting or interesting as one might hope for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The protagonist in this feature is Stephanie Patrick (Blake\nLively), a young English woman deeply distressed by the death of her family in\na plane crash. After escaping into a world of prostitution and drugs to avoid\ndealing with the loss, she\u2019s visited by journalist, Proctor (Raza Jaffrey). He\ninforms her that according to his source, the tragedy was a terrorist attack.\nAfter learning that the bombmaker (Tawfeek Barhom) is still walking around free\nin the city, Stephanie decides to enact revenge. It doesn\u2019t go as planned, but\nit does inspire her to find Proctor\u2019s informant, ex-MI6 agent Iain Boyd (Jude\nLaw). He\u2019s none-to-pleased about her appearance, but agrees to train her so\nthat she can deliver vengeance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you\u2019re wondering why a secret service agent would think\nit a great idea to train a kid with no experience and a drug problem to be a\nkiller and then send her out on a secret, deadly and very personal mission that\ncould also implicate and endanger him, you wouldn\u2019t be alone. The movie does\nits best to explain why Stephanie could certainly be an assassin, noting that\nshe was a brilliant Oxford student before falling prey to her vices. Yet it\nstill comes across as more than a stretch, as does Iain\u2019s philosophy on how to\nbe a top-notch assassin, which he sums up in a simple sentence or two (at least\nthat bit explains the film\u2019s odd title).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps if the tone were lighter, one might give the far-fetched elements a pass. However, the performances and approach to the story are incredibly somber and serious. Even the occasional attempts at humor are flatly delivered. And as a drama, the story elements don\u2019t work either. Stephanie herself seems to be suffering from an identity crisis, trying to find herself by taking on a series of alternate identities. Yet this aspect isn\u2019t examined in depth. We simply get repeated scenes of the spy donning a new disguise, followed by acts of violence and the character sitting and shedding tears (along with gauzy, soundless flashbacks of her family during happier times). It isn\u2019t long before it all feels like a bit of a slog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At least there is one impressive bit of action later in the film involving an execution and car chase. It follows Stephanie as she is pursued and veers through tight city streets. The camera stays on the protagonist and takes in what\u2019s occurring through the windshield and windows without cutting away. This is an interesting approach that does provide tension as the character gets blocked in and tries to squeeze her vehicle through impediments to safety, briefly adding some life back into the film. And there\u2019s some decent onscreen chemistry later in the film between Stephanie and Marc Serra (Sterling K. Brown), a character whose fate ends up resting in her hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unfortunately, it doesn\u2019t come together to deliver insight\nor provide enough electricity between the characters. And while the familiar\norigin story and plot issues could have been overlooked with some humor or\nexaggerated eccentricities, the dour and drab heaviness weighs it all down. In\nthe end, The Rhythm Section<\/em> doesn\u2019t hit the right notes or create a\nlasting melody.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever wonder about the origins of superspy James Bond and asked yourself questions like whether a personal trauma during his formative years might have pushed him to join MI6, or what the training regimen one needs to take on to become an elite fighting machine might be? Well, the new film The Rhythm Section does […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[198,697,2908,7533,11107,14317,16711,16962,18907,19070,19612,22068,22069,22070,22071,22825],"class_list":["post-19910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-198","tag-action","tag-blake-lively","tag-film-review","tag-jude-law","tag-movie-review","tag-raza-jaffrey","tag-rhythm-section","tag-spy","tag-sterling-k-brown","tag-tawfeek-barhom","tag-the-rhythm-section","tag-the-rhythm-section-film-review","tag-the-rhythm-section-movie-review","tag-the-rhythm-section-review","tag-thriller"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19910\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}