Following a tragic car accident, an American man on vacation
in Greece finds himself trapped in a dangerous conspiracy. ACTION/CRIME
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Beckett (2021)Directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
Written by Kevin A. Rice Starring John David Washington, Boyd Holbrook, Alicia Vikander, Panos Koronis, Maria Votti, Vicky Krieps |
These streaming services have the occasional gem, but most of the time they fill up on formulaic action movies and political thrillers. After BlacKkKlansman, I really hoped John David Washington would be a major player over the next few years. I guess when Tenet fizzled out, Washington ended up stuck in a Netflix cage, with Malcolm & Marie earlier this year and now Beckett, an uninspired political action thriller that rips off better films like Z, Frantic, and The Fugitive, just to name a few.
Beckett (Washington) and his girlfriend April (Vikander) are on vacation in Greece in the middle of a highly volatile, possibly rigged election. Maybe not the best time to see the islands. One night, Beckett falls asleep at the wheel and crashes into a house, killing April in the process. Before he blacks out, Beckett sees a small boy in the house. When he speaks to the cops, they tell him nobody lives in that house. Beckett is then nearly killed by the local cops, and must make his way to the American embassy in Athens, where a C.I.A. dude (Holbrook) also turns on him. Turns out, Beckett has stumbled into a kidnapping conspiracy connected to the upcoming election, and several factions want him dead. It sounds far more interesting than it is. There's a scene towards the end where Beckett leaps off a five story parking garage and lands on the roof of an escaping car, totaling the car but walking away unscathed. As ridiculous and movie-damning as that scene was, it reminded me so much of the way Netflix produces films. Just hurl money off a building and whatever it lands on becomes a Netflix original that nobody will watch beyond the first few days of release. |