Skip to main content

Emily the Criminal (2022)

 


Emily the Criminal is about the downward spiral of a woman with nowhere else to turn but a life of crime.

John Patton Ford first film for which he has both writing and directing credits. I was genuinely surprised by this film. I didn't know what to expect from Ford and I only saw the film because of the lead. It's got really good pacing and camera choices. Also how he wrote Emily was perfect. The story sort of dragged a bit towards the end and the ending was predictable.

Emily is played by Aubrey Plaza for whom I have glowing regard. I'll watch pretty much anything she comes out with as long as she keeps putting out movies like this. She plays the character really well. She does what she can with the dialogue that has her on one note the entire time. You'd expect a negative character arch with a title like this and yet you'll still end up rooting for her. Empathy goes a long way. You might know Plaza from Safety Not Guaranteed, and Parks and Recreation.

Theo Rossi is in this movie and stereotypically typecasted as a criminal. He does a pretty good job, but there's not too much to his character other than being a connection to Emily. It's nothing wrong with Rossi, it's more so a writing issue. I remember him from Luke Cage and Army of the Dead but you might know him from Sons of Anarchy

All writing issues aside I still enjoyed the movie. It's solid and good. I have no doubts about giving this movie a B.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cinderella (2021)

  Cinderella is a modern take on the classic tale. This time everything is politically upside down. Written and Directed by Kay Cannon,   Cinderella takes any chance it can to push an agenda. It's nauseating in the forcefulness of the propaganda. It's hard to take any scene that isn't singing seriously. It lives in a dystopian world where anyone who doesn't think progressively like-minded is a fool and shouldn't have joy. The direction is okay, but that's to be expected as she probably picked up some being the producer of the Pitch Perfect trillogy. Camila Cabello  plays Cinderella and her first major film. She can sing and performs well next to her stepmother played by Idina Menzel, who needs no introduction. Surely, she will be in future musicals and I can only hope for one with a better writer. Pierce Brosnan  plays King Rowan and is forceful in his performance but given the point of his character, it's sad to see. Someone had to be the punching bag, and ...

Escape Room (2019)

Escape Room  is presented as a Saw-like game of puzzle solving or your life ends. This time around they remove the gore to get a PG-13 rating and a January release. Adam Robitel is best known as the director of Insidious: The Last Key. Which I 'saw' and meh'd about last year. He also did Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension which I haven't seen. I stopped watching the Paranormal movies after The Marked Ones. There are some camera/direction problems nothing an average movie-goer would notice. Taylor Russell plays the main character Zoey. Don't take any offense, but she has a really hard time going full Aspergers, but once she turns Lara Croft she does a decent job. She also did the over-looked Lost in Space TV series which I still need to watch. I want to see Deborah Ann Woll in more movies after seeing her in this. She was a shining star in this film. She plays a former military survivor with a lot of baggage. You'll remember her as Karen Page from ...

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2023)

  My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3  is the third installment in the Big Fat Greek franchise, this time they're in Greece.  Written, directed, and starring Nia Vardalos, just like the previous films. Now she is being asked to become the head of the family. I imagine if they do a fourth installment that like the other sequels they will never live up to the first one and will have throwbacks you've come to expect now with any sequel. Paris is back, played by Elena Kampouris , she's pretty but her beauty isn't going to draw a crowd, and her counterpart, Elias Kacavas, isn't going to bring in the crowd looking for young eye candy. Both of them haven't been in much and their future doesn't look great either. Stephanie Nur  is a newcomer to this franchise and you might recognize her from 1883  as Melodi. She does a pretty good job with the role that was designed for her. She's not heavily utilized but that was because the franchise has become an ensemble.  Melina Kot...