After THE RHYTHM SECTION, OO7 producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson will probably stick to their mega-successful Bond series.
You can't say they didn't try here, pouring $50 million into a revenge thriller that jumps the globe on a twisted quest. Grossing just over $5 million globally at the box office, worldwide audiences felt the same way I did after seeing it....meh.
This film had the worst domestic opening weekend of any film released in more than 3,000 theaters in history. It grossed just $2,715,384 at 3,049 theaters, for an average of $891 per theater for the whole weekend!
Blake Lively is almost unrecognizable as the film starts as Stephanie. Addicted to drugs and mired in prostitution, we discover in dreamy flashbacks that she was a top student with a great future until her entire family was killed during a terrorist attack on an airliner.
Her latest john is there for information. Journalist Keith Proctor (Raza Jeffrey from "Homeland") tells her that the bomber who blew up the airplane is walking the streets of London right now.
In one of the film's first signs of trouble, Proctor's role and fate is so predictable that I could have told you exactly what was going to happen 30 seconds after he came on screen.
Predictability (save one decent twist near the conclusion) plagues the film.
Suddenly Stephanie is stealing notes and taking pictures like Bond in a break-in and she's headed off across Europe to track down Proctor's MI-6 sources.
She meets Boyd, the grizzled ex agent who clicks every stereotype of a grizzled, disenfranchised agent. Jude Law does what he can with the role, but soon he's Rocky III's Apollo Creed, training Stephanie and turning her into a super agent. LIvely actually broke her hand with that punch to Law's chest in the kitchen.
Ten minutes later she's off on the trail of terrorists.
The whole film manages to feel rushed and slow at the same time, glossing over key story points while languishing in others.
A decent car chase feels realistic, as do some of the body slams and physical confrontations.
Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) is good as an ex-pat power broker involved in the conspiracy. Tawfeek Barhom is quietly menacing as bomber Reza Mohammed.
Director Reed Morano (The Handmaid's Tale) is a huge miss. She brings little style or forward momentum to the film, stranding Lively, who has some good moments in spite of the material.
Suspenseful but un-engaging, THE RHYTHM SECTION never finds its beat, stumbling to a C-.
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