#BRENDAN FRASER WEIGHT IN NO SUDDEN MOVE MOVIE#

You could find it frustrating and further convoluting an already deeply convoluted plot, or you could see it as adding subtle shades to the characters and world of the story, making it almost novel-like in its construction. There are two reactions a viewer could have to this brief exchange (the whole encounter lasts maybe 90 seconds). There’s no mystery, however, in where her current husband stands in his opinion of Curt. She might be a former lover, an ex-wife, or maybe even his adult daughter. This woman’s connection to Curt – her reaction to his sudden appearance is a mix of frustration with and fondness for him – is never made explicitly clear. At one point, a desperate Curt visits an old acquaintance to retrieve a very important suitcase. Screenwriter Ed Solomon, who began his career by penning the first two entries in the Bill & Ted saga and whose other credits include 1993’s Super Mario Bros., the first Men in Black, and the Now You See Me heist films, throws everything he’s got at No Sudden Move. And there’s a cop on their trail, Detective Joe Finney, whose real objective is unclear. The man he’s trying to avoid, Watkins, might be involved, but it’s also likely that rival mob boss Frank Capelli is the one behind the scenes.

#BRENDAN FRASER WEIGHT IN NO SUDDEN MOVE MOVIE#

Curt spends a good portion of the movie trying to figure out exactly who is behind this job. There are also a host of characters whose motives and actions are hazy for both audience surrogate Curt and the actual audience. Curt’s newly minted partner Ronald is also having an affair with another man’s wife, who shall remain nameless here so as not to spoil a significant plot point midway through the film. This was also supposed to be the day when Matt tells his wife Mary that he is leaving her for Paula. We find this out in Matt’s manic attempt to get his boss Mel’s safe combination from Paula during the heist. Matt is having an affair with Paula, his boss’s secretary. There are double-crosses and subplots aplenty in No Sudden Move. (The director’s 2006 film, The Good German, is also an homage to noir, but I am forced to admit that I haven’t caught up with it yet.) While his previous work in this area, like Out of Sight, his Ocean’s franchise, and the underseen The Underneath, have all been influenced by the classic Hollywood noir style, No Sudden Move is pure neo-noir. Soderbergh returns to some of his favorite preoccupations, the heist story and, specifically, the “one last job” crime film, which have proven fruitful for him in the past. If all goes well, Matt will secure the document, Curt and Ronald will let the family go, and the three stick-up men will hand the MacGuffin over to Doug in exchange for their payday. Curt and Ronald will hold a man’s family hostage while Charley accompanies this man, Matt, to the latter’s office to retrieve a top-secret document from Matt’s boss’s locked safe. Curt is to partner with two other men, Ronald and Charley, for a “babysitting” job. As with any noir worth its hard-boiled salt, the job turns out to be anything but what it seems. Doug is cagey as to the identity of the mastermind behind the scenes. Through a mutual associate, Curt hooks up with Doug Jones, who has a seemingly easy job for Curt. Curt stole a ledger belonging to Watkins containing decades of transactions, secrets, and damning information, and he knows he doesn’t have long before Watkins comes to collect what’s his by any means necessary. He’s in deep with local mob boss Aldrick Watkins. Gangster Curt Goynes, recently released from prison, needs a quick score so he can get enough cash to blow town. Set in the 1950s, the film takes place over two days in Detroit. Even if that’s not the case, what’s easy to see upon first viewing is Soderbergh’s masterful auteur cinematic style and the flawlessly calibrated performances from the brilliant ensemble cast. Once things started to click into place, though, especially in the climax and denouement, I began to suspect that a second viewing of the film would pay substantial dividends. As with Chinatown and The Big Sleep, the most famously convoluted noir plot in film history, No Sudden Move’s first half is so opaque as to be frustrating on first viewing.

I’m hedging with the “might be” – one of the worst sins a critic can commit, I suppose – because I’ve only seen Steven Soderbergh’s new noir-inflected heist movie once.

Brendan fraser weight in no sudden move