'No Sudden Move' A Review

No Sudden Movie is a 50's Detroit set neo-noir. The story follows Curt(Don Cheadle) who has recently been released from prison, he gets a 'babysitting' job from Jones(Brendan Frasier) where he's partnered with Ronald(Benicio del Toro) to watch the wife and children of an accountant Matt(David Harbour) while a third contractor Charley(Kieran Culkin) escorts Matt to his office to steal an important document. Needless to say, nothing goes according to plan.

Cheadle is rapturous, with an incredible voice and a totally comfortable naturalness with Curt that conveys character worlds beyond the extremely lean script. del Toro equally as formidable an actor doesn't quite have the same success, doesn't seem as confident or locked in, he's still quite good but the plot is heavy on the twists and turns and exceedingly light on dimension. The remaining cast is totally stacked with talent, and there is some pleasure to be had in simply seeing this intriguing alchemy of actors, particularly Frasier and Ray Liotta who have fallen significantly from their 90's stardom. But aside from Cheadle none particularly stand out, through no fault of theirs, the film is simply not that interested in people.

Immaculate costumes, precise and evocative set design, amazing cars, a simple suspenseful score, and the occasional fish-eye shot all work together to create a really effective nostalgic noir, there is no doubt of director Steven Soderbergh impeccable craft. But ultimately for all its visual clarity after the dust settles on the machinations of the heist/crime/fallout it doesn't have much to offer. Racial issues, climate change, gentrification are all kind of indicated but never inspected. The characters mostly flow through the story but they too are never inspected, never studied, never focused on aside from how they progress or disrupt the puzzle like plotting. By the end none of them feel particularly real. It's a shame, especially given how electric Cheadle's Curt is.

An excellently made neo-noir too clinical to really land.

Currently streaming on HBO Max.

Stream It.