The Rhythm Section
THE RHYTHM SECTION - PARAMOUNT
The Rhythm Section has had a rocky journey on its way to the big screen. The film was moved from February to November 2019, and finally released at the end of January 2020. Unfortunately, these constant delays have clearly had an impact on the final outcome. The film follows a woman called Stephanie (Blake Lively) seeking revenge against those who planned the plane crash that killed her family.
The plot takes a basic premise and makes it a convoluted, location-changing, mostly dull affair. The opening section starts off strongly as we catch up with Lively’s character after the incident. Stephanie is depressed, a drug addict and a prostitute when she encounters a reporter (Raza Jeffrey) who has been studying her case and helps her gather information. She then heads to Scotland to meet with the mysterious B (Jude Law) who agrees to train her to take down those responsible. From this point onward the film begins to head downhill. This whole section feels bizarre and rushed; we see her training play out in a few scattered scenes with no real sense of time that passed or progression, until B suddenly announces that she is ready for the field. This was supposed to have taken around 6 months, but the film is edited and structured poorly, so it never seems like she has earned what she has learnt in combat.
When it comes to the action there really isn’t too many sequences at all. There is a couple of admittedly brutal scraps, but nothing very thrilling or uniquely choreographed. However, the car chase is definitely the highlight of the film. It is all one continuous take, which is genuinely thrilling, and it is a shame director Reed Morano was not able to bring that level of creativity and intensity to the rest of the film. These sequences are spread out far apart, in a film that feels longer than its 1 hour 49 minute runtime, due to some excruciatingly slow and repetitive scenes of Lively sitting down or aimlessly wondering around looking miserable or constant flashbacks of her family.
The characters are all uninteresting and not really likeable at all; it is a shame because Lively gives 100% here, and really goes through a lot of physical trials as well. Her character goes from broken and beaten to confident and determined but it does not feel earned to the script and structure. The script renders her not likeable at all, with cringe foul-mouthed line delivery at times and consistent negativity. This is the same with Jude Law’s character - even more so because we know basically nothing about him, and he does not have much of an impact or real presence in the plot, despite him being essential to helping Stephanie.
Ironically enough, The Rhythm Section has no consistent rhythm of its own. The film has a poorly paced, generic and convoluted plot that features only one impressive and intense action sequence. Lively gives her all, but due to the script and some poor line delivery her character is not that engaging. The film had the potential to be a solid revenge-vigilante thriller, but unfortunately squanders it.
THE RHYTHM SECTION is released January 31st 2020
