Plot: An irreverent high-speed thriller follows a former teenage getaway driver who’s dragged again into her unsavory previous when a earlier employer gives her the prospect to avoid wasting the lifetime of her chronically unreliable ex-boyfriend.
Evaluation: If I had a alternative between the over-the-top theatricality of The Quick Saga and The Italian Job or the extra grounded world of Drive, Ronin, or The Standard Suspects, I’d take the latter each time. Whereas Child Driver is a uncommon mix of each, Edgar Wright’s movie skews extra unbelievable than plausible. Shawn Simmons’ characteristic directorial debut, Eenie Meanie, appeared in trailers to be nearer to Child Driver. Nonetheless, I used to be pleasantly shocked to search out it a fascinating character drama with an indie sensibility that makes for a pleasant mix of motion, drama, and a few humor. With stable performances from Samara Weaving alongside Karl Glusman and Andy Garcia, Eenie Meanie is an sudden blast. (Take a look at our interviews with the solid!)
Eenie Meanie follows Edie (Samara Weaving), whom we first meet in Cleveland on the age of fourteen, as she has to drive for her drug addict mother and pa and will get in bother with the regulation. Seventeen years later, Edie goes to varsity and works at a financial institution as she tries to tug her life collectively. When a botched financial institution theft forces Edie to reconnect along with her ex-boyfriend, John (Karl Glusman), Edie is pressured again to work for crime boss Nico (Andy Garcia), to whom John owes some huge cash. Nico, who gave Edie the nickname of “Eenie Meanie,” desires her to renew her position as the most effective getaway driver round to tug off a large heist at a neighborhood on line casino value tens of millions of {dollars}. Edie reluctantly agrees, which makes John very pleased, a lot to Edie’s dismay. The setup of pushing Edie and John again collectively is simply the beginning because the movie shifts into heist mode for the rest of the operating time.
Over the hour-and-forty-minute operating time of Eenie Meanie, there are solely a handful of precise automobile chase sequences, however they’re all expertly filmed. Not as flashy as a number of the aforementioned motion films, they do steadiness stable enhancing and camerawork that retains the momentum churning. An early foot chase is enjoyable, however the bulk of Eenie Meanie is character-based scenes, most of which deal with Edie herself. Samara Weaving has had spectacular showcase roles earlier than, together with Prepared or Not, The Babysitter, Azrael, and Borderline, however Eenie Meanie is one in every of her strongest so far. Edie is a good character who aspires for a greater life however struggles along with her previous, embodied by numerous males, together with her father (Steve Zahn), John, and Nico. Whereas the movie avoids delving into parts of poisonous masculinity as a theme, there may be an empowerment thread in Edie’s arc that Samara Weaving makes use of to construct depth into her efficiency.
Karl Glusman, giving off a Pete Davidson vibe, performs John as a perennial loser who has a reference to Edie that retains them certain by love, for higher or worse. The connection between Edie and John is commonly irritating, nevertheless it performs into the dynamic of who Edie is and the place she desires to go. The supporting solid is stuffed with acquainted faces enjoying predominantly two-dimensional roles, together with Randall Park as card counter Leo, Mike O’Malley as Nico’s second-in-command George, Kyanna Simone as Edie’s buddy Child Lady, and Chris Bauer as Gary the bartender. Former NFL participant Marshawn Lynch is a stable antagonist as rival driver Perm Walter, and Jermaine Fowler is an intriguing presence because the unnamed Chaperone. Lynch and Fowler dig into their roles essentially the most, however neither is developed sufficient to care about. Generally, I want the supporting gamers had been fleshed out extra, however Eenie Meanie is centered on Samara Weaving’s character, which suggests everybody else takes a again seat. Andy Garcia will be the exception, with Nico having three key scenes, together with a stellar one on the movie’s finish.
Produced by Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Eenie Meanie is the characteristic movie directorial debut of Shawn Simmons, who additionally wrote the script. Simmons has a protracted profession writing for sitcoms like Faculty of Rock, Awkward, and Kirby Buckets, in addition to the underwhelming John Wick spin-off The Continental. Simmons can also be the creator of Wayne, a short-lived Prime Video sequence that shares some thematic connections to Eenie Meanie and has developed right into a cult favourite. Simmons has a particular aptitude for mixing motion and characters with this movie, feeling the grounded character drama each bit with punctuated moments of automobile chase motion. I anticipated this film to be very completely different, and I’m grateful for the welcome shock of how deftly Edie’s character is constructed round her previous and potential future. Simmons may have turned this right into a cliché heist film, however as a substitute creates the humor and drama into a movie woven with violence and motion.
With a stable soundtrack and a few spectacular automobile sequences, Eenie Meanie is a quick and enjoyable film that retains the pedal down from begin to end. There’s simply sufficient comedy to interrupt a number of the extra tense moments, however this can be a surprisingly well-crafted character drama. Samara Weaving impresses once more with an impressive efficiency, adopted intently by Karl Glusman and Andy Garcia. I loved a number of different supporting performances, however I hoped they’d have been developed just a little bit extra. Eenie Meanie just isn’t targeted totally on vehicle-based motion, however when it’s, it really works nicely. The remainder of the time, that is an intense crime drama with some emotional parts that work very nicely. Eenie Meanie is a enjoyable mix of parts anchored by the persistently wonderful Weaving, making for a stable debut for Shawn Simmons as director.
Eenie Meanie premieres on August twenty second on Hulu.
Supply:
JoBlo.com
