Close (2019)
January 24, 2019 10:24 AM - Subscribe
A bodyguard and counter-terrorism expert Sam (Noomi Rapace) takes a job protecting Zoe a rich young heiress. Neither party is keen on the arrangement until a violent kidnap forces them to go on the run in Morocco.
Director Vicky Jewson's love for action films is sincere.
I hope she gets to take a crack at a better script next time around. Her writing (hers and her writing partner's really) wasn't bad, but it was sort of perfunctory and by the numbers in a way that didn't live up to her direction.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:35 AM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
I hope she gets to take a crack at a better script next time around. Her writing (hers and her writing partner's really) wasn't bad, but it was sort of perfunctory and by the numbers in a way that didn't live up to her direction.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:35 AM on January 24, 2019 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I watched it, and while I was fully aware it wasn't a good movie, I was entertained because it wasn't just a bunch of men hurting each other. It was a woman kicking ass to protect another woman, because she thought it was the right thing to do.
posted by wellred at 11:30 AM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by wellred at 11:30 AM on January 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yeah I watched it because Noomi Rapace! But yeah the script is extremely weak. I will give it points for having the end being ambiguous instead of ending on her finally reuniting with her daughter.
Also a side note: what was up with her ex bf? Their two brief convos didn't convey any connection to me at all. I was shocked she would ask him for help, even if desperate, and more shocked that he responded.
posted by miss-lapin at 4:35 AM on January 25, 2019
Also a side note: what was up with her ex bf? Their two brief convos didn't convey any connection to me at all. I was shocked she would ask him for help, even if desperate, and more shocked that he responded.
posted by miss-lapin at 4:35 AM on January 25, 2019
I'm surprised to see this movie posted here. It's not great, and definitely cw: attempted rape.
That said, depending on how you award bonus points for the following things, it might eke its way up to watchable/mildly enjoyable: all three leads are females; the director stages action pretty capably, with at least two memorable sequences (and is a woman, which is nice to see); and most importantly... Noomi Rapace.
I give points for all these things!
This movie had some cute action moments, some of which were things I'd never seen before. The action scenes have some minor points of cleverness and humor, which are not otherwise to be found in the rest of the movie. (Except maybe Noomi Rapace's smirk at the life insurance sales pitch on her voicemail as she's cleaning her gun.)
Not all the action is good. The underwater fight is bad. The first home invasion is merely fine. Whatever; I don't feel like my time was wasted.
Also, it has a credit sequence like a scandinoir for some reason.
posted by fleacircus at 7:41 PM on January 25, 2019
That said, depending on how you award bonus points for the following things, it might eke its way up to watchable/mildly enjoyable: all three leads are females; the director stages action pretty capably, with at least two memorable sequences (and is a woman, which is nice to see); and most importantly... Noomi Rapace.
I give points for all these things!
This movie had some cute action moments, some of which were things I'd never seen before. The action scenes have some minor points of cleverness and humor, which are not otherwise to be found in the rest of the movie. (Except maybe Noomi Rapace's smirk at the life insurance sales pitch on her voicemail as she's cleaning her gun.)
Not all the action is good. The underwater fight is bad. The first home invasion is merely fine. Whatever; I don't feel like my time was wasted.
Also, it has a credit sequence like a scandinoir for some reason.
posted by fleacircus at 7:41 PM on January 25, 2019
Director Vicky Jewson's love for action films is sincere.
Oh no, she's proudest of the underwater fight scene but I think that was easily the worst action scene despite the striking look.
posted by fleacircus at 7:45 PM on January 25, 2019
Oh no, she's proudest of the underwater fight scene but I think that was easily the worst action scene despite the striking look.
posted by fleacircus at 7:45 PM on January 25, 2019
If you fall in the narrow Venn overlap of people who enjoy the occasional empty-headed action yarn enlivened by ruthlessly proficient ass-kicking and people who enjoy seeing women get a chance to play roles more commonly handled by men, you might might find this an acceptable time waster.
That is pretty much why I watched it, especially with Rapace in the lead. The opening action scene was very well done as were one or two other scenes, but there was a lot of dross in between the good parts. I would not rewatch this one.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:23 AM on January 26, 2019
That is pretty much why I watched it, especially with Rapace in the lead. The opening action scene was very well done as were one or two other scenes, but there was a lot of dross in between the good parts. I would not rewatch this one.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:23 AM on January 26, 2019
I think the thing that stands out about the action sequences here is that Sam generally emerges victorious as a result of shrewd decision making resulting from expertise and intelligence rather than acrobatics or brute force.
Rapace can kick ass, sure. But the reason she prevails in the opening sequence in the desert is that she exploits the attacker's assumption that anyone who isn't screaming it immediately shooting is dead. And then, being at the bottom of a hill, she hides under the Humvee, making herself invisible to the assailants coming down and giving her a chance to shoot their feet out from under them.
She makes small but crucial decisions like this all throughout the film. When the security shutters are activated, her first move is to block an exit. Sometimes, we even see these decisions in advance as matter of fact planning. "These shoes should fit. Sleep with them on."
I will be watching for Vicky Jewson's next feature. This was not a great or even very good film. But there were real signs of skill and style from her and I will not be surprised if she does something terrific one or two features down the line.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:51 AM on January 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
Rapace can kick ass, sure. But the reason she prevails in the opening sequence in the desert is that she exploits the attacker's assumption that anyone who isn't screaming it immediately shooting is dead. And then, being at the bottom of a hill, she hides under the Humvee, making herself invisible to the assailants coming down and giving her a chance to shoot their feet out from under them.
She makes small but crucial decisions like this all throughout the film. When the security shutters are activated, her first move is to block an exit. Sometimes, we even see these decisions in advance as matter of fact planning. "These shoes should fit. Sleep with them on."
I will be watching for Vicky Jewson's next feature. This was not a great or even very good film. But there were real signs of skill and style from her and I will not be surprised if she does something terrific one or two features down the line.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:51 AM on January 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
And I liked the underwater fight. Weirdly slow paced, as it would have to be, but very cinematic and looked just great.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:52 AM on January 26, 2019
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:52 AM on January 26, 2019
Aye you mention Bond, which is what I thought of immediately upon seeing the opening title sequence. If anything this movie further proves Brocolli wrong about Bond only ever being a man. Rapace has been proving to be a supreme badass since Prometheus. This wasn't a good movie, but not bad either. The three lead roles acted well, but the plot didn't ever really seem compelling. I'm a big Rapace fan, I wish they would find a place for her in the MCU or Star Wars.
posted by Brocktoon at 11:23 PM on January 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Brocktoon at 11:23 PM on January 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Someone else apparently noticed how good Vicky Jewson is at directing action, because she seems to be working steadily in TV action now, including several episodes of The Witcher.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:03 AM on August 27, 2022
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:03 AM on August 27, 2022
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That said, depending on how you award bonus points for the following things, it might eke its way up to watchable/mildly enjoyable: all three leads are females; the director stages action pretty capably, with at least two memorable sequences (and is a woman, which is nice to see); and most importantly... Noomi Rapace.
Noomi Rapace is very capable at being a badass. In particular, the scene in which she beats the holy hell out of/kills an entire room of armed assassins with her hands literally tied behind her back was pretty great.
If you fall in the narrow Venn overlap of people who enjoy the occasional empty-headed action yarn enlivened by ruthlessly proficient ass-kicking and people who enjoy seeing women get a chance to play roles more commonly handled by men, you might might find this an acceptable time waster.
Otherwise, just wait for someone to post the clip of the hands-behind-her-back scene on YouTube.
If anything else, my takeaway from this is that I'd like to see Rapace get to kick ass with a better script and a bigger budget. She'd be a fine lead for a Bond-like spy film or a John Wick-like shoot 'em up.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:31 AM on January 24, 2019 [8 favorites]