Jesse Golomb

I'm a Soderbergh super fan — expressly because even his lesser stuff is pretty much always propulsive and watchable ... which is to say nothing of *Ocean's Eleven*, possibly the most eminently watchable (and rewatchable) movie ever made. Or a half-dozen other pseudo-masterworks, on television and on the big screen. I think there is a genuine argument to be made that he is the most underappreciated filmmaker of his generation. All of which makes me completely vexed by this latest film (as well as its mostly positive reception). Nearly every scene is smothered by McKellen's Sklar, an irascible and mean-spirited old man who I'd imagine would be no more unpleasant to hang around with in real life as he is in this movie. It really strikes me as a bizarre choice to build a movie around a character so exhausting and inexhaustible. Michaela Coel is an incredibly expressive actor, a reservoir of feeling and wile. If this is your first time catching her, though, you certainly wouldn't know it. Throughout, the script scarcely leaves room for Coel to breathe, let alone find a throughline for her character. Sklar is so intransigent that an unprovoked temper tantrum stops in its tracks — and ultimately reverses — the only scene in this movie with genuine depth and forward motion. Overall, a plodding, disjointed dramatic misfire from someone I thought pretty much incapable of that sort of thing.

Bizarre, preposterous, scarcely believable — and utterly chaotic in its third act. And yet. And yet. Sharon and Douglas really *had something*.

Found this really unconvincing and weirdly boring, pretty much from start to finish. Also, the score is *bizarre.*