Stream it on HBO Max.
Watching Steven Soderbergh's latest outing, No Sudden Move, is like watching a world-renowned master cake baker prepare a fresh Ho-Ho. Sure, it's going to taste better than the typical packaged one, it'll be more entertaining to watch the master's process in making it, and it's going to have a much more appreciated sense of flare in its creation than necessary. However, despite all of the epic build-up, it's still just a simple Ho-Ho, which is more disappointing than anything else. Not because the Ho-Ho itself isn't any good, but because you've seen this same baker produce masterpieces that taste and look much better than this. While I still got some entertainment value out of this film from the cast, genuine attempts at social commentary, and parts of the cinematography (more on that in a moment), I'm sorry to report that No Sudden Move is, at least in my opinion, just as stale and ill-nourishing as a packaged Ho-Ho.
Set in Detroit in the 1950s, the story follows a group of part-time bandits hired for a simple heist that goes horribly wrong when everyone involved, especially Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle), constantly undermines and questions everyone involved. All the while attempting to comment on systemic racism, corporate apathy, and just how much the 1950s sucked overall!
This appears to be Soderbergh's attempt at a modern film-noir: a sub-genre of cinema mostly about criminals and underground societies. According to the book 101 Things I Learned in Film School, the characters "...act only in self-interest: altruism and playing by the rules are for suckers." No Sudden Move seems to have taken this to heart as pretty much all of the characters act out of selfishness and greed, resulting in no actual likable characters. Sure, we can empathize with a few of them, and some of their ulterior motives turn out to be at least understandable, but I never found myself connecting with anyone on screen. Which is a huge problem for any story.
Another problematic element of the film (sort of) is the cinematography. While the color palette and lighting style are both beautiful and natural, a regular staple in a Steven Soderbergh film, his choice in capture format is somewhat questionable. Regular readers of my blog may recall an article I recently published about cameras and sensor sizes. Well, the camera and lens choices made for No Sudden Move feel less like Steven Soderbergh and more like Terry Gilliam, the guy behind Brazil and Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. The film was captured on a camera with a substantially large sensor and extremely wide-angle lenses. Not only that, but the lenses were also anamorphic, which, for simplicity's sake, are basically lenses that make the image appear even wider. The result is images that appear significantly warped and vignetted, more so than might be expected when filming in wide angles.
Speaking as a filmmaker who enjoys using wide angles for most of my shots, the unusual use of wide angles in No Sudden Move feels too jarring! Perhaps the intention was to have the visuals match the unevenness and uncertainty that the characters are likely feeling throughout the story. If that was indeed the case, it should have been reserved for specific shots rather than the entire film. At least, in my opinion.
While I may not have completely enjoyed this movie, there are parts of it I did like. The acting is solid from the whole cast, some of the dialogue is clever & witty, and as I mentioned before, the lighting and color style looks gorgeous. Also, the well-intended commentary about unnecessary displacement and corporate apathy towards human life is always appreciated, despite its execution in this film being as lackluster as it is.
Regrettably, No Sudden Move is a bit of a disappointment to me. I understand that the production of this film was suddenly hindered by the COVID 19 pandemic, and I am genuinely glad that everyone involved still managed to make something for the sake of making it despite the aggressive slap in the face from the pandemic. Despite that, I cannot, in good conscience, give this film a passing grade, no matter how much I want to overlook its unfortunate shortcomings. If you're the least bit curious, by all means, check it out for yourself. Otherwise, I recommend rewatching Steven Soderbergh's more famous and better-crafted heist film, Ocean's Eleven.
Mr. Soderbergh, I'm sorry that I didn't like your movie, but I remain in delighted expectation for whatever you produce next. Here's hoping things will be better for you in the future.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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