Cast:
Taraji P. Henson Mary
Billy Brown Tom
Jahi Di’Allo Winston Danny
Neal McDonough Walter
Xander Berkeley Uncle
Rade Serbedzija Luka
Danny Glover Benny
After a long chat with the “Chairman” (aka my brother) of the “Notinhalloffame.com” website, he said that he liked my contributions so much so that he vowed to give me a 50 percent increase in my salary. Well since he doesn’t give me anything for these, this vow was like a promise from a politician…full of excrement! Good thing he lives in the Caribbean and I am still in Canada! But anyways, I do enjoy this, and it gives me something to do in retirement. In that light, we can discuss this week’s foray in into Movieland. Of late, most of my reviews have not been of great or even mediocre films, sadly this week is no change. I really want to see a good movie, but unfortunately, some of the movies in the stack of unwatched films just don’t make the grade, or any grade for that matter.
We started on Friday with the “Longest Week”, starring Jason Bateman and Olivia Wilde. Unfortunately, or should I say fortunately for me, I stopped the film after 15 minutes as it was just too painful to watch. This is sad as I was looking forward to watching it as I like Bateman’s films for the most part, and am really enjoying his character in “Ozark”. But, that film, was just like my brother’s promise of a raise….” Just didn’t deliver!” We then tried something on Amazon Prime, and that was a comedy special by Steve Trevino, totally awesome, and highly recommend it. However, it was not suitable to write a review on a guy telling jokes, no matter how good they are.
Then came Saturday night, and the next movie in the pile was ‘Proud Mary” starring Tariji P. Henson in the title role. I have come to like Henson in the series “Person of Interest” and the co-stars, Neal Mcdonough, Xander Berkeley, Rade Serbedzija and Danny Glover are all very well known entities, and have played varying roles in movies that I really like. So, with that in mind, I was really looking forward to watching it. However, like my brothers promises of a raise, it was disappointing !
What is Proud Mary about? Well, it started promising with the 1970’s Black exploitation movie vibe that used to be so entertaining. The initial music was good “Papa was Rolling Stone” by the Temptations, and the opening sequences brought back memories of films from my childhood and even put a smile to face at the time…however, right after that, it all went south. We can allude at the start that Mary (Henson) is some kind of hitman/assassin as she breaks into an apartment and shoots a guy with extreme prejudice. After killing her target, she enters an adjoining bedroom to discover a young boy playing video games with headphones on. Even though she was supposed to kill everyone there to ensure that there were no witnesses, some long lost maternal instincts kicked in and she let him live
Fast forward a few years, Mary (Henson) is tooling around NYC in a beautiful Maserati (as far as I am concerned, this car is the star of the film) as she is watching a boy deliver some drugs. We later find out that this is the same boy that she let live and she has been monitoring him ever since. This young fellow Danny (Winston) is now a drug trafficker for local thug called Uncle (Berkeley) who has a cheezy and very fake Russian accent. After getting smacked around by Uncle (Berkeley) for using his own initiative with a previous customer who tried to rip him off, Danny is back on the street and proceeds to get beaten up by some other ne’er do wells. Finding him curled up and twitching in the fetal position on the ground, Mary (Henson) becomes motherly and takes him home. After hearing the tales of woe from Danny (Winston), Mary (Henson) decides to be an avenging angel and takes out Uncle and others in the vicinity who may have harmed poor little Danny. Did I mention the Maserati? We get to see this car again a few more times as she drives around looking for the bad guys.
Upon returning to her boss, we find out that Mary (Henson) is working for Benny (Glover) and his son Tom (Brown) and that the Uncle (Berkeley) was part of a rival gang. Fearing a war between the gangs, Mary (Henson) must kill another member of the Russian gang to demonstrate strength. In this instance it is Walter (McDonough), so after some very poor surveillance of the target (She is still in the Maserati, so no one will look twice at that car). Determining a pattern of sorts, she goes for a run, sees him and kills him outright. Meanwhile the Russian mafia leader Luka (Serbedzija) wants to get revenge, and a war brews between the two gangs, shots are fired, people are killed and chaos ensues between to the two rivals.
Meanwhile, Tom (Brown) who is not only Benny’s (Glover) son, but also a former lover realizes that Danny (Winston) is not only the son of a former hit, but also a previous employee of Uncle…putting 2+2 together to make 5, this brain trust finally figures out that Mary (Henson) and Danny (Winston) were the root of all of their problems and tries to take some decisive action.
Without giving the rest of the story away, there are a few other conflicts, a kidnapping, some poor speeches and sudden insights from some of the cast to culminate in the final battle scene. Here Mary (Henson) thinks that she is the re-incarnation of John Wick or the Equalizer and decides to make a one man (woman) fight against all who have wronged not only the boy Danny, but also Mary herself. Driving into battle in that gorgeous Maserati, she manages to kill everyone in sight, save the day (but not the car) and rescue those who need rescuing. Only mildly wounded, she still manages to hit every target with a pistol while driving or running erratically, and her magic guns only seemed to require reloading twice. You gotta love those 500 round magazines that Hollywood pistols and assault rifles come with!
To sum up with respect to the plot, it is a very predictable film. The Hitman finds redemption by writing an earlier wrong by blowing up everyone in sight and riding into the distance with her sidekick. The End.
What did I like about the film? Well, the music was good, there were several 1970’s tracks that I always liked, to include Proud Mary by Tina Turner. The initial 70’s vibe that started the film brought back memories of watching movies as a kid. Oh, and of course the Maserati, did I say how much l love that car?!?.
What didn’t I like about the film…well everything else. This film managed to take an exceptional cast and kill them with poor dialogue, a predictable plot line and crappy acting. Was everyone under a contract and had to sign on to this movie? It sure feels like it, there was no chemistry between the cast, the delivery was wooden and the story (besides being predictable) was stilted and jerked along like a millennial trying to drive a stick shift. It was just horrible, and I am surprised that I watched the whole thing.
As far as the cast, I said before that there were some good actors here, but let’s take a look at them.
Henson as the title character, Mary. Her acting was abysmal, and her inner turmoil between trying to get her motherly instincts in track as well as her killer instincts at bay were horrible. Trying to play the “tough chick” with a gun was almost laughable. She did not move fluidly with the weapons or in the fight seasons. John Wick she was notand it was clearly evident.
Billy Brown as Tom: given little screen time, he did not have much to work with here. We find out that he is the son of the boss and a former lover. However, even though he figured out who the kid was, he is no Sherlock that is for sure. Usually he is a solid supporting character in many shows (Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, The Following, etc) and should stay in that lane.
Jahi Di’Allo Winston as Danny: An actor that I had not really seen before, however, his acting was not all that bad considering what he had to work with. I hope that in the future he manages to get some better roles and co-stars that he can develop his skills.
Neal McDonough as Walter: He actually had very little impact in this film, well except for getting killed by Mary (Henson). However, I must say, in our house McDonough has the rare talent that no matter what character he plays, we can’t stand him. So, that is either a testament to his acting skills or we just can’t stand him on sight. However, when he is the villain in a film, you know it and he can take the scene from anyone else that he shares it with. However, in this film, He did not have the chance to do so.
Xander Berkeley as Uncle: Berkeley is an awesome actor...except in this film. As I mentioned before, this must be a case of where he had to do a film as part of the contract. His acting was as horrible as was his accent and it was a godsend when his character of Uncle was finally killed off.
Rade Serbedzijaas Luka: Serbedzija is also another phenomenal actor who can play a villain like nobody else. But in this film, he was just a card-board cut-out and another b-list actor required to fill out the roster and be ultimately killed. Very disappointing!
Danny Glover as Benny: For me, this was the biggest disappointment of the film. Danny Glover was an excellent actor in the action genre. Who can forget him in the Lethal Weapon franchise? His line “I am too old for shit!” is quoted often in television and in pop culture itself. A prolific actor, who has seemed to have lost his way over the last decade as his appearances are now more of a guest or co-star with less and less impact on the outcome. Very sad, for as I mentioned, I always liked his films in the 80, 90 to 00’s.
To finalize, did this movie entertain us? Sadly, no. A combination of a poor script, a tired formula and miscast actors/actresses who have all seen better films and days. Were there some highlights or redeeming factors? Well, the Maserati for one, and the final shoot-em up scene was not that bad once you got past Henson’s poor action sequences. Would I recommend it? No, not unless you really had nothing else to watch, and you had to be a fan of the genre and Henson.
Our rating: 2/10
If you are interested in other films/tv shows with the cast, please consider some of the following GOOD recommendations!
Taraji P. Henson Person of Interest, Hidden Figures, Empire, The Curious case of Benjamin Button
Billy Brown Sons of Anarchy, The Following, Dexter
Neal McDonough Red 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, Flags of our Father
Xander Berkeley The Walking Dead, Justified, The Mentalist, 24
Rade Serbedzija The Five, Downtown Abbey, Taken 2, 24, Space Cowboys
Danny Glover Lethal Weapon (1 & 2), Dreamgirls, Bat 21, Flight of the Intruder, Predator 2
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