When a simple job goes drastically wrong, a crew of crooks is thrown together under odd circumstances and must work together to figure out what's actually going on. Well, that's the synopsis of Steven Soderbergh's latest film. If you are a fan of action thrillers, you should visit this one.
Soderbergh, as is his custom, does not fully lay out the play; instead, he lets viewers figure it out alongside his characters as it unfolds. The rest of the story is a whirlwind of bluffs, set-ups, deals, double-crosses, and MacGuffins. The plot's complexity overwhelms the film, which becomes a little hazy in the middle – but it eventually snaps into focus, primarily by finding its spine in the simple premise that this is a film about people under duress.
The racial tension between Curt and Ronald, for example, is played as straight as an arrow by Cheadle and Del Toro, and not all of it is generated by the story. Curt's voice has a crackle to it, and his eyes have a fire to them, thanks to Cheadle. Del Toro largely leans back and concentrates on the details, as he does in his best work; one wonderful touch is the concept that Ronald is a bit of a dandy, and so when the team meets the night before the job, he brings along his newly pressed suit on a hanger slung over his shoulder.
Julia Fox and David Harbour, in particular, who create a tough-as-nails façade before peeling it away to reveal the impatient weakling beneath, come over just as effectively as the veterans. Harbour has two absolutely fantastic scenes: one in which he administers a thrashing filled with apologies, and another in which he provides a long-overdue explanation for how he ended up in this predicament.
Soderbergh brings it all together with his typical deftness, making his work a joy to behold (as it always is), with innovative compositions and springy editing rhythms. His visual experiments aren't always successful (I'm not as enamored with his wide-angle pans as he is), but the picture is always sharp and the unexpected dynamics of his action beats never cease to astonish.
Soderbergh, on the other hand, isn't only seeking to entertain. In the end, No Sudden Move has little in common with Ocean's 11 in which actual social and economic issues fuel the drama and strife.
SCORE: 4/5
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