The Mother – Movie Review

TL;DR – A straightforward action film that is elevated by a strong bond.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film

An explosion of Ice and Fire.

The Mother Review

In recent years, it has been nice to see many actors have a resurgent cinema career. One of those has been Jennifer Lopez, who jumped back with Hustlers, then Marry Me, and now we shift to the world of Action with The Mother, and she fits well into this world.

So to set the scene, it is a quiet morning in suburban Linton, Indiana, where an FBI safe house is nestled between all the homes. It is here where FBI Agent William Cruise (Omari Hardwick) is debriefing a new informant, The Mother (Jennifer Lopez), about her role in securing an arms deal between Hector Álvarez (Gael García Bernal) and Adrian Lovell (Joseph Fiennes). When the safe house is breached by armed assailants and all the FBI agents are shot, we discover that there is a reason that they are hunting The Mother. However, she has more than a few tricks of her own, and it is not only her life she is protecting.  

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Sound of Metal – Movie Review

TL;DR – A profoundly moving and confronting film that explores a man’s life after it has been ripped asunder    

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Awards

Nominated: Fascinating Worldbuilding.
Winner: Fascinating Worldbuilding.

Sound of Metal. Image Credit: Amazon Studios.

Sound of Metal Review

There are times when you have seen an actor nail every role that you have seen them in, but they have only been in supporting roles. So you can’t wait to see someone take a chance and cast them in the lead. One of those actors is Riz Ahmed, and I am glad that I get to see that happen today with Sound of Metal.

So to set the scene, Ruben Stone (Riz Ahmed) is a musician, specifically a drummer, who is on tour with his partner Lou (Olivia Cooke). One night when he is performing a ringing starts in his ears, but it goes away. However, it continues to relapse till he has only 20% hearing in both his ears. Ruben is told that he has to stop drumming or he could lose all his hearing. He ignores the doctor and goes back to drumming until it is all gone. In a moment of despair, he starts to backslide after being clean for four years. Lou calls his sponsor, and they are able to find a place that can help him with both his addiction and help him work through his loss of hearing. The head of the facility, Joe (Paul Raci) needs Ruben to cut himself off from the world for this to work, which is a difficult transition.

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