Samara Weaving In A Humorous, Moody Crime Caper

There’s a ethical rigidity on the coronary heart of films about criminals that always goes unstated. Specifically, the concept crime is mostly not one thing to aspire to or be happy with. This morality is actually standard knowledge and would not require being acknowledged outright, definitely not after the times of the Hays Code imposing some kind of ethical message on quite a few crime motion pictures. Most crime movies (and, ultimately, TV exhibits) made after the collapse of the manufacturing code took considered one of a number of approaches, akin to presenting criminals within the type of a grounded character research (with depiction not essentially equalling endorsement), or as lovable underdogs who make characters (or establishments) which are both morally simply as dangerous or worse than they’re their targets. That is all in service of the viewers vicariously having fun with themselves, getting a bit of thrill for a pair hours about what it could be like to interrupt the foundations.

As such, there aren’t too many crime motion pictures that attempt to mix vicarious thrills with sober morality, for worry of presumably deflating the previous or glibly treating the latter. “Eenie Meanie,” a brand new crime caper film, is that uncommon movie which makes an attempt to encapsulate each qualities. Produced by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (“The Guys who wrote Deadpool,” as one of many posters for the movie excitedly mentions), the adverts and trailers for the film make it appear as if the kind of raucous, foolish, action-packed film {that a} movie from the makers of “Zombieland” could be. But author/director Shawn Simmons has made a much more nuanced and multi-faceted movie than it initially appears.

Simmons, who’s been a author for tv for the previous 20 years and has most not too long ago labored on the “John Wick” spin off “The Continental” and Amazon Prime’s “Wayne” (which Reese and Wernick had been writers on), approaches his first function movie with a sensibility that feels akin to the flicks of Jim McBride or John McNaughton. As in these director’s motion pictures like “The Massive Straightforward” or “Regular Life,” “Eenie Meanie” is a mix of each gritty heist film thrills and downbeat character drama. It is not a simple combine, and the movie would not all the time pull it off gracefully. But due to Simmons’ ambition, some unimaginable stunt work, and particularly the lead efficiency by Samara Weaving, “Eenie Meanie” finally ends up as a satisfyingly well-rounded expertise.

Whereas “Eenie Meanie” is not blazing any new trails when it comes to its plot or character, the way in which that Simmons arranges and presents these parts is exclusive sufficient that it is troublesome to inform simply the place the film goes till you are deep into it. Not like different crime movies, nevertheless, “Eenie Meanie” is not enjoying round with chronology or perspective, so whereas it takes a minute to return into focus, it is also very easy. After a gap flashback during which a 14 12 months previous Edie (Elle Graham) is pressured into appearing as a getaway driver for her deadbeat, small-time criminal father (Steve Zahn), the movie jumps to the current day 15 years later, the place a now-adult Edie (Weaving) has gone straight. She’s left behind her legal previous and goes to neighborhood school and dealing as a financial institution teller in her house metropolis of Cleveland, OH.

There’s barely any motion on this first act of the movie, one thing which Simmons is all too keen to attract our consideration to, chopping the scene abruptly when it looks like we’re about to hurry away from the cops with younger Edie or witness grownup Edie take down some thugs who rob her financial institution. Simmons is each teasing our want to get some motion in addition to treating its arrival like an ominous inevitability, the identical means that the legal life is more and more respiratory down Edie’s neck. As soon as Edie discovers that she’s a number of months pregnant, she tracks down her ex, John (Karl Glusman), to inform him the information, solely to find that he is gotten himself into one more life-or-death mess, having crossed Edie’s previous boss, the crime kingpin Nico (Andy Garcia). To be able to clear John’s debt to Nico, the crime lord faucets Edie to drag off a heist at a Toledo on line casino, whereby she’ll steal a poker event’s prize Dodge Charger with $3 million in money within the trunk. Alongside the way in which, Edie should preserve John from turning into a legal responsibility to the job, in addition to attempt to cope with their unresolved, star-crossed relationship.

“Eenie Meanie” is an motion film in a way more conventional sense than what audiences have gotten used to in a post-“John Wick” panorama. It is not wall-to-wall motion by any means, as Simmons fastidiously picks the moments when the movie’s setpieces arrive. But when the movie does kick into excessive gear, it hits arduous, thanks largely to the way in which that Simmons approaches the motion from a down-to-Earth perspective. Once more, in contrast to latest motion motion pictures like “Ballerina,” “Novocaine” or “A Working Man,” “Eenie Meanie” is not trying to go too excessive. As a substitute, Simmons and his stunt coordinators (Keith Campbell, Nicolas Bosc, Paul Jennings and Michael B. Johnson) give the movie some gritty authenticity in its fist fights and particularly its automotive chases. The vibe is not the histrionics of “Quick X” or “Unhealthy Boys II” however slightly that of “Vanishing Level,” “Soiled Mary Loopy Larry,” and “Dying Proof.”

For that reason, Simmons will get a ton of mileage out of what would possibly in any other case be an appetizer in a wilder motion flick. A automotive flipping finish over finish could be a mere garnish for the likes of Michael Bay, however in “Eenie Meanie” its a spectacle definitely worth the value of admission. This method to the motion is indicative of all the movie working on an old-school stage. To be clear, “Eenie Meanie” (regardless of a few of its grindhouse-style advertising) will not be a Tarantino-esque homage, however slightly an trustworthy try at making a modern-day ground-level crime movie. For motion junkies like myself, this movie is a case of high quality over amount.

One of many highlights of “Eenie Meanie” is its ensemble solid, as it’s totally clear early on that they got here to play. Andy Garcia is, in fact, a welcome presence as all the time, bringing gravitas to his mobster whereas making him believably quirky. HIs consigliere, George (Mike O’Malley), is a personality that enables the 2 actors to turn out to be a double act, which results in some nice humor and drama. It is that combination which Simmons is so clearly after, and nowhere is it seen higher than in Glusman’s efficiency as John. Glusman has a difficult needle to string with this character, making him unexpectedly comedian reduction, romantic lead, and wild card. It is a mixture that might simply crush lesser actors, and Glusman pulls it off with aplomb.

As nice because the solid is, they cannot all the time enable “Eenie Meanie” to fireplace on all cylinders always. Simmons’ Elmore Leonard-lite tone and method calls for that irreverence and sincerity concurrently share the stage, and whereas somebody like Tarantino or Paul Thomas Anderson can discover that steadiness, it eludes the first-time filmmaker sometimes. There’s additionally an additional little bit of twisting that includes the character of Perm (Marshawn Lynch) which does make the centerpiece heist sequence further involving, but introduces one wild card too many to maintain the emotional grounding that Simmons has constructed. Once more, the movie does find yourself feeling structurally sound, however there are some potholes within the highway on the way in which there.

The star of “Eenie Meanie” and the explanation to see it — aside from these automotive crashes and flips, that’s — is Weaving, and she or he completely is probably the most useful participant within the movie. To this point, Weaving’s movie profession has been primarily as supporting or lead characters in horror motion pictures, with the actress demonstrating a way of indigence, worry, and resilience as the largest property in her toolkit. All of these elements come into play in her efficiency as Edie right here, but she additionally slyly shifts her Last Lady chutzpah into the mode of motion lead superbly. Weaving’s equally loaded vulnerability and internal fortitude carries the movie, and helps careen it over its rougher spots. Fairly merely, the film won’t work in any respect with out her.

In the end, the largest unfavorable ingredient about “Eenie Meanie” is one thing that is not its fault, which is that it’s one more unique film for adults that is being dumped onto a streaming service. The movie’s distinctive mixing of tones and reversion aesthetics are issues that make it actually stand out in a theatrical setting, and will simply enable it to fade into the background within the midst of so many different choices on streaming. Even the rating by Bobby Krlic (aka The Haxan Cloak), which sounds largely like a typical Hollywood rating till you hear nearer and begin to select the odd steel touches to it, might flip into some type of white noise for audiences who merely put the film on within the background. A extra strong theatrical slate of yesteryear used to permit rising filmmakers the room to stretch and mess around with style in the way in which that “Eenie Meanie” does. I can solely hope that the movie makes sufficient of an impression to let Simmons make some extra intriguing experiments (and let Weaving lead some extra motion movies) as an alternative of simply leaving a small cloud of mud behind.

/Movie Score: 7 out of 10

“Eenie Meanie” is streaming on Hulu on August 22, 2025.