Movie Review: 'The Rhythm Section' Dreary Action Movie Rehash

The Rhythm Section is an intensely boring action thriller that takes the supremely charismatic Blake Lively and somehow renders her bland. It seems impossible based off of Lively’s performances in The Shallows and A Simple Favor that any movie could dim her star appeal but somehow, The Rhythm Section does just that. This thriller is a dismal, dreary affair that fails to capitalize on a revenge premise and especially on a cast that includes Blake Lively, Jude Law and Sterling K Brown.

The Rhythm Section stars Blake Lively as Stephanie. Once a promising young woman with the loving support of her parents, younger sister, and younger brother, we find Stephanie working as a sex worker and appearing to have a drug problem. Stephanie’s family died in a plane explosion three years earlier than the story being told and she’s not taken the loss well. Stephanie’s life turns around when she’s approached by a journalist who claims that the plane explosion was not an accident.

Don’t get too attached to the journalist, he’s barely listed as a cast member and isn’t around long enough to make much of an impression. The journalist exists solely as a plot device to bring Lively’s grief stricken waif into the sphere of Jude Law’s cold blooded former MI6 agent. Law lost his intelligence position as he became consumed with the case of the plane explosion and he’s been hiding in the Scottish hillside for the past three years, feeding intelligence to the journalist.

When Stephanie and Law’s Iain come together, it’s a very uneasy alliance. Iain is unwilling to break with his anonymous existence while Stephanie is desperate to learn how to kill so that she can seek retribution for her family against the faceless terrorists that make for an all too convenient villain. I say that but you can probably predict what will come with whomever the bad guy really is.

I don’t want to say too much about Sterling K Brown’s character in The Rhythm Section. It’s in part because I genuinely don’t understand much of what his character does or why but also because, even though I don’t think the movie is very good, you might still want to see it and I respect you, dear reader, and I will not spoil anything that might come as a surprise for you in the course of this story. Suffice it to say, this is not your lovable pal from This is Us, Sterling K Brown, but a grittier and less interesting version of actor Sterling K Brown.

The Rhythm Section was directed by Reed Marano and Marano is a fine director who, with the aid of cinematographer Sean Bobbit, captures some striking scenes even as the plot is grinding its gears. Marano herself has a background in cinematography so it’s no surprise that the film nails some visual elements. Unfortunately, the script by Mark Burnell is deeply lacking and some of the directorial choices are downright off-putting.

For instance, as much as I praised both director and cinematographer for their strong visuals, there are multiple scenes in The Rhythm Section, especially Jude Law’s introduction and training scenes with Lively that are way too dark. A scene where Law tries to teach Lively hand to hand combat is so bad I wanted to ask the theater projectionist if perhaps the theater were not showing the movie at a proper light.

Poor Blake Lively is supposed to be portraying a character who is conflicted over her desire for revenge and her actual ability to end a life. Instead, she comes off as a character we find nearly impossible to endure as she repeatedly and tearfully fails in her missions in a fashion that isn’t so much revealing of her conflicted nature as it is revealing of this film’s poor conception of this character and how to satisfyingly portray her.

I get the sense that the filmmakers are going for gritty realism and are trying to avoid the recent cliche of female characters who flip a switch from mousy every-woman to murderous badass. Unfortunately, the film’s compromise between gritty and realistic drama and action revenge movie comes off as soporific and dull. The decision needed to be made that either she was a badass or she was in over her head and the film wants it both ways and fails.