Review: "No Sudden Move"

Steven Soderberg has crafted many brilliant films to date and No Sudden Move is more of the same. Like many of his films, it stars a brilliant cast brimming with talent. No Sudden Move is an American noir period crime thriller crafted with heart and plenty of intelligence. Frankly the film is a bit of a throwback as well and a phenomenal genre exercise as it is a bit of an old fashioned film. Filming was set to begin back in April of 2020 right as the pandemic was in full swing and inevitably of course it was delayed while also forcing some actors such as Sebastian Stan, George Clooney and John Cena to walk away from the project. Luckily, such delays and losses didn't negatively affect the film as it is truly captivating. Soderberg's talents behind the camera shines brightly as do the two main stars in Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro. No Sudden Move is also an HBO Max Original as it only appears on the streaming app and currently cannot be found in many movie theaters.

The plot follows small time gangster Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle) schemes to make some money to escape Detroit in 1954, only to be recruited to threaten and watch a family as part of a blackmail scheme along with another gangster Ronald Russo (Benicio del Toro). Quickly the job goes horribly wrong and Goynes realizes that the job was a set up. Goynes and Russo go on a mad dash through all echelons of a race torn and rapidly changing Detroit while cautiously fighting off two rival gangs and the police.

The star of the film is Don Cheadle as he carries the film as the beleaguered Curt Goynes deadset on leaving behind Detroit and all the gangsters inside of it. A powerful mob boss, Watkins (Bill Duke), is hot on his trails after he had been released from jail making Goynes want out even faster. Knowing very little about him initially, the performance and charisma of Cheadle as an actor makes the audience care about him quickly. That by no means takes away from the rest of the cast. Bill Duke chews up scenes he is in as the threatening mob boss Watkins. Benicio del Toro shines as the other small time gangster on the opposite spectrum from Goynes, as he also is looking to escape the life and another major mob boss. The two have a wonderfully nice combative rapport between each other and while Ronald plans to retire, Goynes has much nobler intentions as he wants to pour some of the money he receives back into the black communities that are starving and suffering inside of Detroit. David Harbour is also excellent as the target of the heist and seeing his life turned upside down within the span of one day is fascinating.

Of course the true star of the film is again Steven Soderberg as his work as a director is incredible. Even Ed Solomon's work on the page really makes this film shine. A traditional film would have ended halfway through, but No Sudden Move really ups the ante and features many twists and turns at the halfway mark. The film is very much the kind of film that demands your attention so you don't get lost but it is very difficult to not be through the tremendous performances and dynamic talents of Soderberg and Solomon. Soderberg seems to use plenty of fish eye lens throughout many scenes giving off a sense of distorted reality, making his story seem as if it is something that could happen in reality, but instead it is amplified a bit. The story in fact did happen, but obviously for a film to be a bit more dramatic and entertaining Soderberg and Solomon took liberties to do so.

The film also features a terrific score and uses familiar songs that really are emblematic of the tension in the film as well as the feeling and heart of Detroit, the home of Motown which was founded around the time that the film takes place in. No Sudden Move also features a surprise cameo, which won't feel super surprising once you see it considering the director's closeness with said cameo. To no surprise, the film also touches on plenty of social issues including the tensions between the city's Black and Italian populations and the disastrous consequences of the unchecked automobile industry of that time. While these issues aren't always perfectly woven into the story as well as they could be, they still provide more background to an already rich film. This tactic is also nothing new for Soderberg who frequently plays on real life social issues in his films much like he did in Erin Brockovich. The film is a true tour de force for the entire ensemble cast as well as Soderberg and Solomon.