Breakthrough is a wonderful drama about faith and miracles.
Director: Roxann Dawson
Writer: Grant Nieporte (Screenplay) Joyce Smith (Book)
Starring: Chrissy Metz, Josh Lucas, Topher Grace, Mike Colter, Marcel Ruiz, Dennis Haysbert
Plot: When her 14-year-old son drowns in a lake, a faithful mother prays for him to come back from the brink of death and be healed.
Runtime: 1 Hour 56 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Breakthrough starts as we meet kind friendly mother Joyce Smith (Metz). Who has always been around to help the community with her husband Brian (Lucas) and their adopted son John (Ruiz).
When John is involved in an accident, he impossibly survives drowning in the lake. After Joyce begs for him to recover. Leaving him in a position where nothing medically says John should survive, but somehow the prays work to bring him back.
Thoughts on Breakthrough
Breakthrough is a faith based drama about the real life accident involving the family. How their devoted faith made a miracle happen for one family against every medical case. This will always be one that tugs upon the heartstrings. It looks to put the heavy focus on religion being the thing that could somehow save a life. While many people could question everything about how this movie unfolds. It is important to let the faith side of the story making sense.
The performances in the film are great. The characters needing to question their own faith to make the most of what is going on with in the film. This will see even the strongest characters break down about what happens.
Plot: A frustrated office worker discovers that he is the son of a professional assassin and that he shares his father’s superhuman killing abilities.
Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Wanted starts when officer worker Wesley (McAvoy) believes his life is going nowhere, he finds himself targeted by an assassin Cross (Kretschmann). He is saved by Fox (Jolie) who introduces him to a secret fraternity of assassins run by Sloan (Freeman).
As Wesley starts his training, he learns physics aren’t what they seem, and he must train to defy them. Once he is trained, he will start working with the assassins before getting a chance to kill the man who killed his father.
Verdict on Wanted
Wanted is an action thriller that is based on a comic book movie. It will give us a typical origin story, as we follow Wesley as he enters into this world. the typical montage training and preparing all work well.
The story does keep everything personal for Wesley, which will intensify his motivation to improve. Even if there is a twist in the story, leading us in a different direction than we would have expected.
The action is slick, with the use of the slow-motion bullet speed for the bending shots, the unique appeal of this movie. The final shot out is intense bringing a relentless feel to what has changed.
The performances are great with McAvoy taking the nerdy figure and turning him into a badass. Angelina Jolie is the badass assassin that is as deadly as she is gorgeous and Morgan Freeman as the mentor leading is calmness through and through.
Where to Watch: Wanted is available on Netflix and Sky now.
Final Thoughts – Wanted is an all-out action romp, never backing down or caring about collateral damage.
Plot: A storm rages. A young girl is kidnapped. Her mother teams up with the mysterious woman next door to pursue the kidnapper, a journey that tests their limits and exposes shocking secrets from their pasts.
Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Lou starts when a storm rages on the island community, Lou (Janney) is preparing to end her life. While her neighbour and tenant Hannah (Smollett) is trying to keep things together for her daughter Vee (Bateman).
When Vee’s father Philip (Marshall-Green) arrives in the area, he takes Vee. Hannah turns to Lou for help, as the pair head out into the storm, through the woodland area to rescue Vee. This sees Lou using her past skills to track the ruthless soldier through the woodland storm.
Verdict on Lou
Characters
Lou is a reclusive woman living off the grid with her dog. The locals know her but know to avoid her. She is an expert survivalist who uses her skills to help her tenant get her kidnapped daughter back. This is a broken character, one that has been through and done horrible things in the past.
Hannah has been in hiding with her daughter, and she rents off Lou, as the pair try to have a normal life. After Vee is kidnapped, she turns to Lou and joins her in tracking her missing daughter. She isn’t used to the typical fight in the open wilderness, learning as she goes along.
Philip is Vee’s father, he uses his skills to take his daughter back, kidnapping her during a storm. He has a skilled past that makes him a deadly weapon.
Vee is Hannah’s daughter, she becomes the pawn in the game between Philip and Hannah, with both wanting to give her a great life.
Performances
Allison Janney is brilliant in this role, continuing to show there is life in the older actors as action stars. Jurnee Smollett is great as the woman who is trying her hardest to give her daughter a fresh start, her character evolves along the way. Logan Marshall-Green is always great as the creepier villainous figure in any movie, this is no different.
Story
The story follows two women who must put their differences aside to track down one’s kidnapped daughter. It takes them through the woodland area during a storm, as secrets about them both slowly start to get revealed.
This is a good story, as it puts an unlikely pair together through difficult conditions to save a kidnapped child. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way, that keeps everything feeling fresh, even if certain ones feel like you could see them coming.
It ends up keeping everything simple without needing to make anything complicated. Being everything we needed in the story to keep us on edge.
Themes
Lou is an action thriller that uses the storm to create horrendous travelling conditions. The woodland to make the terrain difficult to navigate if you aren’t an expert. When it comes to the action, we get some good fight sequences, showing off the different character’s skills in combat.
Where to Watch: Lou is available on Netflix now.
Final Thoughts – Lou is a tense action thriller, with plenty of twists along the way.
