Plot: A black market marijuana dealer tries to make one final score before getting squeezed out of the business when cannabis becomes legal.
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Last Deal starts as we meet black market marijuana dealer Vincent (Molinari). He has the operation down perfectly with a team completing all his work for him. As business continues to grow, Vincent finds himself facing a massive problem, the legalization of cannabis.
After failing to get himself a licence to sell, he looks to complete one more big score before being pushed out of business. However, new competition has grown in the area, as they go against Vincent and his business.
Verdict on The Last Deal
The Last Deal is a crime thriller following a drug dealer that sees his business in trouble with the legalization of cannabis. He must fight back to save his business, as rivals look to take over his business, using force to get their way.
This is a crime thriller that lacks any real tension. It presents us with an unlikeable character to follow. In a world where he has become outdated, proving the legalization caused other problems. It ends going down the same path nearly every other movie on the same subject does and offering nothing original to the table.
Final Thoughts – The Last Deal is a flat thriller offering nothing new.
Writer: David m Gutel, Rolland Jacks, Emilio Palame (Screenplay)
Cast
Curran Barker
Kyle DeCamp
Greg Sandler
Brandon Ruiter
Jeremy Staple
Plot: Set in Southern California in 1947, the toe-tapping Knights Of Swing follows a young group of high school jazz musicians whose humble beginnings in one of the member’s garage blossoms into a complete Big Band. Through the lens of band director Mr. Herb Miller and the young musicians of the Knights of Swing, we learn that for them, it’s not about race, gender, or ability – it’s about the gifts of their cultures effortlessly blending through music. Their journey is truly healing and inspiring.
Runtime: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Knights of Swing starts when a group of high school students in 1947 America look to start a jazz band. Gifford (Barker), Nolan (DeCamp), Conrad (Staple), Kenny (Ruiter) and Duke (Sadler) turn to one of their teachers Mr Miller (Neil) for assistants. As the band comes together they look for female singers, holding try-outs to find the perfect fit.
The band continues to grow, bringing people together in the aftermath of war. However, as they grow, more people try to stop them. they don’t accept the mixing of races and look to bring down the band before they get their big break.
Verdict on Knights of Swing
Knights of Swing is a music drama following an unlikely group of high school coming together to make a jazz band. It sees them overcoming prejudiced behaviour in the community to change the minds of the people in the town. This gets to show how music brought a town together in the aftermath of the war. A town that became broken because of the lasting effects of what happened in the war.
The movie is completely feel-good and is about bringing people together. Everything on this side of things is wonderful to watch and if you are a fan of jazz, you will enjoy the tunes. However, the movie does feel slightly too long, clocking in at 2 and half hours. For the core story, it doesn’t need to be this long to get the same message over. The performances are strong throughout, but nobody really stands out above the rest.
Final Thoughts – Knights of Swing is a fun musical drama for jazz lovers of the world.
Plot: Follows a new couple and their families, who find themselves examining modern love and family dynamics amidst clashing cultures, societal expectations and generational differences.
Runtime: 1 Hour 57 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: You People starts as we meet Jewish man Ezra (Hill), who works in finance, with dreams of hosting his podcast going big. His parents Shelley (Louis-Dreyfus) and Arnold (Duchovny) are constantly pushing him to achieve more in his life. elsewhere, black Muslim Amira (London) has been struggling in love, always facing pressure from her father Akbar (Murphy) to only date within their race and religion.
When the two randomly meet, they start to fall in love. The problem comes when they need to meet the parents. Leading to them needing to break down their beliefs to accept other cultures. This sees Erza and Amira needing to spend time with each other parents to become welcome to the family.
Verdict on You People
You People is a romantic comedy following two people from different cultural backgrounds that fall in love. They are happy to accept their own differences, but getting approval and acceptance from each other parents becomes difficult. We follow how they try to fix their problems so they can have a happy life together.
This movie looks to bring the ‘Meet the Parents’ formula to bigger cultural differences. It brings tone-deaf characters who don’t understand the problems the other cultures have been through. This gets to dive into how much children will go through if parents don’t understand the things they are going through.
The performances in the movie are great though, Jonah Hill handles the serious side of everything well, even if his jokes can feel forced. Lauren London is wonderful too, with her character biting her tongue throughout the film. Eddie Murphy brings a calm performance one we have needed to see from him to prove he could still be a major player in comedies.
Where to Watch: You People is available on Netflix Now.
Final Thoughts – You People is a more culturally impactful Meet the Parents.
Plot: Based on the true-life experiences of Dave Fishwick; ‘Bank of Dave’ tells the story of how a working-class Burnley man and self-made millionaire fought to set up a community bank.
Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Bank of Dave starts when lawyer Hugh (Fry) gets sent from London to Burnley. In Burnley, self-made millionaire David Fishwick (Kinnear) wants to open up a new community bank. He has been helping his community for years now, giving back to the community to create opportunities established banks refuse money to.
When Hugh learns the good nature of Dave’s plan, he goes forward with the idea of setting up the bank. However, Sir Charles (Bonneville) doesn’t want to let a new bank step on the multi-billionaire business. Hugh must use his own skills as a lawyer to help make this a possibility.
Verdict on Bank of Dave
Characters
Hugh is a lawyer from London assigned to assist in Burnley as a businessman who wants to open a bank. He must use his neutral status to advise him on the best course of action and prepare him for what he might face. Hugh isn’t used to going that North and sees a different point of view on life, getting attached to the small town.
Dave Fishwick is a self-made millionaire operating in Burnley. He has always used his money to help the community, creating jobs and helping improve the finances in the area. Dave wants to challenge the establishment by creating his own bank, so he can help more people who get rejected by the big banks in the country. He is one of the nicest, friendliest people you would ever meet.
Elsewhere, in the supporting characters we have Sir Charles who is against the Bank of Dave. Using his power to make sure it doesn’t happen. Alexandra, Dave’s niece whom Hugh takes a shine to with her own vision of what Dave wants to offer.
Performances
Joel Fry is excellent in the leading role, being the outsider in the world he isn’t used to. Showing nervous traits at times, despite knowing he is skilled enough to get the job done. Rory Kinnear is the star of the show, he brings out an outstanding character. One that is so welcoming in everything he does, confident and a character you root for from the first moment you meet him.There is also an excellent supporting cast that gets plenty of laughs along the way.
Story
The story follows an ambitious self-made millionaire that wants to open a bank for his local community. We follow a lawyer who is assigned to advise him, only for him to understand and respect the idea. This leads to the battle against the banking system to let the bank open.
Bank of Dave is based on the real story behind the establishment of the country’s smallest bank in Burnley. It highlights how big businesses have become distant from their customers. Showing that banks don’t do enough to support smaller communities in the country. While the fight to make it happens feels rather generic, it is told in a fun enjoyable way. One that quickly establishes Dave as an all-around nice guy you want to support.
Where to Watch: Bank of Dave is available on Netflix.
Final Thoughts – Bank of Dave is a brilliant, enjoyable, and heartfelt movie.
Plot: The untold story of India’s most audacious and daring covert operation in the heart of Pakistan.
Runtime: 2 Hours 9 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Mission Majnu starts as we meet Tariq Ali (Malhotra) an Indian spy operating in Pakistan. He meets Nasreen (Mandanna) a blind woman and gets married to maintain his cover. Tariq’s mission is to learn whether Pakistan is also making Nuclear weapons after India presents their own to the world.
Once the government is overthrown, Tariq must speed up his process to learn the location of the nuclear test before it is too late. However, his cover is at risk, as he has really fallen in love, breaking the rules of his operation.
Verdict on Mission Majnu
Mission Majnu is an action history movie following the intense mission to uncover nuclear potential in Pakistan. It sees an Indian spy going undercover in Pakistan, falling in love along the way, and trying to prevent a deadly war.
This is a movie that shows us a behind-the-scenes operation to stop a very real threat in the 1970s. The potential for nuclear conflict had never been so high in the aftermath of World War II and two warring neighbouring countries could cause a global disaster. Seeing the operation unfold is interesting and shows how spies completed a mission.
The love story does feel like it is added to try and bring the countries together in the world of the spy. This also makes it hard to see which parts of the story are real or changed to make the movie more entertaining. In the performances, Sidharth Malhotra and Rashmika Mandanna are both great. As Sidharth handles more of the action-heavy moments throughout the film.
Where to Watch: Mission Majnu is available on Netflix now.
Final Thoughts – Mission Majnu is a slick action thriller based on a historical secret mission.
Plot: On an uninhabitable 22nd-century Earth, the outcome of a civil war hinges on cloning the brain of an elite soldier to create a robot mercenary.
Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Jung_E starts as we learn about the deadly war that raged over the Earth, making it uninhabitable. Sang-Hoon (Kyung-soo) has been running an experiment using Seohyun (Soo-yeon) skills. This sees them trying to create an elite soldier Jung_E (Hyun-joo) a fallen soldier to fight back against the robotic army.
The problems start appearing when the robot can’t get past a certain part of the simulation. As Sang-Hoon pushes for improvement, he pushes the project beyond anything it has managed before. However, when the truth comes out about what the company wants with the project, Seohyun has her own plans for it.
Verdict onJung_E
Jung_E is a sci-fi action movie following a project being put together to create an elite robotic soldier. We are taken to a futuristic world where people live on an uninhabitable Earth. Following the moral discussions about whether to continue pushing for results using a human mind.
The world created for this story is interesting, even if we don’t dive as deep as we could into it. Our snippet into what has happened in the future shows us how far people will go to solve a conflict. Even if deep down, this becomes a movie about the relationship between a mother and daughter.
There is also a discussion about how much humans should rely on A.I. Showing how businesses will always have their own ideas for what is being produced. This ends up being an enjoyable movie, with brilliant special effects to create the world we are sucked into. The performances in the film are strong too. Kim Hyun-joo gets to bring combat skills, while Ryu Kyung-Soo brings a business psychotic to life.
Where to Watch: Jung_E is available on Netflix now.
Final Thoughts – Jung_E is a great futuristic experience.
Plot: Bezos chronicles the true-life story of Jeff Bezos-a humble yet awkward entrepreneur on his mission to create Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company, and turning himself into the richest man in the world.
Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Bezos the Beginning starts as we meet successful businessman Jeff Bezos (Gutierrez). He has built a reputation as one of the youngest successes on Wall Street but doesn’t feel satisfied. Jeff comes up with the idea of using the growing internet to build a book-selling website.
He is joined by his wife MacKenzie (Mitchell) as the pair start searching for investment. This dream doesn’t seem as easy when Jeff starts meeting obstacles along the way. However, he does become one of the richest men in the world.
Verdict onBezos the Beginning
Bezos the Beginning is a drama that explores the early days of Jeff Bezos’s world-changing business Amazon. It shows how he had a visionary idea for an online business after seeing the massive increase in internet activity.
This is a movie that wants to grab ‘The Social Network’ ability to show the birth of a massive website. However, the film ends up feeling more like a drama set around a documentary. There is no flare moment that makes it stand out. It doesn’t feel like the big moments mean much and portrays Jeff Bezos as more of a reckless figure. This is one movie that sells itself on only being the beginning, which isn’t the most interesting part of the bigger story.
Final Thoughts – Bezos the Beginning misses all the exciting parts of a much bigger story.
Plot: A pilot finds himself caught in a war zone after he’s forced to land his commercial aircraft during a terrible storm.
Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Plane starts when pilot Brodie Torrance (Butler) and captaining a plane back across the Pacific Ocean to celebrate New Year’s. Hoping to make it home in time to be with his daughter. Over the ocean they hit a storm, forcing them into an emergency landing on a remote island.
Believing the landing was the most dangerous part, the small group of passengers wait for rescue. However, they learn they have landed in dangerous territory. Brodie must team up with mysterious criminal Louis Gaspare (Colter) to rescue his passengers and escape a small militia army on the island.
Verdict on Plane
Characters
Brodie Torrance is a widowed pilot looking for an easy flight home to be with his daughter. He is dedicated to making sure the flight is smooth and has the ability to calm any situation. When the plane gets into trouble, he remains calm to land it in the safest possible way. Brodie maintains his calm as he works with his co-pilot on options. However, his past in the RAF comes in his favour when he must rescue his passengers from a small army.
Louis Gaspare is a late arrival, being taken back for a murder trial. He doesn’t say much until he sees the danger everyone is facing. Louis teams up with Brodie to complete the rescue attempt, showing a much more brutal side to his operations.
Elsewhere in the cast, we get flight attendants, passengers and co-pilot who wait for Brodie to make decisions. Away from the situation crisis manager Scarsdale looks for solutions with the owner of the company. This bit is more interesting than it sounds for such a small set of characters.
However, much like what Top Gun Maverick did, they keep the enemy almost nameless, but ruthless. We see their threat with their brutal attacks, but they never feel like more than extra bodies to eliminate.
Performances
Gerard Butler was built for these types of roles, a strong action lead that has a haunting problem in his life. He has been doing them for so long now, he doesn’t ever put a foot wrong. Mike Colter is entertaining as the quiet criminal, that probably didn’t do anything that serious, despite it being suggested. Elsewhere in the cast, Tony Goldwyn steals the scenes in the situation room. Everybody else does what is needed to make the generic supporting characters create problems or solutions.
Story
The story follows a late-night flight across the Pacific Ocean that comes into complication through a storm, forcing an emergency landing. However, that isn’t the end of the situation, as they have landed on a militia-controlled island, leading the pilot and a criminal to team up to rescue the passengers.
This is action 101, you create a situation that needs somebody with a military history needing to step up to do the right thing. It creates a militia that has countless numbers, versus a smaller number saving innocent lives. Nothing in the story gets overcomplicated and it ends up being an entertaining story.
On the outside looking in, there are two big questions. First, shouldn’t the pilot have the final say on a flight plan, these do get answered in the movie. Secondly, it has a message about a low number of passenger flights. A subject being brought up in many conversations about climate change.
Themes
Plane is an action thriller that gives us an intense landing sequence. Using the very real tragedies as potential outcomes for the plane. When it comes to the action scenes on the ground, director Jean-Francois Richet chooses to use single-shot sequences making everything feel a lot more intense for Brodie.
The remote island helps with the settings, showing how technology can be used in a sudden rescue mission needed to be completed. Despite the operations room not being involved too much, it was interesting to see how a crisis team would operate too.
Final Thoughts – Plane is an excellent action-packed blast.
Plot: A team of thieves use a drug that allows them to trade consciousnesses with their future selves in order to steal tomorrow’s secrets.
Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Tomorrow Job starts as Lee (Schumacher), Finn (Duffy) and Martin (Gombas) complete heist jobs. They use a drug that lets them go into the consciousness of their future selves. When the latest job goes wrong, Lee and Finn must put together a team to clear all their debts.
The team put together, the job set out, they must overcome a new challenge, one the drug didn’t place upon them. They must work together to solve the problem and get away with the heist they were planning on completing.
Verdict on The Tomorrow Job
The Tomorrow Job is a crime thriller that follows a group of thieves that use a drug. This drug lets them move forward one day into the consciousness of their future selves. They look to complete one last job to get out of the business, only to find themselves dealing with a new threat and their minds starting to spiral out.
The story does give us an interesting heist movie, it unfolds everything you would imagine. Where this one stands out from the rest, is by using time travel. Even if it only shows the characters being able to jump one day ahead. The idea is filled twists and turns, just like you would imagine any heist movie to be. You will be kept guessing throughout the film, which is delightful to watch.
The performances in the film work very well, Grant Schumacher, Caitlin Duffy and Ariella Mastroianni create a clever team in the movie. One that feels like a naturally created team chemistry.
