Movie Review : No Sudden Move (2021)
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Gangster movies have a weird shelf life. They can either destroy everything or go completely unnoticed at the box office, but the good ones always end up finding their audience on the rental/streaming market because I believe we all entertain the secret fantasy of being above the law. They usually present crime as this luxurious or romantic lifestyle one can aspire to. That is not quite the case for Steven Soderbergh new movie No Sudden Move.
I’m not sure how it’ll be remembered. While it isn’t a beacon of original storytelling, it’s not what it says that stands out. It’s how it says it.
No Sudden Move tells the story of Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle) and Ronald Russo (Benicio Del Toro) two lowlives who are hired by local organized crime to kidnap a GM accountant’s family while he snatches secret documents from his boss. Of course, the task is simple enough but instead of leaving them with money, it leaves them with a more difficult task ahead: save their own lives and perhaps make a little money doing it, if possible.
Gangster Ethics
OK, this isn’t the most groundbreaking gangster movie. It’s about two guys who previously didn’t know each other, wanting money from themselves and seeking it from dangerous people. You might’ve not heard the exact same story before, but you’ve heard a variation of it. But if you’re not the type of person who sits in front of movie and scream “ENTERTAIN ME, DAMN IT”, No Sudden Move offers a lot of cool things to think about.
For starters, it had two real antiheroes for protagonists. Not brooding kings with motorcycles and an alcohol problem. Not vengeful vixens who wear high heels and do kung Fu. Two guys you’re not supposed to root for. They kidnap a family at the start of the movie, damn it. Kidnappers are terrible people. They’re not fucking cool. What makes No Sudden Move more stimulating than original is that it offers no obvious moral angle.
You have to use your values to navigate the movie and that is fucking cool.
Curt and Ronald might be assholes, but they’re underdogs. They are put in this impossible situation against their will and their actions are (mostly) motivated by survival. They might be assholes, but they’re also navigating a sea of assholes. No Sudden Moves doesn’t glorify or condemn its protagonists. It’s asking you to. It’s asking you to judge their very American quest for fortune and freedom. Who fucking cares about plot and double crosses?
The Money Story
No Sudden Move is another one of these movies where money is a character. It’s a very common trope in gangster films. A briefcase full of money is often the most important character in this kind of film because it represents the corruption of the American Dream. The money represents not the dream itself, but the opportunity to buy all the dreams. All the situations and the possible futures while it merely purchases you the right to dream about these futures.
It’s a cool idea, but it’s not exactly new. No Sudden Move doesn’t exactly transcend the game in that regard, but I liked that it was about the idea or money and not about money itself. At the start, Curt and Ronald have negative money. There’s a bounty on their head. But the amount of money they’re entitled to keeps rising throughout the movie and it alters their relationship. Not overtly, but Cheadle and Del Toro give it just the right amount of daylight.
Once again, not new. Double crosses were always a thing in Hollywood. But what makes No Sudden Move different is that the idea of the possible future changes from certain death to survival to prosperity to greed throughout the movie. That’s cool and dynamic. It’s a simple idea from veteran screenwriter Ed Solomon, but it keeps his film from stalling or from falling into tired clichés. You never fully trust Curt and Ronald to trust each other or even learn anything.
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So yeah, I thought this movie was interesting. Not the movie groundbreaking or emotionally involving piece of cinema, but it has some real thoughts about out relationship to outlaw romance in cinema and Steven Soderbergh’s direction surfs the line between cartoon and gritty well enough to depend on one or the other. It feels like the cautionary tale that it is. I wouldn’t say it’s a can’t miss movie, but nerds like me will have fun picking it apart.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably a nerd too.
