Buffaloed (2019)

Deutch is a dynamo, eating up every scene with the fervor of a Buffalonian going at a plate of wings, perfecting the compelling Peg in all her manic suit, sneaker, and half-bun glory (the details are just delicious–see the long socks + high heels; sign-tap leaving prison). Fortunately, the film doesn’t fumble its fantastic lead, serving up a simple and steady crime-dramedy script with just the right amount of good feels and directorial spice (the slow motion run across town was a great intro).

7

Terminator Genisys (2015)

It was around the third trip through time that the twisty plot crossed the line from “huh, interesting!” to “wut.” but at least we had Simmons’ wild-eyed O’Brien to add some comedic flavour to the mess (“Goddamn time traveling robots covering up their goddamn tracks!”). The main trio are engaging enough to take us through the wild action-adventure, though the romance is cringe-y and still on the shelf (cuz I didn’t buy it. Heh) and Clarke’s strong Sarah is often undermined (“Protect my Sarah”).

5

Jack Reacher (2012)

The cockiness of the titular character is often roll-your-eyes annoying (especially knowing this is a “Tom Cruise Production”) but it is occasionally charming in a cheesy sort of way (“Don’t need it”), and there’s a certain fun in knowing for certain your hero will get the job done–it’s just a matter of how, and to that point, the action and investigation scenes are all well done and make up a solid story with just the right amount of humour (mostly Duvall) and political intrigue added in.

7

A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)

John McClane travels to Russia to help out his seemingly wayward son, Jack, only to discover that Jack is a CIA operative working undercover, causing the father and son to team up against underworld forces. (IMDb)

Sorry Skip, your repeated “I’m on vacation” one-liner doesn’t cut it; John wasn’t on vacation and if he really was such a reluctant hero he wouldn’t have driven off bridges and over cars when he still had no idea what was going on. A protagonist has never been more annoying (the eye-rolling father-son dynamics don’t help), nor a plot more generic and lazily written (hello cliche Russian villains–the carrot chewing scene is unbearable). The helicopter crash at the end looked pretty cool though.

5/10 (Poor)