Joe Carnahan -- director of the new Netflix thriller The Rip, to which I will return -- makes great thrillers. The best of them are full of 1970s-style grit, stubble, and cynicism. I knew from seeing Narc theatrically, first-run back in 2002, and recognizing Jason Patric's moustache as a conscious nod to Elliott Gould's in Busting, that he was a filmmaker after my heart. Man that film came as a surprise... felt like it was straight out of 1973; he hasn't gone quite so "Full-70s" since, has blended in more contemporary elements, but the fact that he could and did make a film so steeped in the aesthetic of that time... I have not forgotten...
In fact, Carnahan reminds me a lot of (Busting director) Peter Hyams: a superb cinematic craftsman who takes pride in making crisp, smart, unpretentious genre cinema for grownups. It's still "just" genre cinema, mostly, but sometimes a great genre movie is like a really fantastic hamburger: it's exactly what you need in the moment, satisfying in a way that a fancier meal at a more expensive restaurant simply would not be. The comparison is only superficial, since that I can detect, unlike Hyams, Carnahan lacks "signature moves" or specific visual/ stylistic flourishes: Hyams' films almost always have a gripping, protracted foot chase in them (Busting, The Star Chamber, The Presidio), and often have scenes where characters negotiate a dark area with the help of a single powerful light (Outland, The Relic). But at this point (sorry, Mr. Hyams) Carnahan has made more good movies than Hyams (and fewer bad ones). He's made more good ones/ fewer bad ones than Walter Hill, too! (though none quite as good as Southern Comfort).
I have not seen everything that Joe Carnahan has done, but here are my very favourite of his films, pretty much in order, with the best at the top.
1. The Grey. An existentially-minded wilderness survival thriller about the confrontation with death and the refusal to give up that packs a potent punch. I hope it did Liam Neeson some good out of acting in it, granted him some catharsis, bolstered his resolve to fight on, given the loss of his immensely talented and lovely wife shortly before the film was made; his character in The Grey also loses a wife, though I guess that's technically a bit of a spoiler, since you don't really figure that out until near the end (but we've all seen the film, haven't we?). Yes, I realize the wolves in the film -- about plane crash survivors fighting off a pack of them in the north -- don't act much like real wolves, but that's kind of how it goes for wolves, generally, in cinema. I still liked watching them, even if they were, uh, "fictionally portrayed." Plus, I mean, I don't turn to survival horror cinema to learn about real animal behaviour. Like, grizzlies aren't known for wrestling Lelsie Nielsen, either, but I still love The Day of the Animals.
The Grey is not only my favourite Carnahan movie, it's in my top five "wilderness survival"/ outdoor ordeal horror movies, in last place after Southern Comfort, Rituals, Clearcut, and Deliverance. (Don't make me explain putting Deliverance fourth; it's personal, not aesthetic, as Deliverance is clearly the most objectively important of those films). Those are four hard-to-beat films, so fifth place is still badge-of-honour territory in this corner of the cinematic universe. And The Grey is actually a notch above The Edge, though I'm fond of that one too; that's also one to see, if you've missed it.
2. The A-Team. Disclaimer: I have no investment in the TV series that this film adapts; I don't think I ever saw a single episode as a kid (I just wasn't into that kind of TV show). But I loved this film; I don't remember much about it -- it passed through me like the popcorn I ate watching it, but that only means I can watch it again anytime and still be amused. It's maybe the most trivial confection imaginable, but... put it this way, the tank scene alone is more inventive and hilarious than anything that occurs in 99% of all other action movies ever made (do yourself a favour and read no more about it, if you haven't seen it; just find the film and watch it). That counts for a lot of my love of the movie, in fact -- that one scene; but the whole movie is also fast paced, funny, crisply edited, and witty -- what? And yeah, it's a fucking A-Team movie, what of it?
If anyone ever accuses me of being a film snob again -- it's been awhile, but still -- I will tell them I have seen this movie twice and plan to see it again someday (maybe soon!). That oughta shut'em up.
3. Wheelman. Sure, Carnahan only co-produced it, unlike the previous two, which he wrote, directed, and in the case of The Grey, also produced, but this film is just great and I figure some of you won't have seen it, so I'm sticking it here nonetheless. It's a 70s-referencing car-chase film that takes a cue from Walter Hill's The Driver, but also has a bit of Richard Stark in it, given how stripped down and mean it is. Almost everything in it takes place in cars, and the "car stuff" is superbly photographed and edited. I liked this film way better than I did Drive (though I did LIKE Drive, don't get me wrong). And Frank Grillo is great in the lead, co-starring with two of the most talented supporting actors out there, Garret Dillahunt and Shea Wigham. Think it's on Netflix or Prime or something. If you like car-centric crime movies, put it on the to-watch list.
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4. Boss Level. The idea of a character having to repeat the same challenges over and over again until he solves a problem has been done several times in cinema at this point, probably starting with Groundhog Day, and has been well exploited in action-oriented science fiction since then, too (Source Code is another good one, though I think there's a Tom Cruise film that predates it along the same lines). But even though, obviously, Carnahan and company are thinking more of video games than the Eternal Recurrence of the Same, Boss Level is still the most Nietzschean of these films, and made me laugh aloud at its protagonist's multiple deaths (Frank Grillo, again, by the way; he's kind of a budget Bradley Cooper, but I enjoy his work). Plus I have a guilty fondness for Mel Gibson, always have. I don't want to socialize with him or be married to him or listen to his religious or political views; but I always enjoy watching him work. Even though it made me think of Nietzsche, it's a very light film; but it is also a highly entertaining, energetically-crafted one.
5. Narc. I have only seen this twice and to be honest, don't TOTALLY love the film -- it ends just a little too abruptly, like it's impatient to wrap things up, so that like many crime films, I like the first half (the set up) better than the second (the resolution); but I love that it is the only 21st century film that really gets the vibe of 1970s American cop cinema right. Narc cranks the cynicism and despair to levels unseen in theatres since 1976 (has great dialogue, too, hardboiled, stylized, but totally realistic; Carnahan must have spent a lot of time with cops). I still like Busting, the film it reminds me of, more, but I'll take Narc over Training Day any day. Some critics say its his best film -- maybe I'd rank it higher on third viewing, but I just remember feeling vaguely let down by the second half the first time through... it was better the second time though; and it's favourite Jason Patric film... best 70s moustache in a 21st century film...
I am going to skip #6 for a second, since I'm going in order, to quickly mention 7, 8, 9, and 10, which are -- maybe not totally in order, but roughly speaking -- Pride and Glory, Smokin' Aces, Cop Shop, and (again, production-only, but still) the remake of Point Blank, which deserved a lot more love than it got. I confess that this is also (besides #6) also now a near complete list of Carnahan films I've seen; I never got around to Stretch, haven't seen Not Without Hope yet, am not remotely interested in Shadow Force (which sounds like a real stinker), and, sorry, I didn't care much about the Death Wish remake, which I am tempted not to lay at Carnahan's door, anyhow, since, one gathers sizeable changes were made to his script; watch Kevin Bacon in Death Sentence, instead (or, like, the original Charles Bronson film, though that's a pretty ugly, crude piece of filmmaking). Interviews with Carnahan suggest that a lot of potential got wasted with Death Wish, that his screenplay was a lot more interesting than what Eli Roth ultimately ended up doing with it. It was the last film Bruce Willis acted in that I saw theatrically, though he did do a couple of other high-profile things before he disappeared into low-budget direct-to-video crap, as his health began to decline. It's not every day that an actor's performance in a film makes you think, "I preferred Charles Bronson's," y'know?
But enough: let's get back to #6, which I just watched on Netflix:
#6: The Rip. I don't want to say that much about The Rip. It's a clever, tense, unique film that reminds me enough of the "serious" crime movies that Ben Affleck makes (The Town, but better yet, Gone Baby Gone) that it makes perfect sense that, hey look, Ben Affleck is actually in it! Matt Damon too. But are they going to shoot each other?
I am not going to tell you if they do, but you will be wondering about exactly that question at a couple of junctures in the film, which means this is an interesting, unexpected use of these two actors (I am a fan of neither but nor do I hate them; I just kind of accept that they're out there). Again, there's a lot of 70s cop movie grit and cynicism here, though nowhere near the level you see in Narc. The plot involves a group of cops who get tipped off to a stash house where a cartel has a vast amount of money hidden in the walls. But can all of them be trusted? Can their bosses be trusted? Will they all kill each other fighting over the money, or will the Cartel take care of that? And what's Matt Damon up to, exactly?
I don't want to give away much more -- again, I did like the first half more than the second, but as I say, I almost always do with these kinds of films. Climactic action scenes usually bore me a bit, y'know? And the chase scenes are on the generic side, with this one, especially compared to Wheelman (my late friend Thomas Ziorjen once observed that he hated car chases in movies in much the same way that he hated drum solos in music). Plus I also had made some pretty good guesses as to how the plot would play out...
But -- hey, you want a decent cop thriller? It's my sixth favourite Carnahan, nowhere near the top of the list, but even with a few quibbles, I enjoyed it immensely, as did Erika. I won't be THINKING about it much, think it may even cheat a bit at times, and I sure don't plan to buy it, should it get a physical media release, but it was thoroughly enjoyable in a low-expectation, "what's-on-Netflix" way, which I guess I'm now ruining by praising it. It's also the second-highest rated original film in Netflix history, after Jeremy Saulnier's Rebel Ridge. (Which is even better; note that Saulnier just finished shooting his newest feature in Vancouver).
And here's a fun reason to watch the film: there's a smart, unique deal that has been struck that will actually reward the makers if it does well. From the Wiki on the movie: "The contract between Artists Equity and Netflix is notable because the streaming service agreed to pay a one-time bonus to the 1,200 people who worked on the film if the movie meets certain performance benchmarks within its first 90 days. This is a departure from Netflix's usual approach of paying a single, upfront fee to talent."
So if enough people watch this film ASAP, 1200 workers will get bonuses! If it were a bad movie, that wouldn't matter much and I wouldn't be recommending it, but it's a well-crafted little thriller. If you like the idea for people getting a nice bit of extra cash for having made it, check out The Rip, now streaming on Netflix, while it is still within the 90-day window. Oh, and besides Affleck and Damon, Stephen Yeun (Glen from The Walking Dead) is in it, as are Kyle Chandler, Scott Adkins, and the lead actress from One Battle After Another, Teyana Taylor, who has a very interesting charisma. There's also a small role for an actor named Sal Lopez, who looked somewhat familiar; turns out he's done a couple of John Sayles films (I don't remember Go For Sisters much but I liked him in Silver City). I don't recognize much else in his long filmography, but one other film leaps out: back in 1987, Lopez appeared in Full Metal Jacket!
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