American Ultra (Nima Nourizadeh) [Archive]

Henry Gale

08-20-2015, 03:20 AM

Adventureland it is not. But most importantly, not quality-wise or making use of the delectable, natural chemistry of Eisenberg and Stewart. Not to mention it also finds ways to kinda waste Walton Goggins, Tony Hale and even Connie Britton despite a fairly hefty amount of screentime. Like the cast (especially the leads and Leguizamo), a lot of stuff in the movie is very solid, but there just isn't enough of it given the proper opportunities to shine through to consistently carry it.

It also seems to have two modes: Stylish and fun, and then style-less and plot-driven. (Usually with a line drawn directly between the journey of the leads and the CIA side of the story.) And it's stunning when it is so boring to watch visually and momentum-wise because it comes from Nourizadeh, who's time in the music video and commercial work made for some of the most grabbingly memorable of its era. Sure, it's easier to keep something flashy and engaging for under five minutes without needing to develop a significant arc or characters, but his sensibilities seems to have been drained for the job of delivering a movie that isn't nearly as fun or funny as it should be. There are glimmers of exciting, tickling ideas and moments of dialogue in Max Landis' script that poke through on screen to give a glimpse of the tonal piece it could've been. But somehow it just isn't there. And even more dishearteningly, for certain stretches, that version of the movie does step up, making it significantly disappointing when it can't manage to. I love the moments in Eisenberg's head (particularly one squarely dealing with his relationship to Stewart), I was jolted by his out-of-expected-physicality-and-personality (but eventually not out-of-character) fights and shootouts, and there are these little cute, knowingly silly thematic reoccurring analogies that work to shape the characters' and the movie's personality very nicely, all coming together to lead to a proposal sequence that's the movie's absolute peak. But then there are a lot of periods where it just kinda sits there against all odds of what's at play on screen.

As a late night curiosity watch a few months from now, the cast and certain sequences really do deliver when they need to, and it can definitely be moderately enjoyed for those aspects and the more assuredly esoteric elements it creates. But as a current, late-summer trip to the movies, it's probably better to just make use of the ticking clock of the season outdoors.

If I hadn't already re-watched Adventureland this summer, I might'a just done so again after this. It actually wouldn't be a bad double feature, but as much this would be the more perfectly drive-in, kitschy-styled movie for such a thing, it would be easily be the weaker of the two.

**½ / 5.6