The Harder They Fall (2021)

[Drunk Monk]

Great cast. Looks terrible.

Well, it wasn’t terrible. Nor was it great. 

It had a lot of elements I like. It’s gratuitously sanguineous, woke, had a great villain in Idris, a reggae influenced soundtrack (the title echoes a Jimmy Cliff classic), some style (the white town is really white), a few engaging characters (based on historical black cowboys allegedly), some fav actors (luv Idris & Delroy), decent ultravi, panoramic settings, an homage to a beloved genre, & a nice mcguffin. 

But it just didn’t come together ultimately. It tried too hard to be hip (or fresh... or prostate?) There’s too many stylistic plays but it fails to to develop into a consistent mood. For example, there’s a few choice reggae tracks playing during segue scenes but they don’t quite fit, and are later abandoned altogether. It totally misses a reggae vibe. 

Idris’s mercilessness is almost redeeming. He nails what he’s doing with the role, even his nuanced expressions. And the rest of the cast is serviceable. 

The plot chugs along with intertwining character arcs, a little more depth than your typical western (which ain’t sayin much, pardner) and there’s some moments where it alludes to some racial inequity commentary. There’s hints of humor. But there’s just not enough of anything to make this come together.

Mind you, it’s not a bad film. My bet is Greg will hate it, PPFY will be mildly entertained, tg might comment on the soundtrack, KB won’t watch it, and cf will think it doesn’t have enough marsupials or something like that. Prove me wrong. 

Not D00M recommended unless you care to, well, prove me wrong.

[Greg]

That is always worth doing. I think I was going to hate Red Notice first before moving on to hating this.