Those Who Wish Me Dead

 2.5/4

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Finn Little, Aiden Gillen, Nicholas Hoult, Jon Bernthal, Medina Senghore, Jake Weber

Rated R for Strong Violence and Language Throughout

Taylor Sheridan has all the elements for a solid thriller, but he can't quite make them gel.  He comes close though.  So close that I nearly gave it a pass for what it does well.  In the end, though, I can't deny the vague sense of dissatisfaction that I felt at the end of the film (and if I'm being honest, while I was watching it).  If he had just pushed things a little farther and tightened up the film at the editing stage, he might have had a nice little 90 minute movie.

Connor (Little) is on the run with his dad (Weber).  He doesn't know why, but before he is murdered, he gives Connor two slips of paper and tells him to take it to the news.  Connor's only hope for survival is Hannah (Jolie), a traumatized firefighter trying to heal her psyche in a watchtower.  She takes it on herself to get him to safety.  That's a tall order considering that they are being tracked by a pair of ruthless killers (Gillen and Hoult) who had set a forest fire to smoke Hannah and Connor out.

In many ways, this is a standard order adventure movie like they used to make in the 80s and 90s.  But instead of Schwarzenegger or Sly, we have Angelina Jolie.  Jolie is a good choice for the role.  She sheds her glamorous image (as much as she can) and gives Hannah a dose of vulnerability.  The way she confronts, or does not confront, her traumatized past makes it easier to identify with her.  Because of the choices she makes, she feels less like a writer's construct in need of "redemption" and more like a real person (Hannah still has a sardonic sense of humor).

Unfortunately, Taylor Sheridan opts for a dour tone for this movie, and it proves to be its undoing.  Any movie with Sheridan's name attached is usually grim and understated (his credits include the "Sicario" movies, "Wind River," and the worthless critical darling "Hell or High Water").  That can work with serious material, but the story here is thin and a bit dumb.  Such flaws can be overlooked with the right approach, but the existential dread that Sheridan is known for isn't it.  A story this simple cannot support the weight.

Jolie is surrounded by a cast of solid actors.  Finn Little doesn't have much to do, but he accomplishes what is required: not to annoy the audience.  Aiden Gillen and Nicholas Hoult (yes, the "About a Boy" kid all grown up) are suitably nasty as the hitmen.  They're smart, and have no compunction about killing anyone who gets in their way.  Jon Bernthal is his reliable self as Connor's uncle Ethan.  But the true scene-stealer is Medina Senghore, who plays Allison, his heavily pregnant wife.  She's one tough cookie, and despite her condition she can more than hold her own in a fight.

There's a good movie to be told here.  The film is suitably violent, the villains are loathsome, the heroes are vulnerable, and the special effects are solid.  But it feels small when it should go big.  This is a movie that cries out for stunts and over-the-top machismo.  Instead, it feels small and understated.  I liked the film as far as it went, but I wanted more.