A Woman Seeking Revenge

Kaleidoscope's latest is on Global Road Entertainment's production of "The Rhythm Section".  Directed by Reed Morano, the movie stars Blake Lively, Jude Law, Sterling K. Brown, & Raza Jaffrey.  Rated 'R', it has a running time of 1 hr., 49 min.

The film's exposition details the happy family of which Stephanie Patrick (LIvely) is a part.  The audience soon learns, tho, that a plane crash has taken the lives of those family members except for Stephanie who did not go on the trip.  The setting transitions to show that Stephanie has been on a downward spiral of self-destruction since the tragedy.  She has become a low-life prostitute & drug addict.  One day, a man named Proctor (Jaffrey) secures her services.  He informs her, however, that he merely wants to talk.  She reluctantly agrees & is soon shocked to learn that, according to Proctor, the plane crash was not an accident but, rather, was done to assassinate 1 man on board; the other passengers were 'merely' collateral damage. Before being killed himself by an assassin, Proctor tells Stephanie about a former CIA agent named 'B' (Law) who, if she can locate him in Scotland, can train her for a revenge quest.  Act I ends here as her search for 'B' begins.

Cinematographer Morano tackles her 3rd feature-length film here, & it is a moderately successful one.  Her action set-pieces are nicely staged with a POV car chase being particularly effective.  It so immerses the viewer in the action that one feels as if one is actually in the vehicle.  The in-between dialogue scenes are presented in a routine manner meant to convey exposition & the details of the emerging ruthless fighter that Stephanie becomes.  Little-known Mark Burnell's script seems to have been inspired by several of the female-lead vengeance flicks of the past few years: Jennifer Lawrence's "Red Sparrow", Charlize Theron's "Atomic Blonde", & Jennifer Garner's "Peppermint".  Interestingly, Burnell seems to have been most inspired by John G. Avildson's 1984 "The Karate Kid" with Lively being student Daniel-son to Law's sensei-like Mr. Miyagi.  Miyagi's environment is transformed to "B's" Scottish highlands.  While the viewer is engaged in the plot, there is a constant feeling of deja vu throughout the movie.  Lively is outstanding as Stephanie.  While we have seen this character before, Lively thoroughly immerses herself in this still complex type of role.  Her normally striking physical appearance is subsumed by the character of Stephanie, & the audience believes in what is on-screen.  Law has suitable gravitas as the grizzled displaced veteran agent who reluctantly becomes Stephanie's mentor.  Brown, normally a forceful presence, is not given much to do here as a rogue CIA agent who may not exactly be who he claims he is.  Sean Bobbitt's cinematography & little-known Joan Sobel's editing are serviceable if, except for the car chase scene, fairly uninspired.  Composer Steve Mazzaro--who has mostly done fill-in music for numerous films--has written a standard score with no outstanding motifs or underscores.

I give "The Rhythm Section" 6.5 out of 10 nuggets.  It is an average archetypical revenge film with a superb lead performance by Blake Lively.  My recommendation is to wait for streaming or its appearance on HBO, etc.