No Sudden Move

 No Sudden Move
Starring Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, David Harbour, Brendan Fraser
Directed by Steven Soderbergh

The term "no honor among thieves" rings exceptionally true in the world of the mafia, as double crosses and triple crosses occur as frequently as breathing air, at least that's how it's portrayed in almost every mobster movie ever made. You never truly know where someone's alliance lies when lives and money are on the line, and anyone can be bought with a price. I've never understood why someone would want to be in the mafia due to the continual state of living in fear and uncertainty, even if the money is well worth it, it would drive me crazy. "No Sudden Move" is one such movie that centers on a cast of duplicitous characters where you never know the true motives until everyone is knee deep in the muck that they created, and even then they can turn on a dime and change the rules in the middle of the game they created.

In the tumultuous city of Detroit in 1954, the automotive industry is a cut-throat business. Everyone wants to end up on top, and will stop at nothing to achieve it, including resorting to criminal misgivings. Recruiter Doug Jones (Brendan Fraser) calls upon recently released gangster Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle) and fellow gangsters Ronald Russo (Benicio del Toro) and Charley (Kieran Culkin) to go to the home of accountant Matt Wertz (David Harbour) and hold his family hostage to force him to steal documents from his boss's safe. Things go array which leads Curt and Ronald on the run after retrieving the documents - which were blueprints for a new car part - and they try to find a way to get out of their situation as well as make a fortune, and avoid the grave as a bounty has been placed on their heads. As they maneuver their way around mob bosses like Frank Capelli (Ray Liotta) - whose wife Ronald is having an affair with - and rival mob leader Alrick Watkins (Bill Duke), Curt and Ronald most not just find a way to make a killing, but also trust one another enough to know that one of them won't turn on the other at a moment's notice - something easier said than done.

Director Steven Soderbergh is one of the most prolific directors of our time, whose mainstay operations exist within the realm of mobsters, robbers, and grifters. Films like the "Ocean's" series, "Traffic," "Out of Sight," and "Logan Lucky" unites a stellar, A-list cast against the backdrop of lies, deceit and deception while offering sleek visuals, catchy musical scores, and tightly written scripts. "No Sudden Move" is one such film, and even though it was released solely on HBOMax and not in theaters, it's still an effective study into the minds of the morally corrupt as not one character is good, everyone has figurative (and some literal) blood on their hands, but you can't help but be connected to their plight and be enthralled in the often-happenstance ways our main antagonists keep finding their way out of sticky situations.

Soderbergh's leading men are known to be suave, sophisticated, and the smartest men in the room (look no further than George Clooney's Frank Ocean for comparison), but there's something uniquely different with "No Sudden Move," and that's the fact that, despite the ingenious efforts of our main characters, they more often than not find themselves on the luckier side of things as opposed to making it happen. Curt and Ronald are men with high bounties on their heads, but they maintain their cool as they barter for the best deal for the information they possess, and they routinely make it out of the stickiest of situations by the skin of their teeth. This is what makes the film so entertaining and engrossing, the fact that these aren't men who always have a plan when their plan B fails, and yet they're charming enough to pull off their plans in a way that makes them seem to be in control.

All that to say you'd expect these two men to be thick as thieves, but there's always ulterior motives lying just below the surface, as both men continually turn on one another so many times it doesn't even come as a shock to them, but they roll with what they got when the moments hit. Not only do they want to be rich, they want to live, even at the cost of the other's life. Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro ooze this charisma and mysterious qualms like sweat from their brow, as both are no stranger to working under the likes of Soderbergh (Cheadle in the "Ocean's" franchise and del Toro in his Academy Award-winning role in "Traffic"), and both give their A-list performances here.

It also wouldn't be a Soderbergh film without a who's who of top talent, and "No Sudden Move" gives us the likes of Cheadle and del Toro as the leads, but also compelling, powerful performances by the ensemble including David Harbour (who gives his career-best performance as a man struggling with maintaining a healthy family life while balancing his extra-marital affair with his secretary), Ray Liotta (who's in his wheelhouse as a mob boss), Brendan Fraser (who finally rises above his recent direct-to-home productions), Jon Hamm, Kieran Culkin, Noah Jupe, and an uncredited cameo by another Soderbergh mainstay that you have to see to believe.

Despite this being a mostly male-centric avant-garde thriller, the women themselves show that they're really the smartest ones in the room, often calculating more than their male counterparts in small ways that explode at their most opportune moments. Amy Seimetz plays Mary, Matt's wife who holds the family together while they're being held hostage, and seems to understand the gravity of their situation without losing her cool. Julia Fox plays Vanessa Capelli, the wife of Ray Liotta's Frank Capelli, who's having an affair with del Toro's Ronald, but who also knows what's going on around her in a way that's quietly minuscule, but proves herself to be more than just merely another "dame."

The writing of "No Sudden Move" is equal parts polished and fly by the seat of your pants, as happenstance and coincidence sometimes ends up falling in the favor of our main antagonists. While this is a movie that focuses more on dialogue than blatant action, there's action in the words being spoken that is just as exciting as cars exploding or epic shootouts. The characters are calm, cool, and collected even in the midst of quick-thinking actions, and the filming style condenses everything into a tight, effective, contained whole where not a moment is wasted. It's a throwback to the classic gangster films, but also offers unique insights into the goings on within the minds of the gangsters as they more often than not have no idea where they're going before they end up at their destination, providing a crisp, exciting ride for the audience as well, who also doesn't know where it's going until the final moments.

Filled with A-list actors providing some of their best work and set against the backdrop of 1950s Detroit, "No Sudden Move" provides a thrilling, thought-provoking story told through the eyes of two shady characters that we still have emotional connections to in a way that only Steven Soderbergh can deliver.

The Score: A