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Movie reviews: 'The Protege' aspires to be something bigger than it is

Maggie Q is seen in the film "The Protege." (Arthur Sarkissian Productions) Maggie Q is seen in the film "The Protege." (Arthur Sarkissian Productions)
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THE PROTEGE: 3 STARS

Michael Keaton and Maggie Q are seen in the film "The Protege." (Arthur Sarkissian Productions)

For the second time in as many months Samuel L. Jackson plays a hitman whose family values are as strong, if not stronger, than his instinct to kill. In “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” he found his logical, not biological family. In “The Protege,” now in theatres, he’s a mentor and father figure to a killer played by Maggie Q.

Q is Anna, one of the world’s most highly trained assassins. She was brought into the life of international intrigue by Moody (Jackson), a blues-guitar playing contract killer.

“I’m the big bad wolf who comes to get you,” he says, “when someone on earth decides your time is up.”

He rescued her in Vietnam in 1991 after her parents were killed by communist soldiers.

“He didn’t save my life,” she says, “he gave me a life.”

When Moody is brutally murdered, Anna loses the one person in her life she can trust. Vowing revenge, she uses her special set of skills to find out who blew away her mentor and father figure.

“I’m going to find out who killed my friend,” she says, “and I’m going to end their life and the lives of anyone who stands in my way.”

One of those people standing in her way is Rembrandt (Michael Keaton), a rival assassin who works for some very bad, but well-connected people. As the plot thickens, so does the connection between Anna and Rembrandt as her investigation leads her back to where her story began, Vietnam.

“The Protege” is a glossy revenge flick that covers well-travelled ground. There are exotic locations, elaborate action sequences, complicated alliances and a dark backstory. Richard Wenk’s screenplay hits on a greatest hits of international assassin tropes and director Martin Campbell, best known for directing the 007 comeback film “Casino Royale,” knows how to take advantage of those story elements.

So why does “The Protege” feel like less than the sum of those parts? Perhaps it’s because the characters don’t elevate the material.

Q is a credible action star, ably handling the kinetic stunts. Jackson brings his brand of effortless cool and Keaton is quirky and mysterious and somewhat cavalier about his chosen profession.

“I could put two in the back of your head,” he says after making love to Anna, “and then go make a sandwich.”

Each brings something to the movie, and while Q and Jackson have an easy way about their relationship, the chemistry between Keaton and Q feels forced. An attempt at a fight scene that leads to the bedroom, set to “That Loving Feeling” by Isaac Hayes, falls flat despite the talent on screen.

“The Protege” aspires to be something bigger than it is. The morality of the business of killing is discussed, generational trauma is hinted at and there is a complicated (and not terribly interesting) conspiracy at play but the movie is at its best when it puts aside its notions of gravitas and concentrates on the primal aspect of the story, Anna’s quest for revenge.

THE NIGHT HOUSE: 3 STARS

Rebecca Hall appears in a scene from the film "The Night House." (Searchlight Pictures via AP)

“The Night House,” a new thriller starring Rebecca Hall and now playing in theatres, explores the psychological damage left behind after tragedy and secrets tear a woman apart.

When we first meet upstate New York high school teacher Beth (Hall) she is lost in grief in the aftermath of her husband Owen’s (Evan Jonigkeit) sudden death. She’s angry, self-medicating with alcohol to dull the pain.

At night, alone in the beautiful lake house he built for them, she is tormented by ghostly visions. Bloody footprints appear, the stereo snaps on by itself to play “their song” and there are loud knocks at the door, but when she opens the door, there’s nobody there. During the daylight hours, she’s left with her grief and a nagging sense that Owen left behind as many secrets as he did memories.

Her friend Claire (Sarah Goldberg) and neighbour Mel (Vondie Curtis-Hall) offer support, but the horrifying visions and aural experiences continue, pushing her to the edge. As she packs up his things, clothes, books, the compiled ephemera of a life, she uncovers evidence that Owen had a hidden life involving the occult and a number of women who look remarkably like Beth.

“The Night House” is a gothic psychological horror film anchored by Hall’s remarkable performance. She turns the idea of the grieving widow on its head, playing Beth as indignant and unsympathetic. As she cycles through the stages of grief, focusing on the anger, it’s gut-wrenching. An early scene with the mother of one of her students complaining about her son’s poor grade is brutal in its honesty laid bare. She is an open wound and Hall commits to the edgier aspects of the character, allowing the viewer a window into Beth’s world.

Director David Bruckner builds plenty of atmosphere and a sense of the strange that keeps the off-kilter story afloat despite the script’s leaps of logic. As Beth’s inner turmoil escalates the story adds in too many elements that don’t go anywhere like a mysterious second house in the woods and Beth’s doppelganger. As the script becomes more and more convoluted the intensity built in the film’s first half dissipates.

“The Night House” is a provocative look at grief with a great lead performance, but is undone by a drawn-out approach to the story.

RARE BEASTS: 3 ½ STARS

Billie Piper is seen in the film "Rare Beasts." (Singer Studios)

The opening of “Rare Beasts,” the ambitious new film on VOD starring Billie Piper, who also wrote and directed, is the tail end of the worst date of all time.

Over a dinner and a glass or two of wine TV writer Mandy (Piper) and over-confident Pete (Leo Bill) butt heads, discussing everything from his ultra-traditional view of women as a wives and mothers, to the size of her teeth. It appears he doesn’t really like women, but can’t imagine his life without one by his side. Or, at least, in his kitchen and bedroom.

They are oil and water, chalk and cheese. In a rom-com, this would be an example of exactly the kind of misogynist bottom-of-the-barrel person Mandy should shun until Mr. Right comes along, particularly after Mandy snaps back after one of his outbursts, “Those are classic rapist remarks.”

But “Rare Beasts” is no rom-com. It feels more like a thriller, because Mandy and Pete’s first meeting is so awful, as time ticks on, you’ll be on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen between them.

Mandy is the insecure single mother of Larch (Toby Woolf) who attempts to tame her negative thoughts with a Stuart Smiley-style mantra, “Even though I am scared and angry, I still love and respect myself.”

The disastrous date is the beginning of a strained relationship, born out of insecurity and now a small amount of self-loathing.

“I want to unveil myself one piece at a time,” she says, “so that I can talk you through what I physically hate about myself.”

Despite their complete incompatibility and Pete’s claim of finding women “intolerable,” the pair struggle through a relationship, driven by dysfunction. She visits his parents on holiday in Spain and they even discuss marriage.

“Rare Beasts” has audacity on its side. Piper populates the film with difficult characters, neurosis and up-close-and-personal shots of Mandy that almost peer inside her head to reveal the character’s inner chaos. It is confrontational in its treatment of the form—perhaps we’ll call it a non rom com—and its characters, who are almost as disconnected as the storytelling.

Piper bolts through the story, slowing every now and again to focus on memorable scenes, like a party of coke-snorting new mothers, or taking a detour into more darkly whimsical moments. The result is a dizzying, off kilter film that paints a modern picture of feminism while establishing Piper as a fearless (and often quite funny) filmmaker.  

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