you from the story, plot and characters. Those three elements all
work together in unison here,
something so rare in today’s postplot, post-story, cinematic landscape. Barrett’s script is subtly
plotted, so we never notice how
it’s manipulating us, allowing us
to get wrapped up in the movie’s
characters without distraction.
The ensemble cast is roundly
great but Stevens steals the show,
without ever over-acting. Downton Abbey fans will be familiar
with his previous work, but this
reviewer had only seen him in an
unremarkable turn in last year’s
Summer in February. I’m still
struggling to comprehend how
those two performances could
have come from the same actor.
Not since American Psycho have
I been so gripped by a new actor,
and I’m sure Stevens will repeat
Christian Bale’s path to stardom.
There was a time when American cinema churned out movies
like this, but in today’s cynical,
smart-ass era film-makers seem
unwilling, or unable, to make a
genre movie without commenting
on the fact that they’re making a
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