Sometimes filmmakers go through a rough patch. Steven Soderbergh struck out with the Oscars, feeling so secure in his assumption that Chadwick Boseman would win that he broke tradition by closing the show with the Best Actor Award, only to discover Anthony Hopkins won.
Now, Soderbergh’s created a stupefying film noir trip back to 1954 Detroit where ex-con Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle) is eager to pocket $5,000 to reclaim the land that was taken from him.
When he visits his buddy’s barbershop, he’s sent to a back alley where Doug Jones (Brendan Fraser) hires him to hold the Wertz family hostage while husband/father, Matt (David Harbour), is forced to steal engineering specs from a safe that belongs to his boss, Mel Forbert (Hugh Maguire). Matt’s having an affair with Forbert’s secretary (Frankie Shaw), so getting the combination to the safe from her shouldn’t be a problem. But it is, particularly when Matt’s wife (Amy Seimetz) finds out.
Curt must team up with Ronald Russo (Benicio Del Toro) and Charlie Barnes (Kieran Culkin). When it becomes a full-scale fiasco, Curt joins Ronald in a scheme to dupe Frank Capelli (Ray Liotta), whose wife (Julia Fox) is having an affair with Ronald. Plus there's a cynical police detective (Jon Hamm) and other surprise characters.
This sprawling, tedious crime thriller encompasses too many tricky, interlocking plots and duplicitous characters, emerging as downright confusing within its tight, two-hour timeframe. It’s like assembling a complicated jigsaw puzzle in which you’ve completely lost interest.
Soderbergh not only directs but also serves as cinematographer, under pseudonym Peter Andrews, and editor, under the pseudonym Mary Ann Bernard. Not recommended.