Mediocre fare

Sheetal

It’s about time the OTT platforms understood that labelling something as ‘Trigger Warning’, ‘Red Notice’, ‘The Gray Man’ or ‘Heart of Stone’ doesn’t guarantee success or likeability of some known actors, with an action background, as lead characters. Rather, the need to showcase one good Friday release could wreck the careers of some established Hollywood actors.

First things first, the plot revolves around Jessica Alba, who plays Parker, a special agent deployed in Syria. Minutes after executing a mission in Syria, she receives a phone call from her former boyfriend, Jesse (Mark Webber), about the death of her father in an accident in a cave mine. Parker, a trained officer, returns to her hometown, Creation County, to find that there’s been some conspiracy behind her father’s death. Parker plays a cold and emotionless officer.

Apart from some scenes about her father’s death, Alba’s acting remains one-dimensional. The chemistry between Jesse and Parker, the exes who still have feelings for each other, is visible in dialogues, but that’s about it.

It’s sad to see a talented Indonesian director like Mouly Surya deliver such a mediocre film. It merely touches upon issues like racism, smuggling of arms and the rampant arms culture in the US. From a director who earned two nominations at the Cannes Film Festival 2017 for ‘Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts’, and renowned Hollywood screenwriter writers John Brancato, Josh Olson and Halley Gross, it’s a film that lacks soul and a strong script.

Even Anthony Michael Hall as Senator Ezekiel Swan is not exploited to his full potential.

The background score and Mexican folk song ‘La Llorona’ are used to its advantage. It’s something that you take from the film. Else, this Jessica Alba-starrer requires a trigger warning.