Stephen Soderbergh

  • Kimi (2022)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, February 2022) A new Stephen Soderbergh film is a mystery box. He has worked in so many genres, taken so many chances, and threatened retirement often enough that you never quite know what you’re going to get. Maybe it’ll be great! Maybe it won’t! In Kimi, he goes back to his thriller roots to deliver something like a blend of homages to previous thrillers, questions about the techno-surveillance complex and a few pointed observations about the lockdown years. It stars Zoë Kravitz, a minor movie crush of mine who, to my recollection, never had a leading role until now despite a fourteen-year career in some showy supporting roles. Here she plays a young woman who, thanks to past trauma, fully embraced the shut-in lifestyle made popular during lockdown. Even a toothache won’t have her leave her apartment… or at least until she gets evidence of a murder and tries to escalate the matter through the appropriate channels. Unfortunately, she’s in the middle of a thriller in which evil people can hire hitmen, and where every movement can be tracked. There are traces of Rear Window, The Conversation, Michael Clayton and many other similar thrillers here, but when it’s combined with the lockdown quirks acquired in North-American society throughout 2020-22, the effect is fresher than you’d think. The script’s techno-skepticism isn’t as new (not when even animated family movies such as Ron Gone Wrong overtly talk about such issues), but it all blends together in a rather good mix. Our resourceful heroine is easy to like (the visuals of her agoraphobic self getting out of her apartment and sticking robotically to the walls are among the film’s strongest images) and she eventually levels up to a far-fetched but satisfying action heroine by the time the finale rolls around. There are a few interesting casting choices (most notably Derek DelGaudio in a villainous role), with Soderbergh keeping a tight control over the production. Kimi is not a bad thriller, but time will tell whether it ends up being a time capsule of current anxieties. In the meantime, it’s an easy-enough thriller to watch. Now what will Soderbergh do next?

  • Logan Lucky (2017)

    Logan Lucky (2017)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, May 2018) Only maverick filmmaker Stephen Soderbergh could tackle Logan Lucky, going over such extremely familiar material (a heist movie à la Ocean’s Eleven) that another director might have been accused of copycatting. But, of course, Soderbergh never does things like others, and so Logan Lucky takes the large-scale heist down the social classes to NASCAR-obsessed West Virginia/North Carolina, with blue-collar protagonists motivated by larger economic forces. The exceptional casting (Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, etc.) is fantastic, but the real draw here is the way the script is handled with blockbuster entertainment savvy by Soderbergh. The intricate heist plot multiplies one gambit after another, creating a dense tapestry of tricks, plans and improvised manoeuvers in which even dupes unaware of any heist have a role to play—and, hilariously enough, are rewarded for it. Taking ideas for an Ocean’s Fourteen film and recasting in redneck country makes for a refreshing change of pace and unusual heroes, as characters that would be treated as hillbillies in other films here get a chance to prove that they’re criminal masterminds. Then, of course, there’s the idea that the film is handled in pure escapism mode, reaching for comedy as often as it can. (The ridiculous prison riot, complete with Game of Thrones references, is particularly funny.)  Logan Lucky is very successful, and counts as one of the year’s most delightful surprises.