Josh Bell
This week’s low-profile VOD releases feature men of action under attack in hotel and apartment buildings, freak weather patterns that bring flying cash and personal revelations, and a fake Japanese glam band.
Plastic (Metrograph at Home October 4): This Japanese drama starts out as a cute teen romance between two high schoolers who bond over their shared love for an obscure 1970s glam-rock band, before making an abrupt shift around the 40-minute mark. It’s jarring to jump immediately from the couple’s first kiss to the deterioration of their relationship a year later, but director Daisuke Miyazaki is interested in how their connection changes over time, with their passion for fictional band Exne Kedy as their constant guide. The story makes further leaps over the course of five years, as dedicated student Ibuki (An Ogawa) and aspiring musician Jun (Takuma Fujie) move from high school into college and jobs, all while dealing with the pandemic. It’s low-key and charming, driven by songs from musician Kensuke Ide, which sound like they could be from a long-lost ’70s masterpiece. The later segments, with Ibuki and Jun largely kept apart, are never as satisfying as the early giddy romance, but that’s the way it goes in real life, too. Grade: B
Take Cover (VOD and select theaters October 4): Veteran B-movie action star Scott Adkins is great at close-quarters fighting, so it’s slightly frustrating that he’s cast as a sniper, someone whose missions rely on keeping still and waiting. After a fatal act of hesitation on a job, covert assassin Sam Lorde (Adkins) decides that he’s going to retire after one final assignment. Of course, Sam and his spotter partner Ken (Jack Parr) then find themselves under fire in their luxury hotel room, and the majority of the movie takes place in that high-rise suite, as Sam and Ken look for the painfully obvious answer to the question of who set them up. When Adkins gets to cut loose in hand-to-hand combat against various henchmen, the results are thrilling, but the movie spends far too much time on tedious exposition and shallow characterization — including a possible record for uses of the word “bro.” Sam’s late-breaking moral dilemma about his profession makes far less of an impact than the infrequent flurries of kicks and punches. Grade: C+
The Veil (VOD October 4): The spooky atmosphere carries this somewhat baffling supernatural drama about a reclusive, retired priest who takes in a scared Amish woman on the run. It all takes place during a weather phenomenon that bathes everything in an eerie green light, and possibly bends time and space. At his isolated home in the woods, Douglas (Sean O’Bryan) is interrupted overnight by the arrival of Hannah (Rebekah Kennedy), who claims that she’s evading her abusive husband. There’s more going on than that, though, as Douglas starts to experience what seems to be a time loop or alternate reality, with possible threats lurking in the woods. Writer-director Cameron Beyl opts for creepy vibes over concrete explanations, which lessens the power of the semi-twist ending. Even if the story doesn’t come together, the performances are strong, and the themes of regret and second chances come through effectively. Douglas may not understand what’s happening any better than the audience does, but both are left with a vague sense of closure. Grade: B-
Cash Storm (VOD October 8): What if one of those gimmick booths that blows money around for participants to attempt to grab was, like, a whole tornado? That’s the set-up for this goofy disaster movie, which also functions as a Twisters mockbuster, giving its protagonist the exact same scientific project as Daisy Edgar-Jones’ character in that Hollywood hit. Grad student Margie (Rachel Nielsen) is working on a machine that could dissipate tornadoes, but her experiment is interrupted by some fleeing bank robbers whose haul gets sucked up into the storm. Margie, her lab partner, the criminals, and a social media influencer drive around tracking the money-filled funnel cloud, with occasional cutaways to an overzealous TV reporter interrupting her interview subjects and a pair of barflies speculating on better names for the “cash storm.” Writer-director Dan Lantz has a sense of humor about his movie’s ridiculous premise, but the self-aware jokes are just as annoying as the suspense-free danger. Neither the shaky special effects nor the limp comedy are particularly convincing or entertaining. Grade: C
The Silent Hour (VOD and select theaters October 11): After starring as a mute crime victim in John Woo’s 2023 action thriller Silent Night, Joel Kinnaman now stars as a hearing-impaired cop in Brad Anderson’s action thriller The Silent Hour. Kinnaman’s characters experience similar anguish over the incidents that led to their injuries, although Boston police detective Frank Shaw is more stable, and he’s not out for revenge. Instead, he’s targeted by a gang of drug dealers while helping to interview a deaf witness to an underworld murder. It takes a little too long for Frank and Ava (Sandra Mae Frank) to end up trapped in a half-renovated apartment building with their assailants, but once everything is in place, Anderson turns The Silent Hour into a lean, propulsive Die Hard riff, taking the characters’ disabilities into account without making them into weaknesses. The story doesn’t amount to much (don’t strain too hard to figure out the relevance of Frank’s partner), but Kinnaman gives Frank a solid character arc amid the exciting, well-crafted action. Grade: B
