by Josh Sewell
I Love Boosters
(Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language throughout and brief drug use. Opens in theaters on May 22.)
Almost a decade after seeing it, writer-director Boots Riley’s 2018 bonkers satire Sorry to Bother You remains one of the funniest, weirdest, most thrilling experiences I’ve ever had in a multiplex. That’s why it’s been so frustrating he’s spent his time since then in the wasteland of streaming television. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always happy to seek out any stories Riley wants to tell. But there’s something about seeing his work on the big screen.
Luckily, I Love Boosters, his hilarious, visually daring examination of hyper-capitalism and the fashion industry, finally hits theaters this weekend. It doesn’t totally work – the premise runs out of gas about two-thirds in – but a slightly flawed Boots Riley flick is better than no Boots Riley flick at all.
The premise is intriguing: the always-terrific Keke Palmer plays Corvette, leader of a crew of professional shoplifters (played by Taylour Paige and Naomi Ackie) who rip off high-end fashion boutiques and sell their wares on the black market. When word gets back to iconic designer Christie Smith (Demi Moore, having a blast in over-the-top villain mode), she sets a plan in motion to catch the thieves.
While the tone of I Love Boosters is uneven, and the mixture of comedy and complex philosophy creates a chaotic gumbo, the result is still worth checking out on the big screen. Riley has crafted one of the most visually interesting movies I’ve seen in a long time, full of vivid colors, practical effects, puppetry and stop-motion animation instead of tired, overused CGI.
The supporting cast is also terrific despite their limited screen time, including LaKeith Stanfield (reuniting with Riley after Sorry to Bother You); Poppy Liu; Eiza González; Will Poulter; Don Cheadle; and several other recognizable faces that pop in for occasional cameos. While I Love Boosters won’t be for everyone, I’m just thankful for a blast of creative originality in a summer full of sequels, explosions and CGI overload.
Grade: B
In the Grey
(Rated R for violence, language and a sexual reference. Now playing in theaters.)
Writer-director Guy Ritchie has quite the action flick assembly line going on. For the past several years, he’s been churning out generic but entertaining shoot-em-ups that have modest budgets but big returns, especially in international markets.
Some are more successful than others (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a blast, Fountain of Youth and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre not so much), but he doesn’t seem to have a problem hiring great looking actors and shooting in beautiful locations.
His latest is the disappointing In the Grey, which has the aforementioned gorgeous cast and exotic settings. However, those selling points don’t make up for a story that’s almost entirely exposition and lacks an ending. The flick centers on a covert team of elite operatives (including frequent Ritchie collaborators Eiza González, Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill) who have the talent and capability to operate in courtrooms and outside of them.
When a sociopathic wannabe dictator (Carlos Bardem) refuses to pay his $1 billion debt, the team is sent to steal it back after the usual channels don’t work. The guys with guns plan an impossible heist that quickly collapses into a suicide mission.
In the Grey aims for Ocean’s Eleven-style cool and occasionally pulls it off thanks to the charisma of González, Gyllenhaal and Cavill. However, sophisticated planning ultimately turns into voiceovers literally explaining to the audience what they’re going to do, when it would be much more exciting to just watch them do it.
We learn next to nothing about the characters, so it’s tough to care about them when things go south. They’re almost entirely surface level, so there’s not really a chance to get attached. It’s also a bummer that Fisher Stevens and Rosamund Pike are given almost nothing to do despite their entertaining characters.
Finally, the only way we know the team completes their mission is that the movie suddenly cuts to black and the credits start rolling. I honestly thought something was wrong with the projector for a second. It’s a weird way to end the movie, almost as if Guy Ritchie lost interest in the whole endeavor right at the finish line.
Grade: C-
(Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language throughout and brief drug use. Opens in theaters on May 22.)
Almost a decade after seeing it, writer-director Boots Riley’s 2018 bonkers satire Sorry to Bother You remains one of the funniest, weirdest, most thrilling experiences I’ve ever had in a multiplex. That’s why it’s been so frustrating he’s spent his time since then in the wasteland of streaming television. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always happy to seek out any stories Riley wants to tell. But there’s something about seeing his work on the big screen.
Luckily, I Love Boosters, his hilarious, visually daring examination of hyper-capitalism and the fashion industry, finally hits theaters this weekend. It doesn’t totally work – the premise runs out of gas about two-thirds in – but a slightly flawed Boots Riley flick is better than no Boots Riley flick at all.
The premise is intriguing: the always-terrific Keke Palmer plays Corvette, leader of a crew of professional shoplifters (played by Taylour Paige and Naomi Ackie) who rip off high-end fashion boutiques and sell their wares on the black market. When word gets back to iconic designer Christie Smith (Demi Moore, having a blast in over-the-top villain mode), she sets a plan in motion to catch the thieves.
While the tone of I Love Boosters is uneven, and the mixture of comedy and complex philosophy creates a chaotic gumbo, the result is still worth checking out on the big screen. Riley has crafted one of the most visually interesting movies I’ve seen in a long time, full of vivid colors, practical effects, puppetry and stop-motion animation instead of tired, overused CGI.
The supporting cast is also terrific despite their limited screen time, including LaKeith Stanfield (reuniting with Riley after Sorry to Bother You); Poppy Liu; Eiza González; Will Poulter; Don Cheadle; and several other recognizable faces that pop in for occasional cameos. While I Love Boosters won’t be for everyone, I’m just thankful for a blast of creative originality in a summer full of sequels, explosions and CGI overload.
Grade: B
(Rated R for violence, language and a sexual reference. Now playing in theaters.)
Writer-director Guy Ritchie has quite the action flick assembly line going on. For the past several years, he’s been churning out generic but entertaining shoot-em-ups that have modest budgets but big returns, especially in international markets.
Some are more successful than others (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a blast, Fountain of Youth and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre not so much), but he doesn’t seem to have a problem hiring great looking actors and shooting in beautiful locations.
His latest is the disappointing In the Grey, which has the aforementioned gorgeous cast and exotic settings. However, those selling points don’t make up for a story that’s almost entirely exposition and lacks an ending. The flick centers on a covert team of elite operatives (including frequent Ritchie collaborators Eiza González, Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill) who have the talent and capability to operate in courtrooms and outside of them.
When a sociopathic wannabe dictator (Carlos Bardem) refuses to pay his $1 billion debt, the team is sent to steal it back after the usual channels don’t work. The guys with guns plan an impossible heist that quickly collapses into a suicide mission.
In the Grey aims for Ocean’s Eleven-style cool and occasionally pulls it off thanks to the charisma of González, Gyllenhaal and Cavill. However, sophisticated planning ultimately turns into voiceovers literally explaining to the audience what they’re going to do, when it would be much more exciting to just watch them do it.
We learn next to nothing about the characters, so it’s tough to care about them when things go south. They’re almost entirely surface level, so there’s not really a chance to get attached. It’s also a bummer that Fisher Stevens and Rosamund Pike are given almost nothing to do despite their entertaining characters.
Finally, the only way we know the team completes their mission is that the movie suddenly cuts to black and the credits start rolling. I honestly thought something was wrong with the projector for a second. It’s a weird way to end the movie, almost as if Guy Ritchie lost interest in the whole endeavor right at the finish line.
Grade: C-
Reach out to Josh Sewell at joshsewell81@gmail.com or on BlueSky @joshsewell.bsky.social
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