21 Bridges: A'ight / Great
While under investigation by Internal Affairs for an excessive/questionable number of kills on the job spanning his 9-year career, Andre, a New York City detective, finds himself heading the investigation into an apparent robbery gone wrong that resulted in 8 NYPD officers dead, suspects unknown, but on the loose. With 8 of their own dead, the rest of the police brotherhood are out for blood, and Andre is on the clock to lockdown the island of Manhattan and find the fugitives before they are killed by vengeful officers or before the FBI takes the reigns, unlocks the island making the fugitive's escape into the wind highly probable.
Not terrible, but not great either. A lot of contrivances and unlikelihoods make this outing an eye-roller, but not so many as to make the overall experience unworthy. If you're one who likes a decent action thriller that takes place primarily at night in the alleys of NYC, you'll be thrilled to learn this is another one. But it does something that irks me more and more every time I see it done: NYC is called "The City That Never Sleeps," yet when it's convenient for the story, the streets and sidewalks are entirely barren while a dozen people have a shoot out, or a multi-block car chase ensues. All I'm saying is, the city I live in isn't nearly as big or populous as NYC, but I assure you, if I shoot a cop then wreck a car at 70mph at 1am, someone's going to see that shit; police will be called, and my black ass would be in jail by 1:15am. But Hollywood's gotta Hollywood, I guess...
Margin Call: Okay / Great
Soon after laying off several of it's employees, a shrewd brokerage firm and it's cocky leadership are presented a discovery by a young, risk analyst that the entire firm is in grave jeopardy.
That's really all I can say, because the subject matter is entirely over my head. I got the gist, but to say I know what happened would be untrue. Despite a star-studded cast guaranteed to bring in people of every stripe, this film was written well above the paygrade of the average, non-stock trading Joe. The problem the firm is facing is explained no fewer than three times, and I still can't what it was. Hell, the last time the film explains it, it even patronizes the audience when the head honcho asks the analyst to explain to him "like I'm and child or a golden retriever," and I still didn't grasp it entirely.
It's probably crystal clear to Market heads, and it is very well acted, so that much I did appreciate. I'd recommend it, but I'd also recommend watching it with a stock broker you can ask questions of.