Released: June 2023
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Unrated
Run Time: 156 Minutes
Distributor: XYZ Films
Genre: Thriller
Cast:
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Bob Hightower
Maika Monroe: Case Hardin
Karl Glusman: Cyrus
January Jones: Maureen Bacon
Jamie Foxx: The Ferryman
Paul Johansson: John Lee
Usually, when I review a movie, I tend to get on this here blog and just type, type, and type away. But every so often, I come across a movie that gives me pause, and I have to sit and think about what I saw. Sometimes it takes a day or two, others it takes a week. I think it took me a while to review Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. That was a pretty heavy movie to tackle. But that was a historical drama, so there was some baggage that automatically came with it, for better or worse. Excellent film, but I won’t be seeing it again anytime soon. Historical drama’s aside, I also have an affinity with dark and gritty crime thrillers. I’ve seen some shit that’s super nihilistic and downbeat. The Korean thriller I Saw The Devil is a perfect example. Last weekend, I bought director Nick Cassavetes’ God Is A Bullet on Blu-Ray. Boy, I thought I’ve seen my fair share of nihilistic movies. This one might take the cake, but is it good? Let’s find out.
The story begins with police officer Bob Hightower coming home to find his ex-wife brutally murdered and his daughter missing. He learns that a Satanic cult called the Left-Handed Path may have been involved, and learns that a young woman had escaped 11 years after being kidnapped herself. Case decides to help Bob track down this cult and find his daughter if she’s still alive. He goes down a rabbit hole that will leave him shaken to his core. I love a good kidnap thriller, and the story in this film had the potential to be one of the better ones. But director Nick Cassavetes takes a real heavy-handed approach to the narrative. The story gets pretty mean at times, and it goes to some really dark territory. It’s not going to be for everyone. When I said the film is nihilistic, I’m not kidding. But I don’t necessarily think that it serves the story that well. I wasn’t expecting everything to be wrapped up in a neat little bow, but good lord, this movie leaves you wanting to take multiple showers.
Let’s talk about the acting first. Nic Cassavetes gets really strong performances out of his actors, even if they don’t have a whole lot to chew on. Karl Glusman is nuts as the insane Cyrus who is a totally unhinged psychopath. Karl’s great, but the character is so over-the-top, he comes across as almost cartoonish, and you don’t want that from villains that are supposed to be really threatening. In fact, a lot of the cult members come across as cartoonish, and that doesn’t serve the film very well at all. I get that Nick doesn’t want to hold back, but the scenery chewing from the bad guys is near legendary levels. Jamie Foxx is completely wasted as The Ferryman, a one-armed tattoo artist that works with the cult. He was in the film for maybe a total of 10 minutes. It was nothing more than a glorified cameo. He was great, but very under-used. No, the real stars of the show are Nicolaj Coster-Waldau and Maika Monroe as Bob and Case, respectively. Nicolaj is a wonderful actor. Most people recognize him as Jamie Lannister from Game of Thrones. Brilliant actor. His character is very naive about the world he’s entering and Nicolaj just embodies the character’s change from a naive police officer to an avenging angel over the course of the film. Maika’s Case on the other hand, is a tough-as-nails survivor who is trying to get Bob to understand what he’s up against, because Case knows first hand what these people are capable of. Essentially, the film is a road trip movie about these two characters that start to understand where each one is coming from and how they navigate the world. It’s one of the best-acted dynamics I’ve seen this year.
There have been a lot of reviews about this movie complaining about its pacing and length. It’s a long movie. 2.5 hours long for a kidnap thriller? That’s pushing it. Denis Villenueve’s Prisoners was also 2.5 hours long, but there was a purpose to it. He wanted the audience to feel the desperation that the characters were feeling. Here? It’s unnecessarily long. A huge part of the problem was the unnecessary subplot involving January Jones’ character. It didn’t need to be there whatsoever, especially since the film’s focus was on Bob, Case, and Bob’s daughter. When the movie shifts its focus from those characters and the cult, the movie grinds to a halt. It really does. You could take 20 minutes out of the film by making certain cuts here and there, and eliminating January Jones entirely, and you would have a much tighter run time at around 2 hours. This is an example of a director engaging in excess and it hurts the story and movie.
When you have a revenge thriller like this, a level of violence is necessary to truly understand both the antagonist and protagonist. The violence in this film is brutal and it comes fast. But that’s also where I have some issues. While there is definitely some CG used with guys getting shot, the practical stuff is fantastic. But my biggest issue with the violence in this movie is the stuff that’s levied against women. Oh, my god. The women in this movie are put through the ringer. It certainly doesn’t help that the movie practically opens with Bob’s wife being brutally raped and murdered, but I guess that was supposed to set the tone for the rest of the movie. It’s one thing to show how vicious this cult is, but it’s taken to extreme levels here and it didn’t need to. The audience didn’t need to have their faces rubbed in it. We get it: These bad guys are evil incarnate, but you didn’t need to take the opportunity to beat the shit of women on a regular basis. I understand what the director was trying to go for, but there’s something to be said for subtlety. I just don’t think Nick Cassavetes is capable of it, and God Is A Bullet is prime example. The final 30 minutes of the film are Rambo 4-levels of savagery. It’s absolutely nuts. Is it satisfying, though? It kind of is. Seeing the cult get what’s coming to them is one of the most satisfying things I’ve seen in a long time. But that tends to be par for the course for revenge thrillers.
As I said earlier, I usually go right out and review a movie after I’ve seen it, but in the case of God Is A Bullet, I had to take a step back and fully grasp what I saw. Is it a movie that I can easily recommend? No There’s a lot of issues with this movie, both structurally and narratively. Even if you could look past the film’s run time and the violence against women, it doesn’t really do enough to stand out among its peers in the genre. If you’re going to watch this movie, watch it for the two leads in Nicolaj and Maika. They keep the movie going. If it wasn’t for those two, this would end up being just another too-long generic kidnap thriller that wants to shock it’s audience. Also, there’s NO humor to be found in this movie. No laughs. It’s dead-serious all the time, and that can be a real issue. I’m not saying the film should’ve devolved into gallows humor, but this movie is dark as it gets. Usually, I’m all for that, but it’s a bit too much, even for me. I don’t think it’s a bad movie. There’s a really good movie underneath all of this. It just needed better editing. It’s way too long. It’s a rental at best.