For a moment I thought it was the plot of "Sleeping with the Enemy". although that one turns out to be pretty good, lol. I just saw another highly hyped one on Netflix that got me howling in frustration, Carry On, with Jason Bateman (usually reliable!). There's a guy driving a van who happens to get that vehicle exactly where it needs to be to shoot at a woman running through an airport, among other plot contrivances that'll make you cringe. It's not Carry-On, it's COME ON!!!!
The second time I watched it to figure out some plot twists I realized the assassin knew where's she'd be because he had hacked into all the terminal's cameras. I actually enjoyed the pacing, the characters, and the fact that there weren't constant f-bombs, though when it comes to airport thrillers I preferred Red Eye and the Die Harder. My movie tastes are pretty catholic: One night it might be Les Enfants du Paradis, the next The Bourne Identity. :-)
I find myself dismissing movies by their trailers when they seem like a movie (or movies) I've seen before. Something similar happened when I was the crime fiction reviewer for The Detroit Free Press. I'd start a thriller and it felt like dozens of others I'd already read.
Lev, you have a good analysis here. Yes, many such movies have glaring plot and character problems. Happy Chanukah! Janet
Thanks. I think all the years of reviewing crime fiction for the Detroit Free Press exposed me to tons of clichés. Happy 2025--it's around the corner!
For a moment I thought it was the plot of "Sleeping with the Enemy". although that one turns out to be pretty good, lol. I just saw another highly hyped one on Netflix that got me howling in frustration, Carry On, with Jason Bateman (usually reliable!). There's a guy driving a van who happens to get that vehicle exactly where it needs to be to shoot at a woman running through an airport, among other plot contrivances that'll make you cringe. It's not Carry-On, it's COME ON!!!!
The second time I watched it to figure out some plot twists I realized the assassin knew where's she'd be because he had hacked into all the terminal's cameras. I actually enjoyed the pacing, the characters, and the fact that there weren't constant f-bombs, though when it comes to airport thrillers I preferred Red Eye and the Die Harder. My movie tastes are pretty catholic: One night it might be Les Enfants du Paradis, the next The Bourne Identity. :-)
You watched it twice? Wow. I thought it was, to quote a noted reviewer, "a black hole of stupidity." Tomato, tomahto. Happy Hanukkah, Lev.
Nice quote. :-)
😂
Well, plenty of top critics on Rotten Tomatoes liked it. One of them here is the one who lured me in. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carry_on/reviews?type=top_critics De gustibus..... :-)
A NY Times recommendation lured me in. Oh well.
Oh, well, indeed....
I think this might be the review I read, but I can't remember now for sure: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2024/12/20/carry-on-movie-review-a-die-hard-style-christmas-thriller-you-definitely-need-to-watch/
I do think it's funny that there's some kind of "debate" over whether "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie or not.....
I haven't seen Secret Obsession, but I could swear I've seen a movie with the exact same plot.
I find myself dismissing movies by their trailers when they seem like a movie (or movies) I've seen before. Something similar happened when I was the crime fiction reviewer for The Detroit Free Press. I'd start a thriller and it felt like dozens of others I'd already read.
Some genre fiction and movies have become so formulaic, there are tongue-in-cheek pick-a-trope-from-each-column charts for writing one.
Tongue-in-cheek, but I bet people are using those seriously, via AI, to churn out thrillers.
I expect you're right about that. More's the pity . . .
It's the same in the mystery/thriller world--though when George Costanza would moan "I'm too stupid to live" it was funny.