Review of 211 (2018) by Meritcoba — 10 Mar 2019

It is one of those Netflix flicks I saw because I wanted to see Nicholas Cage act. Weird, I admit, as Cage isn't known for sublime performances. But that is precisely why! Someone pointed out that Cage's acting could be seen as deliberately anti-acting. Like, let's say, the Joker as played by Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight Cage is over the top, but while Ledger pulls it off marvelously, Cages over-acting is often a dud. Perhaps often is an understatement. But with 211 Cage surprises again by putting in a such a run-of-the-mill performance that one can only giggle.. and giggle and giggle some more.

Cage is in good company(or is that bad?) as the rest of the cast is as bland as used teabags. There is kind of attempt to make us care for them as the various non-entities get introduced during the long winded first part of the movie, but it doesn't pay off when it should. It is a half-assed attempt anyway, which is why some of the people have no names at all. Oh yes, the fat bloke is shot in the head. Ah yes, the son-in-law is on the verge of dying after being shot(and boo-hoo he has just heard that he has become a father). It makes me pause to consider what makes us connect to people.To feel the hurt they feel. Or at least sympathize. Using tropes like: man-hears-he-becomes-a-father-just-before-facing-mortal-peril puts me off. Come on! And of course he doesn't die. It isn't even a spoiler to say so.. it is that kind of movie.(It would at least have been inspired if she wasn't pregnant as he turns out to be infertile. Or she ups and leaves. You know, like real life people sometimes do).

The movie tries to take the serious angle by declaring to be inspired by real life events, but it is just that: inspired, not based on. If they would have based it on the North Hollywood Shootout(which is the one they mean), they would have altered the movie significantly. For one, there was never a pause. The two dudes(not four) came out and the fight was on: what you would call a running battle. There were also no hostages. But the movie has the robbers sit inside the bank for some time with hostages, so where the heck is the negotiator? And why show the police as having AR-15 as the lack of them was the whole point in the real shootout: that the police did not have the necessary firepower to stop the heavily armed and armored robbers?(It is just infuriating when you watch an interview with a former LAPD Swat team member who explains just that and why it can not happen now and this movie gets exactly this point wrong).

Then the Swat team does arrive - which takes ages unlike with the real shootout -, they get time to set up the assault and do so is a very clumsy way. As said: there is no negotiator but there are also no snipers and the teams only use what must be a smoke grenade. And why they heck do they press the assault when the hostages are send out?

But possibly the worst part of the movie is the utter unrealistic carelessness for human suffering with the cops. When the backup arrives with their AR-15's, they waist no time to shower the bank with a hail of bullets while it is obvious that they have hostages in there and it is very likely they hit them first. In addition they leave one of the survivors of the coffee cup bombing unattended while it is clear she is in a terrible state. And finally they don't give a rats ass that Cage has an obvious nervous breakdown after being on the receiving end of a barrage of bullets and thinking his son-in-law has died. But the only thing the officer in charge does is telling him to calm down. It is almost like the slap-in-the-face trope, without the slap in the face. But anyway, in this movie it works as Cage then takes charge and goes Rambo.

There is an utter lack of seriousness in the whole movie that tries to pawn itself off as being serious. And there lies the issue. There is so much unrealism in this movie(a band of experienced mercenaries robbing a bank for a trifle?) that the whole inspiration becomes silly. If this is inspired by real life events, then Lord of the Rings is inspired by the First World War, Star wars by the American revolution, and Pearl Harbor by Pearl Harbor(and one of these might actually be true). It would have been better if they had not taken this all too serious, but just made a stupid action flick with an over the top bad/good guy. Cage can do that. That is his thing.

This is another Netflix dud. Netflix Orginal is becoming a byword for underperforming. Netflix: get a hold of yourself.