Review of American Ultra (2015) by Eliot C — 19 Aug 2015

American Ultra is a really good indie relationship movie, sleeping inside of a big studio Jason Bourne action thriller sleeping bag. A little jumbled in places, but this film does some very cool things throughout. The story is structured pretty well, Landis sets up a framing device that works well as a hook and lays out the pieces up front so that when the dots are connected, the audience has a sense of recognition. The direction is fun, but standard action movie direction, it's sort of unremarkable. The art direction, set design, and light/color palate of this movie is interesting though. Kristen Stewart turns in a great performance as Eisenberg's girlfriend, stuck in a passionate-but-too-staid relationship, pulled into a $#!t-Storm of crazy by her boyfriend's transformation. Eisenberg is reliably good as a neurotic, creative stoner, to whom extraordinary thing happen. His character is a little frustrating at first but purposefully so, to give him tension and room to grow. They could gone larger and more overstated with his character arc, I was left wanting a little more resolution for him at the end. Solid performances from Connie Britton and Tony Hale as CIA employees on a mission to save Eisenberg and his girlfriend; Hale shining in moments that efficiently serve as both light comic relief and stakes-heightening. Topher Grace is a reliably smarmy A-hole villain, who you will enjoy hating. His resolution is also a little underwhelming. Walter Goggins and Gina Carano lookalike have really fun henchmen roles, that allow them to be cartoonishly crazed and scary. Goggins has a moment at the end of the film that genuinely broke my heart a little. Bill Pullman has a cameo that serves it's purpose and that's all. John Leguizamo has an amusing small role as well, that left me wanting a little more from his character.

Overall, this movie is solid. It's a great idea that could have used a little more shaping in it's creation, a great genre film that has the heart of a smaller-scale relationship story. It's a little tonally muddled because of this, but at least it's creative, ambitious, and relatively original, as opposed to a reboot or franchise film. It's probably the best thing out this week so go see it. Max Landis is a great writer, and I want to see more films from him. Go see this so the studios will make that happen.