Lou

I had low expectations for this movie but Janney and Smollett acting carried this movie. So used to Janney playing wacky characters like in Mom or 10 things I hate about you so it was very hard to imagine Janney as a bad ass lead but she pulled it off so well. A serious role for Janney with a dash of her snarky humor mixed in.

For anyone that watches this movie but can't figure out where they recognize Smollett it might be as a child actor in Full House. Plot was told pretty well and kept me interested throughout the movie. I even liked the plot twist that I was not expecting. Definitely worth a watch.

To Watch or Not to Watch?

I have become jaded over time as I feel that the quality of the average film has dropped over the years.

I must admit, I did not hold out high hopes for this movie. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

The acting was good, the music was good, as were the locations. It was great to see Janney in a different role and she excelled.

There are no great surprises here, but so what? It is a good way to pass a couple of hours of action /thriller entertainment with a couple of surprise plot twists.

I happily recommend it. It is worth the watch just so long as you keep your expectations realistic.

It's an action thriller so I wasn't exactly expecting it to re-invent the wheel. I just wanted a decent popcorn flick with interesting characters and some action on the side.

I was actually pleasantly surprised. While not reinventing the genre, the movie definitely reinvigorates it. The characters development and the dynamic between the two women is very well written and the acting is exceptional for a movie of the genre.

Just when I thought I couldn't be surprised by the depth of Janney's acting, she knocks another one out of the park in a role I never would have expected her in.

Oh and for the ones who are having such a hard time "suspending disbelief" when they see "a senior citizen" kick two young guys into next week, ask yourself why you had no such issue while watching Keanu Reeves, a mere 3 years "younger" take a whole room full of armed younger guys in John Wick...

This movie could have been very good because the cast and acting are solid, with excellent cinematography. The story is so ridiculous, however, that no one could ever believe it and dramas don't work well with stupid scripts. Allison Janney, who plays a former CIA agent, is always worth watching and so are the other actors even though their dialogue is fairly limited. Jurney Smollett also does fine given the poor script she has to work with. It is impossible to describe how absurd the story is without including too many spoilers, so I suggest seeing this if you are an Allison Janney fan with about an hour and forty-five minutes with nothing else to do.

As "Lou" (2022 release; 109 min) opens, we are introduced to Lou, a fifty-something "lone ranger" woman in remote Washington State (we later learn it's the San Juan Islands). One senses she has had a complicated past. Her neighbor is Hannah, a thirty-something mother of a young daughter. A big storm is arriving soon, and before you know it, things go haywire on many different levels. At this point we are 10 min into the movie.

Couple of comments: this film is directed by noted cinematographer Anna Foerster. More importantly, the film is produced by none other than J. J. Abrams, immediately raiding expectations. Alas, it was not to be. For that, look no further than the script, which is frankly quite weak. Not only do things happen that simply make no sense, but worse, there is never any doubt how all of this is going to play out in the end. There are two bright lights: first, Allison Janney brings a tough performance in the title role. Second, the outdoor scenery (somewhere in the wild and wide open Pacific Northwest) is simply tops. It's a shame that the rest of the production isn't on the same high level.

"Lou" premiered on Netflix this past weekend. If you are in the mood for an "action thriller" that is fairly straight-forward if not predictable, I'd readily suggest you keep your expectations fairly low, and then draw your own conclusion.