Destroyer

Greetings again from the darkness. The rogue/burned-out cop obsessed with an old case or particular criminal nemesis is something we have seen many times before. Ordinarily there would be no reason to seek out yet another movie on the subject; however, this time the reason is obvious ... Nicole Kidman.

Ms. Kidman, an Oscar winner for THE HOURS (2002), is an excellent actress and has had a wonderful career, but this is something altogether different for her. She plays LAPD Detective Erin Bell, a worn-down, emotionally shattered shell of the idealistic cop who, 17 years earlier, was part of an undercover operation that went tragically and violently wrong. Director Karyn Kusama (JENNIFER'S BODY, 2009) bounces back and forth on the timelines - sometimes we are viewing Erin's undercover work with her partner Chris (Sebastian Stan), and others we get the haggard Erin of present day. The contrast is stark.

The ghost of case past has returned, and we witness what has haunted her these many years. Past decisions and actions have rotted her spirit, while alcohol has since destroyed her body. She is a wreck - physically and emotionally, and her reputation within the force is shot. It wouldn't be totally accurate to describe her as self-destructive since she has already destructed. The only thing keeping her going is booze and a desire for revenge.

Flashbacks take us through her early work with the crime gang led by Silas (Toby Kebbell), a master of psychological manipulation (think Charles Manson). We also see Erin's too-close connection to partner Chris, and a terrific bank heist scene explains how things went down. Now it's 17 years later, and Silas has resurfaced. Erin wonders why. We also see Erin's feeble attempts to be a mother to her 16 year old daughter (do the math) Shelby, played by Jade Pettyjohn. The two have only a sliver of a relationship as Shelby lives with Erin's ex Ethan (the eternally underutilized Scoot McNairy).

Other support work is provided by Tatiana Maslany as one of Silas' gang, and Bradley Whitford as a scummy defense attorney. Erin has a sequence with the latter that emphasizes just how alone she is. When asked where her partner is, we realize she has no partner with her and no back-up on the way ... she is a lonely, desperate, rogue cop with a murky plan and a head clouded by booze.

Writing partners Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi (known for CLASH OF THE TITANS and RIDE ALONG) deliver very few surprises with the script, leaving the burden on Ms. Kidman to keep us interested. And despite her character's train wreck of a life, the performance is quite something to behold ... her look, her gait, and even her whispered voice - all point to a woman hanging on by a thread and lacking basic daily energy to show any signs of hope. Director Kusama adds texture by showing many non-touristy areas of Los Angeles, and filming the two timelines in such a way that the structure works - although the Erin in shambles is far more intriguing than the younger one. On a separate note, there should be a special Oscar for the make-up team that managed to make the usually glamorous Ms. Kidman look realistically shattered.

Nicole Kidman does in fact deliver an accomplished performance in Destroyer. Yes, the movie tends to move somewhat slowly and would be misrepresented as an action/adventure feature. But Kidman triumphantly carries the film with a masterful portrayal of a character that is strikingly different than expected, and in the process dramatically expands and enhances her reputation as an actress.

This is a great film. The kind of film they just don't make anymore. Kidman looks unrecognisable and delivers her best performance in a long time! Beautiful photography and a stellar cast make this an overall great watch.

I seriously do not get half of the reviews about this movie about it not having a plot and being slow or about the editing being confusing. "Destroyer" has a very straight forward plot that is not even using cheap twists but rather telling a straight story in a hypnotic trance way and cutting up the timeline to reveal information at the time the director considered it necessary. I loved Karyn Kusamas "The Invitation" and "Destroyer" is a well made movie, no matter how you look at it. Nicole Kidman carries the movie along with the perfect choice of music that sucks you in and watch the plot unfold. This is not an action movie and if you fell for that its not the directors fault. Its a slow drama about a cop that made wrong decisions and tries to right her wrongs when her past with a bank heist gone wrong gets back to her 17 years later.

I know people today have attention spans like moths but seriously... if you can't accept a slow drama for what it is, that says more about you than about the movie. And come on, its 2019... if you are confused by a non-linear timeline and can't wait till the movie clears up the confusion.... thats on you too.

Don't expect this to be a violent revenge movie... its not. Well, at least its not the focus of "Destroyer", although the movie does not hold back when things go down. The drama elements are well played and the ending was quite touching to me. At its core this movie is about the desperate longing for escape from a cold, grey world and its quite obvious from the choice of locations and flats that always give off a bleak, worn down feeling. Music and cinematography make this work perfectly and the editing helped spice up a rather straight forward plot. If you liked Kusamas previous movies... go for it. The key ingredients of haunting atmosphere and slow unveiling of information to the viewer are there although this is a completely different movie than "The invitation". So don't fall for all the moths swarming IMDB. I can't put my finger on all those silly 1star ratings but honestly, it reeks of gender insecurity.

Too many back and forth flash-backs throughout the entire 121 min slowly paced convoluted plot does not make for a good film - regardless of Kidman's decent (not great) performance.

Director Karyn Kusama and writers Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi failed to accomplish their vision in creating a captivating film by convoluting simplicity with cliched typical underwhelming directing and writing. Had this films timeline been played out normally, it may have been somewhat entertaining - although the focus was too much on Kidman's character more than anything else. Chopping it with back and forth scenes added nothing more than an annoyance, as there was very little surprise or impact that wasn't already predictable, and the finale was very underwhelming.

The camera work/cinematography was decent, although I would've rather seen less slow-mo and long fixated shots on irrelevant scenes. Had this film's pace been picked up substantially, and edited down to about 90 mins by cutting the convoluted and unnecessary portions out (e.g. skateboarders, walking in the snow, etc), I would have enjoyed it, instead of being left unsatisfied.

A shame the producers focused more on bogus reviews instead of investing in more experienced director/writers equal to Kidman's level. You won't get an A-grade film by hiring A-list actors with B-grade TV-experienced writers and directors.

Sadly it's only a very generous 5/10 from me, and all of that goes to the actors and score which were the only aspects that were stand-out/decent.