SnoopyStyle

This is based on true events. It is 1983 Denver. A series of bank robberies has attracted FBI agent Terry Husk (Jude Law). Fellow agent Joanne Carney (Jurnee Smollett) is worried about him. Helpful local deputy Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheridan) directs him to local Aryan Nation member Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult) who is organizing a splinter group.

This is another version of this story. Everybody is great in this. The secret sauce is Nicholas Hoult. He really sells that he can be a charismatic leader who could gather a group of true believers. Jude Law and Tye Sheridan are also great. It is a steady walk down the darker American dream and is so compelling for it.

A spaceship crash-lands onto a brutal planet ruled by the Revengor (John Hannah) who wants only revenge against the Earth. Max Cloud (Scott Adkins) is the pilot and Jake is his useless sidekick crew member. It's 1990 Brooklyn and Sarah is playing a video game called Max Cloud. Somehow she gets pulled into the game. Her friend Cowboy comes over and finds her trapped.

Apparently, the sets were recycled and they look it. The first name that comes to mind is Ed Wood. I do appreciate the indie ingenuity and drive to make a movie like this. As the story develops, the other word that comes to mind is Jumanji. I would have preferred staying with the newer version of Jumanji where we only follow the characters inside the game. The characters need to have agency over themselves. The middle part stalls a bit. If all the characters are inside the game, they could all play off of the Max Cloud wackiness. This is intentional camp although not that funny.

Bob Brown (Warren William) dropped out of medical school a year before graduating. His nursing girlfriend Caroline Grant (Jean Muir) insists that he finishes his degree and even pays for it. Instead, he loses all her money. He lies to her while working as a hospital orderly. He comes back to her pretending to have graduated.

This is not the expected opening premise. It is interesting to paint him in the good while he is pulling off this scam. It seems outrageous until I realized that this is the olden times. One could get away with this or at least, believe that he could get away with it. Nevertheless, it is tough to root for him and his lies.