Movie Review: Above Suspicion (2019)

Genre: Crime Drama  

Director: Phillip Noyce  

Starring: Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston, Thora Birch, Johnny Knoxville  

Running Time: 104 minutes  

Synopsis: In rural and economically depressed Pikeville, Kentucky, Susan Smith (Emilia Clarke) is a young single mom, addicted to drugs and surrounded by good-for-nothing men including abusive ex-husband Cash (Johnny Knoxville). Dashing and newly-minted FBI agent Mark Putnam (Jack Huston) arrives in town with his wife and child, eager to build a career reputation. He uses Susan as an informant to nab a bank robber, with Susan willing to snitch on her community in the hope that Mark will provide her an escape and a fresh start. They embark on a torrid affair with no good outcomes.

What Works Well: Based on actual events, this drama benefits from a ramshackle small town milieu harbouring dark ambitions. Susan is willing to do anything to escape Pikeville, and Mark is just as eager to place this backwater of a stepping stone behind him and move up in his career. They use each other in an unspoken pact of mutual manipulation. Emilia Clarke obliterates her Englishness and sinks into an epic white trash performance, her narration augmenting a script dripping with weary wisdom.

What Does Not Work As Well: Neither Susan, a drug addicted welfare cheat and homewrecker, nor Mark, an immoral exploiter, represent remotely sympathetic characters. Not unexpectedly, the drama flails in an unappealing morass of distasteful behaviour.

Key Quote:
Susan (narrating): That's the way the devil comes. He don't come to you as evil. He don't come to you on fire. He comes as everything you ever wanted. He comes to you as you.



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Movie Review: Now And Then (1995)

Genre: Coming-Of-Age Dramedy  

Director: Lesli Linka Glatter  

Starring: Demi Moore, Melanie Griffith, Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson, Thora Birch, Christina Ricci  

Running Time: 100 minutes  

Synopsis: Now in their 30s, four friends from childhood re-convene in their small hometown of Shelby, Indiana. Chrissy (Rita Wilson) still lives in her parents' house and is about to give birth. Roberta (Rosie O'Donnell) is a doctor, Teeny (Melanie Griffiths) a Hollywood star, and Samantha (Demi Moore) an author. In a long flashback they reminisce about the summer of 1970, when as pre-teens they became aware of life's complexities, including imperfect parents, societal ills, and burgeoning sexuality.

What Works Well: This girl's equivalent of Stand By Me explores a range of pre-adult experiences ranging from mundane misadventures (the girls have a running feud with a group of boys) to painful awakenings into the adult world. The four young actresses (Ashleigh Aston Moore as Chrissy, Christina Ricci as Roberta, Thora Birch as Teeny, and Gaby Hoffman as Samantha) capably carry the acting load and tease out subtle bonds within the already sturdy quadrangle: Chrissy and Roberta are best friends and as adults remained in Shelby, while Teeny and Samantha share a more adventurous spirit and moved far from their hometown. Brendan Fraser adds era context as a Vietnam War veteran, and Walter Sparrow makes an impact as "Crazy" Pete.

What Does Not Work As Well: The adult Samantha over-narrates with saturated sullenness, and the book-end scenes featuring the grown women appear slapped-on to add marketable star names. Moore, Griffith, and O'Donnell barely mask their disinterest, while Wilson embraces cartoon representations. In the flashback, excessive time is occupied with a side-story involving seances and a community tragedy from years past, while a near-death encounter involving an over-sized catch basin is dramatic overkill.

Key Quote:

Young Roberta: You can't get pregnant from French-kissing!

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Movie Review: 13 Minutes (2021)

Genre: Disaster Drama

Director: Lindsay Gossling

Starring: Anne Heche, Amy Smart, Thora Birch, Sofia Vassilieva, Paz Vega
Running Time: 108 minutes

Synopsis: A county in rural Oklahoma is bracing for a storm carrying the threat of destructive tornadoes. A farming couple (Anne Heche and Trace Adkins), a young mother and her unexpectedly pregnant teen daughter (Thora Birch and Sofia Vassilieva), a hotel housekeeper (Paz Vega) and her illegal immigrant lover, a gay couple, and an emergency management services coordinator (Amy Smart) and her young deaf daughter, all have their lives disrupted when the storm hits.

What Works Well: Arriving approximately two thirds of the way through the running time, the critical few minutes when everyone scrambles for shelter and the storm rumbles over the community are excellent. Despite the modest budget, the mammoth tornado is brought to the screen with menacing special effects, and the immediate stunning aftermath featuring a community reduced to rubble carries the requisite impact.

What Does Not Work As Well: Writer and director Lindsay Gossling overpacks her plot with a diversity of cultural hot topics, including abortion, illegal immigration, and parent/gay offspring conflicts, all dealt with at the most superficial level. It takes a long time for the storm to interrupt all the stereotypical antics, and the aftermath is a bland non-resolution, the final third mostly consisting of survivors clambering over debris piles. Some of the acting and writing borders on painfully amateurish.

Conclusion: The real damage is done before the tornado ever makes land.

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The Movies Of Thora Birch

All movies starring Thora Birch and reviewed on the Ace Black Movie Blog are reviewed below:

Patriot Games (1992)

Clear And Present Danger (1994)

Now And Then (1995)

American Beauty (1999)

Above Suspicion (2019)

13 Minutes (2021)

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.
The Movie Star Index is here.