IR Film Review: CRISIS [Quiver]

The idea of balance and the path to its acceptance is an interesting construct when it comes to business, health and education. Nicholas Jarecki, whose last film "Arbitrage" also assimilated certain ideas of conscience within its main character (played by Richard Gere) takes the approach to a slightly different level in his first feature since then (2012). It is a much more ambitious outing with consecutive storylines. It also offers its three main actors the ability to work outside their comfort zone. Gary Oldman plays a professor that is on the edge of a moral quandary between his research work, his tenure at a university, funding and reacting to a troubling result on one of his lab projects. It is nice to see Oldman playing a regular guy with troubles because one knows that there is that manic energy beneath but it has to be conducted correctly by a confident director according to the way it works. When Oldman does laser focus it, whether in scenes with Greg Kinnear or others in his circle, it end up having much more weight. The beautiful thing is also he doesn't have to carry the entire movie all on his own (which can be daunting - he was in nearly every scene of "Mank" as comparison) so it lets him relax more into it.

What "Crisis" really is about is the opioid crisis from the three angles that it needs to be seen from to get a helicopter perspective. The first is from the research and commerce side which Oldman is embroiled with. The second is Armie Hammer as an undercover agent working in enforcement for the DEA trying to trap some dealers by posing as one. The third is a mother played by Evangeline Lilly who undergoes a trauma which brings her in a way into the orbit of Hammer's op, albeit peripherally. Lilly has been very select in what she has done after "Lost" doing The Hobbit trilogy as well as the Ant Man films so it is interesting seeing her take on such a harrowing to a point and emotionally draining role in an independent per se. She is good and shows her vulnerability more than any of the three mains but that is also the context of her role.

Armie Hammer (despite anything going on in his personal life, which unfortunately casts shadow on the viewing of his performance as a whole) attacks this man's crusade with a vengeance but also a sense of purpose. Jarecki gives all of his characters reason and motivation so they feel complete. Jarecki as a director is not flashy which both sets him apart but also gives the film almost the visual quality of a good TV episode albeit with stars that have been in franchises. It is an interesting irony but also speaks to the transition point in entertainment content that is happening. The movie also doesn't go too explicit or gory because it wants its audience to understand the opioid crisis, scare them a tad but also guise it in a thriller/drama type structure where there is both resolution and consequence. And in that way, "Crisis" succeeds. B

By Tim Wassberg