Angelina Jolie plays a firefighter dabbed in professional makeup in Taylor Sheridan’s “Those Who Wish Me Dead” (HBO Max, 05.12.21) a mid-budget, action adventure that’s the kind of release Hollywood used to churn out a dime-a-dozen back in the ’90s. In 2021, it plays in damn-near ridiculous (albeit entertaining) ways.
Written and directed by Sheridan, Jolie’s character, Hannah Faber, lives in an isolated lookout tower. She’s solemn, lonely and a tad-too-depressed. You see, she’s dealing with the aftermath of a containment operation gone awry, three kids she couldn’t rescue from the flames of a forrest fire died and she hasn’t been the same since, unable to shake off the fire images in her head.
On the other side of the aisle, in the big city, a forensic accountant, Owen (Jake Weber), uncovers a sleazy government cover-up. Sheridan spares us the details of the crime being exposed, and all the better for it since this is the kind of movie that benefits from just sticking to the nitty gritty. Regardless, our accountant brings along his teenage son Connor (Finn Little) for an escape route out of the city and into backwoods Montana where a local sheriff (Jon Bernthal) is contacted to help.
Father and son eventually learn that hit men (played by Nicholas Hoult and Aidan Gillen), have been hired to ice them. Seeking protection, the boy stumbles upon Hannah as she tries to shelter him from the devious men chasing them down. Hoult and Gillen’s characters are nastily rendered, they don’t have an inch of empathy in their bones, if push comes to shove they will kill a child.
We know what Hannah’s thinking is by helping Connor, this is her chance at redemption, to escape the mental anguish she’s been through. Of course, since Jolie is a firefighter, the inevitable has to happen, a forrest fire does occur in the predictably watchable climactic set-piece. Jolie’s tormented character is a little too much, the actress, although miscast on-paper, doesn’t do a bad job with her character, especially in the scenes involving the playful banter between Hannah and Connor, but there’s no dimensions to her role. We get what we see.
Familiar territory is treaded in this straightforward thriller, no bold filmmaking decisions are made, it’s the kind of meat and potatoes approach to filmmaking that isn’t necessarily unwelcome in this day and age of Marvel extravaganzas. Sheridan along with co-writers Charles Leavitt and Michael Koryta (whose novel is the source material) construct relatable characters, dryly funny dialogue and violent showdowns involving everything from an axe to a semi-automatic rifles.
Of course, if you expect a film at the level of Sheridan’s Oscar-nominated “Hell Or High Water” then think again. “Those Who Wish Me Dead” lacks the contemplative vibe of that neo-western, instead deciding to settle for comforting maudlin. This is more of a straightforward affair for Sheridan, one that still maintains his penchant for tackling law enforcement, and criminals in backwoods America. It’s also the kind of movie I imagine myself watching at a Saturday matinee and not necessarily feeling bad about it once the end credits start rolling.
SCORE: B-
If the movie is as rough as some in the industry seem to fear, that teaser may have been less of a marketing campaign and more of a public plea for somebody to finally take the damn thing.