Russell Crowe Can't Save Underwhelming 'The Get Out'
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- Russell Crowe stars as Manco Kapak, an Albanian nightclub owner in the U.S. who, after a heart attack, tries to retire to a tropical island — but is robbed twice by a masked gunman while owing a cartel cash
- Director Derrick Borte previously teamed with Crowe on the 2020 road-rage thriller 'Unhinged,' but his new film 'lacks the visual flair' that made that earlier effort effective
- The supporting cast includes Teresa Palmer as Crowe's girlfriend Sunny, Aaron Paul as Jeff, Nina Dobrev as a bank teller, and Luke Evans as a flamboyantly dressed nightclub buyer — with Dobrev singled out as 'game' despite thin material
- The review's verdict calls the film 'largely underwhelming,' criticizing it for awkwardly veering between 'unfunny, crass humor' and 'flat sincerity,' and failing to become 'the outrageous farce with a heart of gold it occasionally promises to be'
- The tonal gamble — a good-hearted protagonist in a violent-crime narrative, rejecting dark humor — requires 'tremendous skill' the review says the film doesn't achieve
- Distribution outlook: after a limited theatrical run, the film is expected to find its audience on VOD, buoyed by Crowe's name recognition and a relative dearth of crime comedies.
Why it matters: For Crowe, this is a second pairing with Borte after 2020's 'Unhinged,' and the review suggests the crime-comedy genre's tonal challenges remain unsolved here despite his committed lead performance. For VOD audiences, the reviewer predicts the film will land better at home than in theaters, where its sluggish pacing was exposed.
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