Is That Matt Damon?
Fletcherspears, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
This review is a little different from what I've done in the past. I'm pretty particular about which movies I watch. For these reviews/articles, I try to find films that I think will go down in history. Every movie I've written about has played a considerable role in the ongoing Cinema vs. Streaming battle. If I were to follow that pattern this week, I would write about The Suicide Squad just because of the Warner Bros. Canada ad where James Gunn and the movie's cast encourage audiences to watch the film in “f&!%ing” theaters. A great ad, but the movie looks “f&!%ing” trashy, so I broke my own rules and watched Stillwater instead. People won't remember Stillwater like they will The Suicide Squad or any of the films I've reviewed in the past, but it was a great watch. It was a one-of-a-kind film that captures one of Matt Damon's best performances.
Stillwater doesn't quite live up to this year's masterpieces, but it sure comes close. It was a unique film that ultimately pulled the rug out from underneath the audience. It pulled off the Shyamalan twist better than Shyamalan did in his new movie, Old. Though this wasn't a flawlessly crafted film, it was great nonetheless. The elements that made it great were the writing, the overall execution/direction from Director Tom McCarthy, and the performances of Matt Damon and his supporting cast.
The writing made Stillwater a great movie. The movie is about a roughneck dad, Bill Baker (Matt Damon), trying to prove his daughter's innocence. The best part of the writing was its structure. The film was a series of irrational approaches and failures as Bill tries to prove his daughter's innocence. As the stakes rise throughout the movie, Bill rises to those challenges and ultimately does the unthinkable.
McCarthy not only wrote an excellent script, but he did an excellent job executing that script and bringing it to the big screen. Praising the director in a film review is a copout because it's not honoring the specific technical elements. Still, because all the technical aspects worked so well together, I think it's fair to go to the person in charge of everything and applaud them. I also think it's natural for critics to praise McCarthy because of his acclaim for his film Spotlight in 2015. For every project he's involved with now that does well, critics naturally praise him precisely because of his past success.
The execution of the script-to-screen can also be attributed to the actors. It takes incredible actors to bring a director’s vision and story to life. Damon was almost unrecognizable in his role as roughneck Bill Baker. It reminded me of Murphy's role as Emmett in A Quiet Place Part II. Damon is an excellent actor, and this role could be one of the highlights of his career. Though Damon was the highlight of this movie, I think the supporting cast did a great job working with him.
Though Stillwater wasn't quite as good as The Courier and A Quiet Place Part II, it came close and was a unique film that I didn't expect at all. I did appreciate this movie more than I did Old and Luca. Though I don't think this movie will go down in history, I think it makes a great watch. I also believe the Academy will nominate Matt Damon for best actor. It wasn't a perfect film, but it was a great movie. It was great because of the writing, Tom McCarthy's direction, and Matt Damon's incredible performance.
