Premise: In 1950s Detroit, a group of hired criminals scramble after a job falls apart and evolves into something bigger.
The only thing working against No Sudden Move is the history of its director. Steven Soderbergh makes a slick crime movie with offbeat humor better than anyone. He has a history of strong entries in the genre from the Ocean's movies to Out of Sight to Logan Lucky. No Sudden Move only suffers in that it's not any of those movies. Ocean's Eleven is a perfect movie as far as I'm concerned. While No Sudden Move has a starry cast, what Soderbergh movie doesn't at this point? So, I want to make it very clear how meaningless my single criticism of the movie is in the scheme of things: Soderbergh has done this movie better before.
It's still a greatly enjoyable movie. The core pair of Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro work great together. I get the sense that they've both worked with Soderbergh enough to have a shorthand. Everyone who shows up is a name of some sort. Jon Hamm has a lot of experience playing period authority figures. Ray Liotta fits perfectly as a gangster at all times. I like this older, huskier Brendan Fraser too. The Matt Damon cameo perhaps gets a little too on the nose with the thematic stuff, but he's turned into a good "master of the universe" bureaucrat. Seeing Damon age over the last 25 years on screen really has been a delight.
With the period setting, this movie does feel like it's moving a little into the Coen Brother's or even Shane Black's space, but it all works nicely. Soderbergh is great at knowing when he needs to do a more commercial play after a couple indies or experiments for him.
Verdict: Strongly Recommend
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