Reynolds, Branagh energize Mayday
With the exception of 1988’s Red Heat, I’d be hard-pressed to name a Cold War buddy movie. John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein set out to double the total of this subgenre with Mayday, a surprisingly entertaining piece of ridiculousness. Smart, funny and driven by as an unlikely duo of actors this side of the Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe pairing in The Prince and the Showgirl, the movie is a breezy, silly affair that gets by on sheer charm. To be sure, the less you think about the logistics or viability of the plot, the more likely you are to have a good time.
The time is 1987 and recruitment in the Air Force is still soaring thanks to the popularity of Top Gun. Hotshot Lt. Troy “Assassin” Kelly (Ryan Reynolds) seems intent on modeling himself after Tom Cruise much to the dismay of his superiors. However, his acts of mid-air derring-do get the attention of someone high in the chain of command, and before he knows it, Kelly is working for the CIA. He’s assigned to fly deep into Soviet territory to take pictures of a base where they’re developing a high-tech jet fighter. It’s supposed to be an in-and-out mission.
Of course, if that were the case, this would be a 20-minute movie. Things go awry when Kelly is shot down, landing deep in enemy territory. Little does he know that he landed in the most advantageous spot in the Russian wilderness he could ask for. Luckily, he’s found by Nikolai Ustinov (Kenneth Branagh), who just happens to be enamored by all the U.S. has to offer. His cabin is festooned with, among other things, a Top Gun movie poster, “I Love NY” bumper stickers and a map of the USA. His goal “is to drive from sea to shining sea in a recreational vehicle.” Needless to say, he starts peppering Kelly with questions as soon as he regains consciousness.
Having the desire to get to the good ole USA in common, the mismatched pair set out to Moscow to get to the U.S. Embassy. Kelly assures his friend-of-convenience he can get him granted asylum. However, Ustinov wants more than that, as he needs to get his estranged daughter (Maria Bakalova) out of the country as well.
With a villain out of central casting (Marcin Dorocinski) in pursuit, the story sports little in the way of surprises. Yet, the chemistry between the two stars makes it all worthwhile, their interactions generating one humorous moment after another. Reynolds, when he abandons his smart-aleck persona, can be an effective performer. Thankfully, he realizes he doesn’t have to shoulder the load alone here. Wisely, he shares the spotlight and the results are fantastic. The give-and-take he and Branagh establish elevate the material, the Shakesperean actor obviously having fun as the wily ex-KGB officer who’s bought into the most egregious examples of U.S. pop propaganda.
The action sequences are well-choregraphed and filmed in such a way as to clarify and accentuate the movement. Branagh puts himself through his paces in an elaborate hand-to-hand fight in which Ustinov takes on three adversaries. The scene benefits from a lack of judicious cutting. Equally impressive is a set piece that finds our heroes finding refuge in an apartment building in an attempt to outrun a bevy of bad guys. The directors’ camera snakes down the hallways, following Kelly and Ustinov as they burrow through the ceiling of one apartment to drop down into another, where they desperately try to find a way out.
This exemplifies the sense of fun that separates this from so many other genre exercises. To be sure, the story has its heavy-handed elements to it. Kelly comes to see that Russians aren’t all bad, Ustinov learns how to communicate with his daughter and the third act ends with a rather standard action scene. But in the end, it doesn’t matter. With Reynolds and Branagh involved, Mayday is in good hands. Streaming on Apple TV.
Sincerity allows Sun to shine
No one would blame Wendy (Dakota Fanning) for being in a state of disbelief. Her longtime boyfriend Jack (Jake Johnson), who she’s madly in love with, has told her she needs to go out and play the field. He wants to make sure she has no regrets when they marry, as he’s older than she is, has two children from a previous marriage and doesn’t want to become a father again. Confident she’ll find no one better, he assures her this is all for the best, reveling in playing such an understanding, magnanimous role. After all, Wendy loves him and his children. What could possibly go wrong?
Thus is the setup for Joe Swanberg’s The Sun Never Sets, a film that employs a rom-com premise but, for the most part, plays things straight. The writer/director provides a steady hand throughout, never allowing the film to veer towards being an outright comedy or a dour drama. Its humor is found in everyday situations, while its more serious moments never become too heavy, the movie instead an examination of one young woman’s unexpected journey to happiness.
Fanning is very good as Wendy, navigating myriad feelings. The character’s reentry to the dating scene requires her to run the gamut from confusion to dismay and all emotional points in between. Of course, Jack’s plan goes horribly awry when Wendy reconnects with her old flame Chuck (Cory Michael Smith), who has returned to Anchorage to start a seaplane transport service. Having never gotten over him completely, she’s susceptible to his charms, and before you know it, they’re discussing living together and perhaps even starting a family.
At times, Jack’s actions are hard to wrap your head around. Is he trying to impress Wendy by casting himself as an understanding, mature partner? She’s obviously devoted to him, so that would seem unnecessary. Is he doing this so that he can play the field himself? He ends up getting no shortage of attention from other women, which can’t help but fuel his middle-age ego. His incredulous response when Wendy initially tells him she’s decided to be with Chuck is one of genuine surprise, indicating his actions were prompted by hubris, which history shows, always brings about a tragic end.
I’ve provided no spoilers as Wendy vacillates between the two men, her confusion understandably clouding her decisions. Jack offers stability, which she craves, now that her best friend (Debby Ryan) is pregnant and her other acquaintances have settled down. He may not be exciting but the sense of peace she finds with him is appealing. Chuck, on the other hand, is exciting and sexy, his impulsivity appealing in the moment. That he can offer her children of her own is not to be discounted.
What makes the film work is the sincerity with which it’s executed. Nary a false note is struck throughout and none of the interactions between the characters come off as contrived. Their confusion, vacillation, pain and hope are all relatable, their humanity front-and-center throughout. As a result, in going against the grain, The Sun Never Sets stands apart from other romances, opting for realism as opposed to manipulative melodrama, the results being unique and wholly satisfying. In Theaters.
Coincidence trips up moody Whisper Man
Despite the lurid and rather hackneyed nature of the material, the veteran cast of The Whisper Man put their shoulders to the wheel and do their best to put this one over. They almost succeed and at the very least, they create fully fleshed-out, relatable characters. Yet, too many leaps in logic and incidents of coincidence occur that are hard to swallow in this adaption of the Alex North novel, though the performances and the mood of foreboding created by director James Ashcroft tempt you to brush these lapses aside.
Tom Kennedy (Adam Scott) is hanging on by a thread and is acting with the best of intentions. What with the recent death of his wife, he and his son Jake (Acston Luca Porto) move back to his hometown of Featherbank. He hopes the familiar surroundings will get him back on his feet and give his son a fresh start.
Unfortunately, an old urban legend, tragically based on fact, has reared its ugly head. Children are disappearing, with one being found murdered in the same fashion as the Whisper Man. These killings were committed in a very specific manner and these new slayings are being done in the same way. The original killer, Frank Carter (Michael Keaton) is securely locked away, yet somehow this copycat is acting in specific ways only he would have knowledge of.
Amanda Beck (Michelle Monaghan), the officer in charge of the case, consults former detective Peter Willis (Robert De Niro), as he was the man who brought Carter in. Retired, bitter and alone, he refuses to help but changes his mind when Tom, estranged and having changed his last name years ago, begs him to get involved when Jake is taken.
This is the first of many convenient coincidences that occur, each more outlandish than the last, eventually stretching this viewer’s suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. By the time all is said and done, a collector of serial killer memorabilia is drawn in, his connection to these killings tenuous at best, and the discovery of the remains of a long-lost child take place in a location so outlandish it had me rolling my eyes.
Ironically, the film’s most effective moments are its more intimate ones. Scenes in which father and son delve into the incidents that drove them apart and attempt to reconcile are charged with the proper dose of emotion, De Niro and Scott never going too far. Equally good is the interaction between Scott and Porto, the young actor holding his own in the company of these veterans. Of course, the highlights are the scenes with Keaton and De Niro, the former bringing a calm sense of barely controlled menace to the role, his co-star wisely holding back, providing small grace notes here and there.
Part-and-parcel of this genre is the tendency to shock the audience with the heinous nature of the crimes in question. Nothing is held back here as we witness the discovery of two child victims, having been slain in a horrific manner, as well as see photos of others. The envelope is pushed here and with the perpetual overcast look of the movie, Ashcroft provides an unnerving experience, for good or ill.
Once the identity of the killer is revealed, it makes sense and had the film stuck to being a straight procedural, it might have worked. However, the incredulous narrative tangents simply didn’t hold water for me. The very definition of a “your mileage may vary” movie, Man is an effective exercise, as long as you can excuse its flimsy sense of logic. Streaming on Netflix.
This article appears in August 28-September 3, 2025.
