User Reviews

"The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially." - Ernest Hemingway The genre of the modern day (or at least a-traditionally period) western is fascinating. Especially because each one has at least a touch of noir flavor; characters will indulge in a little too much whiskey, a few too many cigarettes, and the camera will linger on their bad habits. After all, they film well; but the approach is also deconstructionist. What The Aviation Cocktail teaches us is that it's hard to be good to bad people. Toxicity spreads; and even a good man (like the film's protagonist) can be dragged into a web of lies and deceit. I won't spoil anything here, but AC delves into adultery, vigilantism, alcoholism and the very heart of toxic masculinity, and by the end, everyone is worse for it. Except the audience, that is, as the film is quietly beautiful. Masterfully shot and executed, it keeps up a tightly wound pace that doesn't let up from the first, tense sequence (a standoff that sets the film's tone perfectly). This reviewer hasn't seen quite such an eye for all the standards of Midwestern Americana since a young Michael Bay stepped onto the scene. I'll leave this film with a 9 out of 10, only on the principle that no film is perfect, although some come close.