The Get Out

It has a reasonably solid, if not blazingly original, premise, a more-than-solid cast, made with enough style to make for a reasonably diverting 100 minutes, but it never quite manages to be anything more than that.

As an aging Albanian nightclub owner, Crowe proves consistently delightful even when the material lets him down.

Despite its narratively and thematically intriguing set-up, the film is too sluggishly paced and anonymously shot to fully become the outrageous farce with a heart of gold it occasionally promises to be.

I have no doubt this is what The Get Out co-writer and director Derrick Borte thought he was making – considering he references Tarantino at one point, I'd guess Jackie Brown was more specifically the guiding light. But even with leading man Russell Crowe, who is the only member of this solid cast who strikes the right tone, this film just can't get there. In addition to dialogue that isn't nearly strong enough to conjure the quirky specificity that powers the best examples of this kind of movie, the rhythm of its delivery is off in a way that just isn't possible to fully recover from.

The Get Out is forgettable fare, though Russell Crowe remains fun to watch.

Action scenes are rendered with zero tension, comedy scenes with barely any sense of pacing; the film is so unadventurous you’re practically begging for an expected split screen or any flourish to spice things up.