Destroyer ** (2018, Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Tatiana Maslany, Jade Pettyjohn, Sebastian Stan, Scoot McNairy, Bradley Whitford) – Movie Review

Nicole Kidman stars in Destroyer (2018) as burnt-out LAPD detective Erin Bell, who turns up at the scene of a murder, and then reconnects with members of a California desert gang from her tragic undercover assignment 17 years earlier to settle old scores, put her inner demons at rest, and make peace with her daughter Shelby (Jade Pettyjohn). Toby Kebbell plays Silas, the villainous leader of that gang who has re-emerged to plague her.

Other key roles go to Sebastian Stan as her old boyfriend Chris, Scoot McNairy as Ethan and Bradley Whitford as DiFranco. They get a bit of screen time, but not too much, and their under-written roles largely defy these good actors. The movie is all about the women, well one woman really.

Kidman is on screen throughout. It must be a very satisfying role for her to play, especially as it is something completely different from his usual runs of roles, out of her comfort zone. Actually, it is two roles – the wrecked present day one and the feisty one of yesteryear – even more satisfying for Kidman to play. She does well by it, relishing the chance to look old and decrepit, though she doesn’t really convince as a tough LA cop. She is way too scrawny to persuade in her fights, though she does persuade when she has a big gun in her hands. It must have been a demanding role for Kidman, but she is fearless and well up for it, rubber face make-up and all.

Director Karyn Kusama has much more success with the talky drama scenes and the grungy LA atmosphere than with the action sequences, which have been the male preserve for so long that she feels a woman’s touch can refresh the genre. The bank robbery sequence or Erin Bell’s fight with DiFranco just don’t persuade.

In any case Kusama is after something different – a serious drama about the redemption of her heroine through making war on, and then peace, with the various characters of her past. That part of the film works pretty well. The plotting in the ambitious screenplay by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi is intriguing and quite clever, but shaky. The constant moving back and forward is confusing and unsatisfying, though that is really the whole point of the exercise.

When the action stops, and the thriller is sidelined, the talk seems endless, and the writers allow it to run into overtime at just over two hours. The plot is however well set up and has a satisfying final payoff, though Kusama’s slo-mo finish, with birds, sky and boy skateboarders feels pretentious and belongs to another (worse) movie.

Karyn Kusama is the director of Girlfight (2000) and Æon Flux (2005), Jennifer’s Body (2009) and The Invitation (2015).

Destroyer was a $7 million misfire at the box office.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com