The Rhythm Section (2020)

Plot of The Rhythm Section: Stephanie Patrick is a young woman whose family have been killed in the terrorist bombing of a plane. The business has caused her to become a drug addict and, to pay for her habit, a prostitute. She is visited by a reporter who gives her information about the bombing, causing her to start on a course of revenge, and leading her to a former MI6 agent in Scotland who has information. The man agrees to train her in assassination techniques, and once she had become fit and learnt how to fire a pistol, he directs her to a former CIA man who give her information about the bomb makers. Out in the world Stephanie starts on the path of revenge, but none of it turns out to be easy, and frustratingly she gets no closer to the head of the terrorist group known as U-17.

Content: There is no sex despite Stephanie’s apparent profession, and Blake Lively gets down to her underwear once to swim in a Scottish Loch. It looks incredibly uncomfortable. Stephanie becomes fit and learns to shoot under the guidance of Iain Boyd the MI6 man, however she is not a very efficient assassin, usually just managing to carry out her job and surviving. There is one car chase and some explosions.

A View: This was an interesting take on the female assassin characterisation, with the assassin rather than being super clever and efficient, just making it with her life.  However it turned out not to be what anyone wanted. It seems that we like our super heroes to be just that. I was never sure why Boyd agreed to train her, or how she found out who U-17 was, but that might have been just me. I watched a Bourne film last night. When he enters Italy in the second film the CIA who are watching him discuss. ‘Why did he use his own name, ’ says one. ‘He made a mistake,’ says another. ‘They don’t make mistakes,’ says Nicky Parsons. Wow, that’s what we like. So unfortunately, this film, not really a watch.

Fun Fact: Production was halted for six months after Lively broke her knuckle on set. Insurance covered the delay.