When Benny spills the beans about Mary to Danny, Glover superbly plays the moment like a more charming Bill Sykes from Oliver Twist. Danny’s father is the first hit we see Mary perform, and her guilt at leaving him parentless weighs on her conscience almost as much as the fear that Danny will figure out her connection to him. Much of Mary’s story entails her attempts to hide betrayals from the people she cares for, especially where Danny is concerned.
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The best parts of “Proud Mary” are the moments when the film investigates the complicated emotional contracts between its characters. In addition to Winston, whose lack of precociousness is refreshing, “Proud Mary” also has good performances by Billy Brown, who plays the aforementioned love interest and Danny Glover, whose Godfather-like character marks his return to bad guy roles. One senses this was a passion project of hers because she’s fully committed even when the film lets her down. Her parental arguments with Danny are also delivered with expert comic timing and she’s savvy enough to know when to let Winston steal the scene. Or how she nonchalantly blows people away with the coolness of Schwarzenegger or Stallone. Watch how she temporarily melts in the arms of a former lover before coming to her senses, or how she holds her head when she tells her orphaned young ward Danny (Jahi Di'Allo Winston) what to do in case of her demise. These conflicting feelings seem to emanate from her soul. Here, she plays a tough hitwoman whose unexpected maternal instinct comes with a heaping side order of guilt. Henson is an actress whose performances manifest themselves in her entire body. Just watching her from scene to scene is pure joy. Whenever “Proud Mary” falters, the extremely talented Henson picks the film up and carries it on her capable shoulders like a wounded comrade. Director Babak Najafi manages to correct the pacing issue during the admittedly excellent action climax, but it’s too little, too late. Screenwriters Steve Antin, John Stuart Newman and Christian Swegal put in more drama than one might expect for a standard actioner, but the capable actors are undermined by the film’s construction. The cadences are off-putting and rushed numerous times the acting or the action was so involving that I wanted to spend more time within the scenes. The editing is also problematic, as action scenes (and even dramatic ones) too often end several beats too soon. Much has been written about Hollywood’s inability to light Black skin, but considering that Laustsen also shot “ Mimic” and “ The Shape of Water,” I must conclude that his lighting here is a misguided stylistic choice. The light is so distracting that it blots out Danny Glover’s entire face during his best scene.
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I haven’t seen a movie this obsessed with light coming through venetian blinds since 1984. Those flaws are all behind the camera, starting with the awful cinematography by Dan Laustsen. In fact, it’s almost good, so close to success that its flaws truly become frustrating.
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“Proud Mary” doesn’t deserve the lack of faith its studio has in it.
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Yet Screen Gems was hiding the movie from critics as if it were a drunk frat boy trying to crash a classy black-tie soiree. Henson’s take on John Cassavetes’ “Gloria.” “Proud Mary” is fronted by an Oscar-nominated actress whose last film, “ Hidden Figures” made an ungodly amount of money at the box office. Since the superb trailer, which played like gangbusters every time I saw it at theaters, I have been feening for Taraji P. And I’ll be honest: Professionalism had nothing to do with it I just really wanted to see this damn movie. The hero of this remake-let’s call him Odieseus-eventually found his Ithaca after a two-hour commute to a Jamaica, Queens movie theater. By contrast, Screen Gems was going to make me work for this review, sending me on an Odyssey to rival Homer’s epic poem.