Sweet Girl, the review
Sweet Girl
Family dramas, political conspiracies, revenge - these might seem like the hallmarks of a new chapter from the acclaimed John Wick. Instead, it is precisely with these themes that we can summarize Sweet Girl, the new revenge thriller available from August 20 on the Netflix streaming platform, from which it is produced and distributed.First feature film directed entirely by Brian Andrew Mendoza, previously film producer and photographer, flanked by the protagonist and producer of the film, Jason Momoa, the imposing star of Aquaman and Game of Thrones (of which you can buy the complete box set of all seasons in Blu-Ray on Amazon), which for the first time we can admire in a role that is completely different from those in which we are now used to seeing it.
Sweet Girl, as mentioned above, is a thriller that however presents dramatic and conspiracy themes which, combined with action scenes and the smell of revenge that is perceived throughout the duration of the film, make it enjoyable and relatively fluid, even if you cannot shout at the master I work.
Revenge is a crazy feeling
The story of Sweet Girl centers on the protagonist Ray Cooper, husband and father loving towards his wife Amanda and daughter Rachel (Isabela Merced) , who after the loss of his life partner, seriously ill with cancer, swears revenge on the pharmaceutical company BioPrime, guilty of having broken promises and having delayed the launch on the market of an experimental drug that would have been able to save the life of his wife.After a threatening phone call from the protagonist to the TV show in which the CEO of BioPrime was a guest, who could almost remember Liam Neeson's iconic phone call in Taken, thus begins Ray Cooper's race to justice, a justice that will be done alone, accompanied by his daughter but also tracked down and chased by the police, against the pharmaceutical giant that has ruined his life, transforming his good soul into a murderous madness fueled by severe pain and cold revenge. In short, a plot that is not exactly original and, at times, all too simple to understand.
Obviously, nothing is left to chance and if the plot is initially banal there is a reason and it is derived from the surprise effect that the twist should leave us. Unfortunately, however, even the twist is very forced and unlikely, characteristics that make you lose some of that enthusiasm that, theoretically, a plot twist should leave the viewer.
Overall, the drama that we find in the initial phase of Sweet Girl it is well contrasted with the action part: the action scenes are also well rendered in which, perhaps to satisfy the fan service, the physical characteristics of the protagonist prevail, but all in all it works well above all thanks to the incredible acting skills of Jason Momoa, who for the first time shows us his excellent acting skills at 360 °, representing in a natural and almost personal way the situation of emotional devastation that his character goes through.
Pain, anger, revenge and ... madness
As simple as the plot of Sweet Girl may be, however, very important issues are addressed, which however would have deserved more space than a deepening and that surely, given the excellent emotional representation of the actors, they would have left much more to the viewer.The film is divided into sequences and each of these focuses on different themes: in the initial phase the theme of pain, of the mental and emotional devastation that one feels when losing a loved one, a grief that is difficult to heal that will leave a profound mark, as is clearly shown to us in the hospital scene or when the heavy theme of loss, due to the passing of time, of memories linked to a lost loved one.
Another important theme of Sweet Girl, the one on which the basis of the film was developed, is revenge. In fact, we are clearly shown how the initial feeling of pain is transformed into a terribly negative emotion which, when mixed with anger, changes, to the point of becoming mere personal revenge, not taking into account consequences and problems, a sort of road to madness, in which one wonders how far one is willing to go to defend love for a person.
Finally, one of the main issues addressed is that of political conspiracy, represented in Sweet Girl by the dirty corruption of which it is stained the pharmaceutical company that the protagonist tries to stop.
A question of points of view
At this point, however, a rather important problem arises: the theme of political conspiracy would certainly need to be more in-depth analysis. Being the focus of Sweet Girl, the narrative should have focused in more detail on the conspiracy, revealing details, thickening the background to make the viewer understand in a concrete way what the protagonist is fighting against.The choice of narration. instead, it fell more on the race for revenge and later on the "manhunt" that the police were carrying out following Ray's tracks. In this way the spectator's attention is focused only and exclusively on the second point, involuntarily ignoring all the problems that refer to the corrupt health system and the direct political and moral consequences.
Another aspect on which it would have been optimal focus is the rhythm of the film, which is excessively fluctuating to the point of almost damaging the scenes of the various chases and hand-to-hand clashes which, as we have specified previously, are well made and dynamic, typical of classic American action films.
Overall, despite the problems concerning the script and the narration of the events that we have highlighted so far, Sweet Girl is also enjoyable thanks to good photography and background soundtracks, which become real sensory fuels, underlining the dramatic atmosphere of the initial events and darkening more in the second part of the film, to allow the viewer to amplify his emotions.
