Don't Fight A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIN

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to loaded DVD and digital from director Abner Pastoll and Film Movement is a suspense thriller when A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND.

Sarah (Sarah Bolger) is struggling to raise her two young children Ben (Rudy Doherty) and Lucy (Macie McCauley) after the sudden death of her husband in Northern Ireland. Daily she is looking for answers as to who is responsible especially when her young son might have seen something. Coming home with the children and opening the front door, drug dealer Tito (Andrew Simpson) barges in.

Running from a men who represent a drug lord Leo Miller (Edward Hogg), he finds a hiding place after stealing their drugs. He calmly threatens Sarah with a place to stay in exchange for money that he realizes she needs. Never knowing when Tito is going to show up, son Ben finds the stash and Sarah is in for the scare of her life.

Determined to find a way to make Tito go away, she will do anything to protect the children from him. She also realizes that Tito might be able to tell her something about the death of her husband. When Tito is no longer an issue, Miller finds out who was responsible for his stolen drugs.

While Sarah and the kids are shopping, Miller makes his presence known which sends Ben running! She knows it is time to take the kids to her mother's house until everything is ironed out. Confronting Miller is about to put Sarah in a situation where she has no choice but to take matters into her own hands.

Sarah is a good woman pushed to far!

Bolger as Sarah is a woman doing what most mothers would - make sure no one invades their home especially when children are involved. After losing her husband under mysterious circumstances, her life is flipped once again when drug dealers put her family’s life in jeopardy. It is easy to follow Bolger in this role because she has set herself up as a force to be reckoned with, especially lately in her roles as Into the Badlands and currently as lawyer Emily Thomas, wife of the leader of a cartel. She is strong even when she's not and dedicated whether in good or bad. Well done!

Simpson as Tito has put himself in a dangerous situation but does not seem to mind it and when taking Sarah and her children under emotional hostage, he cares even less. Convincing himself that she "needs the money" is one way of clearing his conscious of what he is doing to a family. Doherty and McCauley as Ben and Lucy are caught in the middle of things no child should ever have to deal with. These two small actors are convincing in the terror and that makes for the intensity the story has.

Hogg as Miller is a man who is not about to let anyone get in his way, man or woman. Being the head drug dealer means there is no fear, surrounded by people who will do just about anything you ask for money and do not share the same values for life. That's a difficult role to play but Hogg does so with the right amount of justifiable fear, and he gets my vote for scary.

Other cast include Packy Lee as Mackers, Nigel O'Neil as PC Huxley, Sean Sloan as Jean, Jo Donelly as Betty, Jane Brennas as Alice, Josh Bolt as Donal, Caolan Byrne as Terry,Mary Linsday as Mandy, Susan Ateh as Emily, Siobhan Kelly as Dr. Brady, and James McCaffrey as Conor.

Film Movement, founded in 2002, is an award-winning independent and foreign film company that has released more than 250 feature films and shorts. Theatrical releases include American independent films, documentaries, and foreign arthouse titles catalog such directors as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner and Ciro Guerra and Melanie Laurent. Bluray and DVD films bring such directors as Eric Rohmer, Bolle August, King Hu, Sergio Corbucci and Luchino Visconti and many more. To discover what Film Movement is all about and find out more about what they have to offer please visit www.filmmovementplus.com.

The DVD includes the Bonus Features of Audio Commentary by director Abner Pastoll, Deleted Scenes, Alternate Opening, Outtakes, Making of Featurette and Behind-the-Scenes Footage.

A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND is an intense and ugly ride into a world that most people try to avoid. Sarah tried to avoid it as well caring for her two young children as a single mother. Of course, she wanted to know what really happened to her husband, especially when young son Ben clams up, but when Tito enters their life, it is a case of be careful what you ask for.

There is not a lot of external madness as the story focuses on Sarah as the film starts in a very bloody place. Taking us back to the beginning, we see how and why she came to be in that place and constantly questions the viewer with 'what would you do?'.

Bolger is all in from the get-go and I truly enjoyed her performance. This is a crime thriller to be sure and there is no doubt of that from start to finish but underneath is a story of a woman trying to find answers so that the family she is left to raise on her own can go forward. It does not matter if the answers are ugly, as long as they are the truth. I think Bolger's portrayal of Sarah gives us that.

In the end - she takes one final act of vengeance!

SICARIO: Day of the Soldado Brings Deception to Bluray

  

Jeri Jacquin

This week on Bluray/DVD and Digital from writer Taylor Sheridan, director Stefano Sollima and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is an escalation of a drug was and SICARIO: Day of the Soldado.

After a suicide bombing in Kansas City, Federal Agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) receives orders to find a way of stopping terrorists coming to the United States. The government suspects that the Mexican drug cartels are responsible and wants something done about it. The plan is to instigate a war between the big cartels starting with kidnapping the daughter of a kingpin.

Graver knows who he needs to help with this mission and seeks out Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro). After creating a kidnapping-rescue to win the young Isabel’s (Isabela Moner) trust, her father ups the game even further by using Mexican police for a double cross on Graver, Gillick and the other soldiers. Returning fire is what also turns the game.

Isabel runs and the U.S. government is furious over the deaths of the Mexican police fearing it will cause more problems. Especially when it is discovered that the bombing suspects are not who they thought. To clean up the mess, Graver is ordered to stand down and do what is necessary to make everything that happened go away – and anyone involved.

Gillick decides he is not about to do what Graver asks and works his way to the border with Isabel. The only way they can enter is by become illegal immigrants. Unfortunately Gillick is recognized and meets his fate at the hands of a kid. Graver finds Isabel and goes against orders bringing her to the United States.

But this isn’t over – for either Graver or Gillick!

Brolin as Graver jumps right into the assignment knowing what it will take to get the job done. Given the information about the mission he proceeds by finding the best to work with. Jumping from plan to plan, things become complicated when the information shifts and the cartels are infiltrating those who are suppose to protect them. I actually enjoy Brolin in these roles; he has the straight face needed to never let his hand show. Also, when he’s done being used, he is done being used!

Del Toro as Gillick is the perfect person to call on for the mission. The problem for him is that he doesn’t like it when the plan makes a U-turn and he’s on the other side of the fight. This actor has the same abilities as Brolin in that he can be as crazy as you want him to be but there are moments when he just takes a deep breath as if to warn the person he’s talking to that it’s not wise to push him further. Taking an interest in Isabel’s welfare also puts a target on his back – literally.

Moner as Isabel is one tough teenager, when she’s in school slapping around a fellow student. The minute the bullets fly and there isn’t a moment to think, she becomes exactly what she is – a vulnerable and terrified teenage girl who can’t smart mouth her way out of trouble. Now, she sees the horror of the business her father is a part of and it isn’t pretty. As the mission escalates, she has to learn what she is capable of and who to trust. Moner does a good job in what is needed to keep her character moving forward.

Other cast include Jeffrey Donovan as Steve Forsing, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Gallo, Shea Whigham as Andy Wheeldon, Elijah Rodriguez as Miguel Hernandez, Howard Ferguson as Troy, Catherine Keener as Cynthia Foards and Mathew Modine as Secretary of Defense James Riley.

Sony Pictures Entertainment encompasses motion picture production for television, digital content and theater releases. The studios include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films and Sony Picture Classics. To see what is coming to theaters and to home entertainment please visit www.sonypictures.com.

The Bluray/DVD include the Special Features of From Film to Franchise: Continuing the Story, An Act of War: Making Sicario: Day of the Soldado, and The Assassin and the Soldier: The Cast and Characters.

SICARIO: Day of the Soldado is a continuation of the story that started with the 2015 film SICARIO also written by Taylor Sheridan. The film was a big hit and with Brolin, del Toro and Blunt at the helm of the story, it makes sense that this film would come to be.

This time director Sollima jumps in the director’s seat and knows exactly how to make the story come to life. Using the countryside as another character in the story, it brings a depth to the film. He is responsible for the 2012 television series A.C.A.B. and Gomorroah.

What makes this film work are the twists and turns in the plot as, like with Isabel, you aren’t always sure who to trust. The case is made that the good guys might not be so good and the bad guys can have a conscience too (as with Gillick).

From beginning to end, SICARIO: Day of the Soldado is go, go, go with not much time to catch it’s breath but I like it that way. Even when walking through the desert, I found myself waiting for the next cactus to fall.

I am on board with this thriller to bring Gillick and Graver back for a showdown because there is no way this is over – no way.

In the end – no rules this time!