Set in the 1920’s South, twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) escaped the slave trade and made a name for themselves during Al Capone’s reign in Chicago. They’ve taken what they’ve learned — and earned — and come back home to Clarksdale, Mississippi, in order to buy a building and open up a juke joint. They pick up their Blues guitar-prodigy cousin Sammie Moore (Miles Caton in his acting debut), Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) and other key people along the way in an effort to make the grand opening an unforgettable one. Unfortunately, it is unforgettable, just not in the way they imagined.
With both BLACK PANTHER films and the initial installment of the CREED franchise already on his resume, writer and director Ryan Coogler cements himself as one of this generation’s best filmmakers with SINNERS. Excellent character development, a fun-yet-edgy script and strong visuals all mix together to give audiences a real treat in a time of year that typically lacks quality theatrical projects.
It is an interesting mix, however. The first half feels a little bit like a dark comedy while the second half is a horror film, complete with vampires, ritual dances and the inability to escape their fate. I would argue the first half could have been trimmed in order to get to what the movie truly is faster. That being said, I’m hardly Coogler (and he kind of knows what he’s doing) so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
There’s not a single weak performance in this movie and that should be applauded. From Jordan’s portrayal of both brothers to Hailee Steinfeld’s depiction of thwarted lover Mary to the legendary Buddy Guy (!!) playing the older version of Sammie, it’s home run after home run for the cast.
There’s not a lot to dislike here. SINNERS is a fun, clever, witty and scary take on an otherwise pretty tired vampire genre. The only issue this film has is that it takes half its run time to get into its genre at all. Before the turn, it’s enjoyable but, in retrospect, you wonder why it “wasted time” presenting itself as a period piece drama instead of what it really is: a horror movie. Warranting an impressive score as-is, it only goes up if they’d gotten to the action quicker because that second half is elite filmmaking.
JKG SCORE: 8.0
Untitled Film Project 