Beckett Review

PLOT: An American tourist (John David Washington) survives a deadly accident while on vacation in Greece. However, he soon finds himself at the center of a conspiracy and winds up a hunted man amid violent political upheaval.

REVIEW: Movies like Beckett used to be a lot more common than they are now. Many critics seem to be attacking this as a run-of-the-mill thriller, but have we been getting enough thrillers to say its assembly line? Fact is, back in the nineties, a movie like Beckett wouldn’t have been unusual, but in 2021 it is, in that it’s a slick two-hour thriller done with style. It has some lovely scenery, a few solid performances, and a couple of good action scenes. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but who cares?

Many seem to be criticizing John David Washington’s leading role, which adds to a weird pattern I’ve been noticing where all of his acting comes under scrutiny. First, people gave him a lot of grief for Tenet, then again for Malcolm & Marie, and are doing it again for Beckett. To me, he’s a rock-solid leading man, and I thought his acting here was quite effective, with him the beleaguered hero. 

What’s good about his titular character, Beckett (we never find out if it’s his first or last name), is that he’s in way over his head throughout. Once he realizes that everyone wants to kill him, he’s in a blind panic and far from the slick action hero some might expect. This is in line with the seventies paranoia thrillers that seem to have inspired director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino. He’s a lot like Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man in that he’s pushed to his breaking point but ultimately finds strength, in the end, to mete out justice. They do something interesting with his clothes in the second half with him being permanently disheveled, with his ass hanging out over his jogging pants when he takes a few bad falls. I liked that touch of realism as that’s precisely what you’d look like if given ill-fitting clothes at an embassy.

The plot is intriguing, using Greece’s political upheaval as fodder. There’s been a political kidnapping by either the far right or far left, and Beckett’s in the middle having seen something he shouldn’t have after an accident. While mostly Washington’s show (he’s never offscreen), there are a few nice supporting performances, notably by Alicia Vikander as his girlfriend, in what amounts to a relatively small role. She adds a little authenticity to what could have been a routine part. I also liked Old’s Vicky Krieps as an activist that tries to help him out of a jam, while Boyd Holbrook is an attache at the American embassy who figures into the last act.

Filomarino is the former creative partner of the great Luca Guadagnino, who co-produced the film, and he uses some of his partner’s go-to craftsmen. That means the movie has gorgeous location photography by DP Sayombhu Mukdeeprom. At the same time, the great Ryuichi Sakamoto contributes a somewhat avant-garde but interesting score considering this is a pretty commercial thriller. 

Overall, I enjoyed Beckett more than most. As far as Netflix movies go, this is a well-assembled one. I enjoyed the brutality of the action towards the end of the film, with you getting the sense that Washington’s Beckett is throwing everything he has into surviving. It’s a pretty intense little thriller. 

John David Washington

GOOD

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