Review by Connor Moriarty
An Acceptable Loss
(2018) is a political thriller with an intriguingly ambitious execution. Tika
Sumpter (Ride Along. Nobody’s Fool),
Ben Tavassoli (Overlord), and Jamie
Lee Curtis (Halloween ’78, Halloween ’18)
all turn in strong performances in their respective roles and Writer/Director
Joe Chappelle (Chicago Fire, The Wire)
crafts a timely, thrilling, and emotional story.
Political thrillers a-la
Body of Lies (2008) and The Ides of March (2011), tend to bite
off more plot devices and elements than they can chew. An Acceptable Loss gains a lot of ground in its innate sense of
urgency. Right off the bat, there’s an undeniably frightening tension between
the two leads, Martin (Tavassoli) and Libby (Sumpter).
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| Jamie Lee Curtis stars in An Acceptable Loss, distributed by IFC Films Photo Credit: Adrian Burrows |
However, what begins as a personal battle involving revenge, obsession, guilt, and redemption, eventually morphs into something much greater in scale. This is a massive turning point in the film. As previously mentioned, Libby’s history is constantly feeding on her like a parasite. Likewise, Martin’s unbridled hatred and obsession has turned him into a person so unlike his true character. Their story alone could’ve carried the film to its end. Shifting from the small scale, personal story to the sweeping espionage/conspiracy story will surprise some. Regardless, this section of the film is well paced and, most importantly, makes terrific use of Jamie Lee Curtis’ character.
In Select Theaters and On-Demand January 18th, 2019
Rachel Burke (Curtis) is
first introduced through flashbacks. As Libby tries to make sense of her
decisions, she constantly falls back on her decidedly intense relationship with
a woman who, ultimately, manipulated many aspects of her mindset. Jamie Lee’s scenes are
easily the best of the whole film. She is at once warm and friendly as well as
sinister and cunning. Her presence is felt even when she isn’t on screen.
Moreover, her performance contributes to the malicious atmosphere that
permeates the latter portion of the film. It’s filled to the brim with paranoia
and the feeling that no one character is safe.
However, in addition to
all of her villainous traits, the film does make several attempts to humanize
her. Rachel makes several speeches about the difficulty of making high profile,
delicate decisions on a regular basis. This element is welcomed, as it allows
the film to make a significant bit of commentary on the nature of political
leadership. Tough choices might seem obvious looking in from the outside, but
you never really know until you’re there yourself.
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| Writer/Director Joe Chappelle on set with Tika Sumter Photo Suzanne Ordas Curry |
In noting all the intriguing plot elements, emotional character arcs, and political commentary, the film’s presentation is in muted colors which was intentional according to Joe Chappelle “in order for the viewer to concentrate on the dialogue”; this serves the story sufficiently enough. A nitpick is that it would’ve been interesting to see some more creative imagery for example during Libby’s paranoia and anxiety driven episodes.
An Acceptable Loss,
which was originally titled The Pages,
is overall an excellently acted and ambitiously executed
thriller. Chappelle and co. throw more
than enough distressing atmosphere, surprising plot twists, and sharp suspense
at you to keep your unwavering engagement until the end credits.
This film is recommended to those who
enjoy political thrillers as well as films focused on contemporary society.
To Find An Acceptable Loss:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aal_movie