Written by: Lem Dobbs
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Despite comprising 51% percent of our global population, it still seems that-- even in this day and age-- women still don't get equal footing when it comes to representation in popular culture. Basically, if you're a woman in films or television, you're either an airhead, nag, skank, damsel in distress, or femme fatale with shady allegiances.
And whenever there's one good/strong/independent female role model in pop culture, it seems like there's three more negative, stereotypical portraitures to drown them out. In an era where young people are heavily influenced by materialism and media-propagated gender roles more than ever, it's a shame that there are too few ladies-- real or fictional-- to give our girls the idea that they can forgo the "sugar and spice" nonsense and become empowered, tough, and-- God forbid-- kick a little ass now and then, all without being overtly sexualized.
Of course, considering how slowly our society needs to swallow such radical notions in order for it to become a reality, it's lucky that we have acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh's Haywire to help contribute to the recent wave of cinematic woman warriors to help ease the transition.
Sitting in an Upstate New York diner, Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) is approached by her old partner and lover Aaron (Channing Tatum), who seeks to take her away to his higher-ups. However, Mallory has none of it, subduing Aaron and escaping with bystander Scott (Michael Angarano) in his car. As they drive off, an injured Mallory tells a panicked Scott what brought them to this point.
It turns out that both Mallory and Aaron were partners in a government-hired private ops firm, headed by Mallory's ex-boyfriend Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), who in turn is in a business arrangement with government agent Coblenz (Michael Douglas). Mallory, a former Marine and daughter of Marine-turned-novelist John Kane (Bill Paxton), was hired to rescue hostage Jiang (Anthony Brandon Wong) in Barcelona by request of Spanish contact Rodrigo (Antonio Banderas).
After that successful operation, Mallory was approached by Kenneth to take on a simple mission: to pose as the wife of undercover MI6 agent Paul (Michael Fassbender) in Dublin as he meets with his contact, Studer (Mathieu Kassovitz). However, that mission goes awry, leaving Mallory the victim of a double-cross. Now on the run, Mallory must stay one step ahead of her pursuers, all while trying to clear her name and take down those who crossed her.
And thus describes the latest entry in the eclectic-in-every-sense-of-the-word filmography of renaissance man director Steven Soderbergh. Not one to be bogged down by one genre in his oeuvre, Soderbergh has done it all: dark comedies (The Informant), crime dramas (Traffic), caper comedies (the Ocean's trilogy), a four-hour biopic of Che Guevara, and even an experimental film riding on the lead performance of a pornographic actress (The Girlfriend Experience).
And it's this willingness to be different in his directorial output that's made me come to highly admire Soderbergh and his work (not to mention the fact that he's released at least one film a year-- sometimes even two-- since 1995). And while Haywire is much smaller in scope and scale than most action films, that very lack of flash and bloat actually gives the film its own unique personality. Much like the stealthy protagonist, the movie sneaks up on you, only letting loose when it counts.
And Soderbergh picked one hell of a choice for said protagonist, in the form of mixed martial artist and newcomer actress Gina Carano. Making her theatrical debut, the 30-year-old Carano certainly has the stunning good looks down, but her attractiveness takes a backseat to her asskicking prowess. Clearly doing her own stunts, Carano eliminated any need of eye candy obnoxiousness when it was clear that her athletic skills were all that were needed to catch our attention.
The very first scene sees Carano's character throw down with new Soderbergh favorite Channing Tatum in a rather brutal fist/knife/gunfight in a diner, and it's clear from there that she can fight right up there with the big boys. She definitely won't be getting any acting nominations for her performance, but it's an impressive performance nonetheless.
In the meantime, the rest of the big-name cast takes a backseat to give Carano room to breathe, including Ewan McGregor, the increasingly ubiquitous Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, and even Michael Douglas as a shady government bigwig,
The lack of breakneck editing is a nice reprieve from the usual Hollywood formula, with very little fat on a lean, taut narrative. The story isn't groundbreaking, but the fact that Soderbergh managed to do so much with very little in terms of budget further cements his reputation as a resourceful and incredibly creative filmmaker. And the noirish score by David Holmes-- which wisely remains silent during most if not all fight scenes-- is a terrific departure from the usual musical bombast of conventional action flicks.
Despite his threats of an impending retirement from filmmaking-- which seems implausible considering the fact that he's only 49 and hasn't even come close to peaking as a filmmaker-- Soderbergh doesn't seem to let up when it comes to churning out one great film after another. I've never seen a film by him that I've considered to be bad or even mediocre, and while Haywire isn't exactly a classic by any means, it succeeds on the merits of great action, skillful narrative cohesion, and a charismatic debut performance by an actress whose buttkicking performance belies that whole "fairer sex" thing.
Letter Grade: "B"
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