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Soderbergh's No Sudden Move Aptly Delivers in Smarts and Style


I’ve missed out on the last several Steven Soderbergh movies -though in my defence I had only barely heard of a number of them and those I had I wasn’t able to see immediately -no cinemas near me were playing The Laundromat for instance. Soderbergh is one of the most genuinely versatile filmmakers in the American industry (in that his movies vary wildly in scale as well as genre), and he is also among the most prolific. It seems like only yesterday that his Let Them All Talk came out, and of course he just produced the 93rd Academy Awards (and on that subject, remember how he was nominated twice for Best Director in the same year?). He makes movies at such a rate though it’s easy to lose track of them, especially when they’re somewhat experimental or explicitly anti-Hollywood.
No Sudden Move, his second feature for streaming service HBO Max, is comparatively more Hollywood-friendly but still its’ own Soderbergh-esque thing. It’s a small-time gangster movie set in 1950s Detroit about a pair of mismatched criminals working to unravel an auto manufacturing conspiracy and get away with thousands in cash as a result of a failed blackmail scheme. The film reunites Soderbergh with two of his favourite actors, Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro, both of whom (though Cheadle in particular) give great performances here. They acquiesce to the time period very organically and compliment each other nicely, del Toro’s shrewd shiftiness working well off of Cheadle’s brains and brazen confidence. Indeed, as unwilling partners as they are, they make for a fine buddy dynamic, even as they look out for themselves above all else when the going gets tough. And it does in a few instances, the only reason for their team-up being how they’re both in the same boat –recruited for a set-up operation by more powerful gangsters.
Ray Liotta plays one of these, Bill Duke another –Soderbergh has assembled a really strong and compelling ensemble cast around his two leads. Julia Fox from Uncut Gems is a particular stand-out as the wife of the Liotta boss with whom del Toro’s Ronald is having an affair. Kieran Culkin plays a third goon hired for the initial scheme and Jon Hamm is the police detective tailing them after it goes wrong. And then there’s Brendan Fraser as the liaison and architect of the plot, proving that in this new act of his career he makes for a very solid character actor.
David Harbour has third billing as the hapless company employee targeted by all this, held hostage so he can retrieve a secret document from his boss’ safe and then becoming an unwilling participant in the efforts of the two wanted men –up to a point. Eventually his role in the story disappears, his arc relating to an affair with his secretary (Frankie Shaw) and the trauma this whole scenario puts his family under (Amy Seimetz is quite good as his weathered wife) is largely left on the back-burner by the last act of the movie quite literally once his purpose to the plot has been served. Occasionally, Soderbergh checks in again on this family staying with neighbours, or the teenage son (Noah Jupe) deciding to assert himself by giving the detective some additional information, but it’s largely irrelevant by then –a family drama nestled intermittently in this crime thriller. And yet it kind of works in showing the lingering effects of a brush with crime on an ordinary family –the disruption of the mundane amidst this larger calamity. Also, Harbour gets the best final line when he reappears in the films’ closing scenes.
For a film called No Sudden Move, the actual plot has a lot of moving parts. Between Ronalds’ machinations for an escape with his girlfriend, Cheadle’s Curt calling in a favour with the black mob, attempts to negotiate cuts from the sale of this valuable information with various players, and figuring out exactly what it is, how important it is, and who set them up for it, there’s a lot going on in this script by Ed Solomon. But it’s a sharp script regardless, and very characterful. Each voice is distinctive and interesting, keeping the films’ action fresh and engaging.
That indispensable document as it turns out contains the plans for a catalytic converter, and given this is 1950s Detroit, it doesn’t take long to guess from there where Curt and Ronald’s trail is leading. That city’s auto sector is the chief subject of Solomon and Soderbergh’s ire, their avatar for Big Auto (surprise cameo Matt Damon as his best soulless executive) callously endeavouring to hide the research at any cost to prevent environmental regulations on motor vehicles, keep public awareness at bay, and maintain a high profit margin (and accordingly his wealth).  It’s savagely cold and cynical, and I doubt it’s a coincidence that the critical scene between this figure and the two crooks is set in a room that rather closely resembles the boardroom where another movie tycoon (in the best performance from the recently deceased Ned Beatty) pontificates about the omnipotence of corporate America as the greatest and only meaningful power on earth. The severity of this cover-up is bluntly articulated.
It’s rather dismal how everything unfolds by the end in terms of this context -the scheme that Curt and Ronald were hired for resolving exactly as it was intended to, albeit with just a few more bodies, and not necessarily the ones that were meant to come down. Soderbergh plays it with a lot of dark irony as he shuffles his protagonists off to their fates, mere passengers it would seem ultimately in this larger operation. It’s a great choice though, and not so deprived of entertainment as it may sound. No Sudden Move is in fact quite thrilling, if a bit of a more classical caper than audiences may be used to. And while it’s not overwhelmingly “cinematic” it’s still a movie I’d have preferred to see on a big screen. Soderbergh’s direction remains attractive and unconventional, his actors give exciting, freeing performances, and the mood of the piece demands a more encompassing experience than a home rental can provide. It’s a very good movie, and makes me feel guilty I haven’t been paying this filmmaker the attention he deserves lately.

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