‘The Independent Review: Political Drama Plays More Like A Failed Pilot Than A Feature Film
© TheWrap The IndependentThe script for The Independent, a political thriller with several major twists, was blacklisted nearly 10 years ago as an unproduced script to receive positive attention.
Because this is a very current game about the presidential election, screenwriter Evan Parter has had to significantly rewrite it to fit the current political landscape; its basic structure is solid enough and its characters are well-chosen, but all of its dialogue consists of hyperbolized statements of plot shows that are just guilty pleasure TV shows.
The opening scenes of The Independent put us in the middle of a drama involving third-party presidential candidate Nate Sterling (John Cena), and we're supposed to get a lot of information in a very short time. That opening sequence is so clunky that it feels like the climax of the movie has been gratuitously changed at first, and it turns out, when we get to that scene about an hour and a half later, that it finally makes a lot more sense. .
There is a flashback to the true beginnings of the story in a failed newspaper called the Washington Chronicle, bought by an owner who wanted to publish it instead of the investigative journalism made famous by columnist Nick Booker (Brian Cox). . At a story brainstorming session, Elise (Jodie Turner-Smith) tries to pitch a story about public school funding to the principal, eventually realizing that her story has far-reaching political implications. .
Booker takes Elisha under his wing and takes her to Monocle, a real restaurant in Washington, where they meet Republican presidential candidate Patricia Turnbull (Anne Dowd). When Elise meets Turnbull and asks his opinion on the third seed, Dowdy Turnbull replies:
Many actors in The Independent struggle to make such colorful and potential dialogue believable, and only Cox pulls it off without a hitch. Cox's performance is so gruff that he sounds like John Huston at times, and when he roars with rage, it's clear he's a graduate of Laurence Olivier's School of the Roar. The tempo of his voice is so authoritative and high-pitched that often the sound of the words he says is more important than the meaning, and even better with the words he speaks here.
The Independent creates a story about what the 2024 presidential election would look like, and there are specific references to our recent past, but the Democratic candidate is not Joe Biden, and we only get a brief glimpse of the fictional male Democratic candidate in this movie. . in the debate of three candidates. About an hour after "The Independent," there's a storyline involving the nominations that isn't all that surprising, but creates more drama as the film heads toward its critical and less-than-believable conclusion.
Closing The Independent is a short family drama in which Elhise confronts her parents and her father's illness. These scenes are so much better than anything else in the film because Turner-Smith is able to play something realistic instead of over-the-top and plot-driven. they also give the film some much-needed heart. There is a scene where Elyse is talking to both of her parents, with director Amy Rice ("Broadway Rising") intercutting several silent shots of Elyse's mother, played by Kesia Lewis ("The Blacklist") and Lewis. These close-ups convey a life of love, warmth, pain, and stoicism.
It's the best scene in the film because it's not tied to the plot and doesn't rely on plot-driven dialogue, which brings The Independent into the realm of failed TV pilots rather than political thrillers. Detective novels.
The Independent airs on the Peacock on November 2.
