Lou: Rather Like People, Predictable Stories are Sometimes Hard to Take

By John Kirk

Rating: B-

You automatically dislike Lou Adell when you see her for the first time. Grizzled, gritty and definitely doesn’t give a damn what people think, the audience automatically recognizes that she’s got a past that’s clawing its way back to her.

Of course, the problem with this is that Lou is predictable and becomes a broken promise of an 80s action thriller, offering twists and turns but doesn’t really deliver.

The opening scenes see Lou shooting a deer, butchering it, freezing the meat and then withdrawing all of her savings. A clip of President Ronald Reagan declaring his innocence in the Iran-Contra Affair establishes the time and a bit of a hint into Lou’s past.

The meat, along with a letter and an envelope of beforementioned cash, goes into the freezer and after drinking a large glass of straight bourbon, Lou puts a rifle to her head and is about to blow it off. Given that only about eleven minutes has elapsed to this point, the audience settles back and waits for the rest of the film to unravel.

Luckily, it’s a quick transition. We meet Lou’s renter, Hannah Dawson (Jurnee Smollett), and her daughter, Vee (Ridely Asha Bateman). It’s a bit of an awkward relationship between Lou and Hannah, to be sure. After all, to know Lou is not to love her, but when Vee is kidnapped by her estranged father, Phillip (Logan Marshall-Green), a special forces soldier thought dead, Lou comes to Hannah’s aid and the two begin to track them down.

The main draw for this film is Allison Janney’s performance. Though the character type is a bit formulaic, there is a bit of a twist with it being a woman and Janney delivers an amazing, Clint Eastwood-inspired performance of the curmudgeon veteran. She’s resourceful (starting a fire with a battery, Polysporin and cotton swabs) and though well into her sixties, she’s tough enough to track down her quarry in the rain, knows how to handle a rifle, and clearly can find her way around the forest.

Seeing Janney in a physical combat role is a little hard to believe. I remember Janney’s dynamic press secretary in The West Wing or as Tonya Harding’s hateful mother that won her an Academy Award in I, Tonya. She’s no Charlize Theron or Daniel Craig who can pull off bad-ass, super-physical hand-to-hand combat roles. It’s a bit of a stretch to see her disable a Green Beret with a tin can. Entertaining? Yes. Believable? No.

Also, while the curmudgeon eventually has some redeeming character moments, Lou doesn’t. She’s bitter to the very end. Even in the moment when she almost runs Vee over with her truck, she berates Hannah to keep a closer eye on her kid. Then, when the chance arrives and Lou does the right thing, it’s not enough for her to gain any sort of empathy for her, especially when we learn the truth about her past.

Maybe that’s the goal? Maybe the audience is supposed to despise Lou, but even an anti-hero has heroic moments that allow that character to break out of the mould and receive some admiration and appreciation for her grit, her resolve or stoicism. Lou just doesn’t generate enough nobility to create that defining moment.

Still, you honestly want to hold out and enjoy this film. The performances are mostly entertaining, the scenery is rich, but it has flaws in the story that make it difficult to accept in some places. It’s also these flaws that allow the audience to figure out the plot a little prematurely.

By the middle of the film, the viewers know what’s coming and it becomes an exercise of just waiting to see how the story unfolds. Lou has a lot of potential but sadly not realized. Like Lou herself, the story is just a bit too much to take.

Lou. Directed by Anna Foerster. Starring Allison Janney, Jurnee Smollett, and Logan Marshall-Green. Available on Netflix September 23.