Mom's Minute

Introduction to Final Score Netflix Movie Review

Final Score is a 2018  action packed movie. I categorize the Final Score Netflix movie as a high energy type action movie that will probably keep your interest if you like these type films.

However, sometimes “less is more”, as the saying goes. Was there too much action in the Final Score Netflix movie or was a happy medium struck between action and drama? Did I enjoy watching the Final Score Netflix movie? Would you? 

Check out my movie review of the Final Score Netflix movie to find out.

Synopsis of Final Score Netflix Movie

The Final Score Netflix movie starts with the scenario of a rebellious teenager who is prone to disobey her parent. Enter Dave Bautista as Michael Knox. He is not the teenager’s father, but is a close friend of her father who was his army comrade who unfortunately did not survive war when they were in the Army.

Dave Bautista as Michael Knox visits his friend's widow in England. Specifically, he plans to take his deceased friend’s teenage daughter to a soccer/football game.

As it turns out, Lara Peake as the teenager Dani was grounded by her mother because of her disobedient behavior.  However, after some coaxing, her mother decided to let her go with Dave Bautista’s character to the soccer/football game, especially since their outing was tied to her deceased husband's wishes.

Once at the crowded soccer/football stadium, everything seemed normal at first until Lara Peake’s character sneaks off to meet a boy when Dave Bautista’s character left his seat to get them hotdogs. 

Dave Bautista’s character was upset and concerned about her whereabouts when he could not find Lara Peake’s character. He consults Amit Shah as Faisal Khan who is an usher at the game regarding the missing teenager.

In the meantime, a sinister group of people have taken over the control room of the soccer/football stadium and are using computer software to try to find a revolutionary in the crowd who they knew was at the game. By the way, the revolutionary is played by Pierce Brosnan as Dimitri Belav.

The group initially turned off all the lights at the stadium and the stadium crowd probably breathed a sigh of relief when the lights came back on. Unbeknownst to them, they were in dire danger since the group planned to bomb the stadium, so, unfortunately, their relief would be short-lived.

Dave Bautista’s character calls the police and is working with them to try to stop the bombing from occurring. The police were basically ineffective in their tactics and it looks like it is up to Dave Bautista’s character to try to stop the stadium bombing.

Stand Out Actor in Final Score Netflix Movie

Even though Dave Bautista as Michael Knox is the star of the Final Score movie, he did not stand out to me during the film. That being said, I’m sure the impressive action scenes were done by stuntmen or stunt doubles instead of Dave Bautista’s character.

In my opinion, the stand out actor was the female character with braids, Alexandra Dinu as Tatiana who was part of the criminal element of the sinister group. She was effective in showing that she was someone who you may want to think twice about before crossing her path. This was evident even though she was smaller in stature when compared with the rest of the bad guys.

She stood out to me not because of her acting skills per se, but because of how she portrayed her character’s demeanor, especially after her boyfriend was destroyed.

Action Scenes and Stunts in Final Score Netflix Movie

To me, it was an interesting idea for the Final  Score movie to show segments of the soccer/football game in parallel with the action that was going on in the Final Score film. At one time, there was almost like a side to side comparison of action taking place in the game with Dave Bautista's character's action scenes.

As the chase continued between the enemy and Dave Bautista’s character, sometimes with Amit Shah’s character and the teenager (yes she was later found), the action intensified to the point where a motorcycle and an extra long soccer//football banner were involved. 

I think the motorcycle action scene was almost comparable to one of the Fast and Furious movies where a driver of an exotic sports car jumped from one tall skyscraper to the next, and of course, everything stayed intact. You will know the Final Score scene I’m referring to if you watch this Netflix movie.

A Negative in the Final Score Netflix Movie

A negative for me was Pierce Brosnan's role as the revolutionary. He seemed to merely be pushed along in each scene and did not seem to be involved with portraying his character as a prior revolutionary leader. I think the scene where Dave Bautista’s character catches Pierce Brosnan’s character and carries him around with him as he fled the enemies could have been improved.

For instance, a more plausible scene would be to show Pierce Brosnan’s character captured and taken hostage in one place, maybe the restroom. Instead Dave Bautita’s character was literally dragging Pierce Brosnan’s character along with him as he fled from the enemies.

Assessment of the Final Score Netflix Movie

Overall, I found the Final Score Netflix movie to be entertaining.There was just enough action and drama during the film to keep my interest.

 As I alluded to previously, there are lots of action scenes in the movie, and the film will seem to move fast. In other words, the Final Score movie did not seem to lag on.

If you are a fan of  high action movies, I recommend that you watch the Final Score Netflix movie. In fact, you may enjoy this movie just as much as I did.

Rating of the Final Score Netflix Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, I rate the Final Score Netflix movie 4 stars.

Introduction to Driftless Amazon Prime Video Movie Review

In keeping with the 4th of July, I decided to watch a holiday movie. I began my movie search with Netflix, which to my surprise did not have any of the regular big 4th of July movies, such as Independence Day, etc. This led me to search Amazon Prime Video for a 4th of July movie. After scrolling for a short time, the 2020 movie “Driftless” caught my eye.  

Would I recommend you watch the Driftless Amazon Prime VIdeo movie on the 4th of July or whenever you like?  Check out my movie review of the Driftless Amazon Prime Video film to find out.

By the way, I watched Driftless on Amazon Prime Video; however, this film may be streaming on other services as well.

Synopsis of Driftless Amazon Prime Video Movie

The Driftless Amazon Prime Video movie centers around the daily work activities of Park Rangers, two of whom are considered law enforcement and the others as staff. Driftless Amazon Prime Video movie starts with a meet and greet of a new summer employee to the camp, followed by customers visiting the park, for example hikers, camperss, etc. and other people who were not friendly in any sense of the word.

Conflicts in Driftless Amazon Prime Video Movie

During most movies, there has to be conflict, which was true also for this film. The conflict surrounds the unruly visitors and escalates to a kidnapping by a park visitor who pretended to be a Park Ranger.

The common denominator through all of the above is the main character, Ranger Nova played by Monique Candelaria. She is new to the Park Ranger law enforcement job and is hesitant to give out citations and seems to be timid and unassuming. Her Park Ranger partner, Ranger Cody played by Mickey O’Sullivan –  by contrast, appears to be just the opposite.

However, instead of these two characters clashing, they seemed to complement each other, with Ranger Cody unfortunately, appearing to carry the heavy load so to speak and Monique Candelaria’s character stays in the background until she did something that was unexpected of her. By doing so, she in turn became a local hero. You will know what I’m referring to if you watch the Driftless Amazon Prime Video movie.

Film-Making Quality of Driftless Amazon Prime Video Movie

Usually when I watch a movie, I get involved in what is going on and do not necessarily notice so much the set, the environment, etc. because I am so much attuned to the storylines, action, etc. However, I detected right away that the Driftless Amazon Prime Video movie played more like a public service announcement film instead of a movie drama.

 Additionally, the acting skills displayed were subpar for most of the characters. Furthermore, the situations seemed to be forced. Ironically, the kidnapping victim who was rescued and did not seem to be afraid after being kidnapped -- had to console Monique Candelari's character when she had a claustrophobic attack. 

Towards that end, the movie periodically shows flashbacks of Monique Candelaria’s character as a child, cowering in a dark corner because her father was punishing her by forcing her to stay alone in a closed area. This psychological angle, in my opinion, did not add to the overall storyline.

Recommendations for Improvements to the Driftless Amazon Prime Video Movie 

Even though the timing of the Driftless Amazon Prime Video movie was the 4th of July holiday with the film's timeline starting on June 30, I would categorize this movie more of a Columbus Day or Indigenous People's Day type film. This was due to the many instances of one of the rangers recounting what happened between the settlers and the Indigenous people.

I recommend the movie cast be composed of skilled actors who have some professional acting credits under their belts. Most of the dialogue between the characters was not natural and seemed amateurish.

In the Driftless Amazon Prime Video movie there was nothing to set the atmosphere of the movie. To set the tone of the movie, the film should have a music soundtrack, even a subtle one -- playing throughout the movie scenes in the background.  

There was an exception when music played in the background. This happened when a park ranger noticed someone had entered a cabin that had been locked previously. At this moment, there was a short selection of background music, but for the most part, there was no music setting the tone for the film.

Instead of talking about some of the events that occurred via dialogue with the characters, the writer/director should take the time and money to show the action actually happening. For example, during the unfortunate incident that happened near the lake, the director should show part of the lake instead of having the two rangers discuss what happened. After all, the Driftless Amazon Privme Video film is supposedly a movie instead of a documentary.

Assessment Of the Driftless Amazon Prime Video Movie

The Driftless Amazon Prime Video movie seemed to me to be a first time effort of a movie-maker, instead of someone who has done these type projects before. For this reason, the movie Driftless did not keep my interest. In fact I kept checking to see when the movie would end before the film was half-way through. 

A positive of the movie, Driftless, is that the film is relatively short on Amazon Prime Video. A negative is the movie drags along, is slow moving, with unrealistic situations and disjointed scenes. On top of these negatives was the constant interrupting of the movie throughout by ads which made the film seem to drag on even longer.

The bottom line is I suggest that you pass on watching the Driftless Amazon Prime Video movie if you plan to watch an entertaining film on the 4th of July or some other time. You may want to stick with some of your traditional  favorite holiday or regular movies instead.

Rating of Driftless Amazon Prime Video Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, I rate Driftless Amazon Prime Video movie a low 2 stars.

Introduction to The House of Gucci Movie Review

Not too long ago, The House of Gucci movie could only be seen in theaters. When I found out The House of Gucci film is now streaming free on Amazon Prime video, without a second thought, I chose to watch the movie.

The House of Gucci movie is inspired by true events about the famous Gucci family. As can be expected, some events in the movie may be exaggerated, while others may contain omissions/additions for dramatic and entertainment purposes.

What is my opinion of The House of Gucci movie? Would I recommend that you watch it? Why or why not? 

Check out my movie review of The House of Gucci film to find out the answers to the above questions and more.

Synopsis of The House of Gucci Movie

The storyline will lead you to believe that Lady Gaga is playing the role of a “gold digger” in marrying into the rich Gucci family. However, to the contrary Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani had a wealthy background since her character’s family owned a successful trucking business.

This family trucking business was frowned upon by Jeremy Iron’s character, Rodolfo Gucci who was the head of the Gucci dynasty family business. To be fair, the Gucci financial empire was much larger than Lady Gaga's character family 's trucking business.

The House of Gucci’s storyline follows how Lady Gaga’s character 's romantic interest and later husband, Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci left his famous and rich Gucci family business for a short while in order to marry her.

As the story progresses, Lady Gaga’s character seeks out the help of a TV psychic and card reader, Salma Hayek as Giuseppina "Pina" Auriemma to predict her future.This initial meeting grew into a partnership that led to them conspiring to carry out a crime against Lady Gaga’s husband, Maurizo Gucci. Their conspiracy happend after Lady Gaga's character status within her marriage changed drastically.

By the way, The House of Gucci is a period movie depicting what happened within the famous Gucci family starting from the 1970’s up to the 1990’s.

Slow Moving Parts of The House of Gucci Movie

At the beginning of The House of Guccii movie, you may feel as if the film is dragging along slowly. However, during the start of the movie, I think the writers took time to provide background information including how Lady Gaga’s character met her husband and his family. 

The problem with this is the background part of The House of Gucci movie dragged on for far too long. The action or “juicy parts” of the movie did not start until halfway through the film. Mind you, The House of Gucci movie is long, lasting a total of two hours and thirty-seven minutes. So you may have to wait for some time before the momentum of movie picks up.

The above being said, if you are interested in fashions for both men and women and like to see what people were wearing back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, you may enjoy the first part of The House of Gucci movie. In fact, the highlights of The House of Gucci movie at the start of the film are the wardrobe changes of Lady Gaga’s and even Adam Driver’s characters.

In addition to showing fashion trends during The House of Gucci movie, I think the set designers did a good job of depicting this era, to include scenery, vintage office equipment, cars, etc.  

Stand Out Actor in The House of Gucci Movie

You may think since The House of Gucci film is basically a Lady Gaga movie – that Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiano would be the stand out actor.

However, this is not the case. The stand out actor in my opinion, who you may or may not recognize due to the heavy transformation make-up job done on him – was none other than Jared Leta as Paolo Gucci, the son of Adam Driver’s character's uncle Aldo Gucci as played by Al Pacino.

Jared Leto portrayed Paolo Gucci, Adam Driver’s character’s as the low man on the totem pole without much brain power. Jared Leto’s acting abilities in this role got increasingly better during each of his scenes to the point where you may start looking forward to scenes where his character appears.

You may recall, I previously recognized Jared Leto’s acting skills in my movie review of The Little Things starring academy award winning actor, Denzel Washington.

By contrast, Lady Gaga’s italian accent came off as forced and sometimes she did not use it when she said her lines. On the flip side, at certain points in the movie, Lady Gaga showed off her acting skills in a few scenes, such as when she was begging her husband to return to her and her daughter when they separated. However, her acting skills did not outshine those of Jared Leto.

Assessment of The House of Gucci Movie

Due to the number of A-List actors in the The House of Gucci movie, I was expecting I would enjoy this film a lot more than I did.

With the exception of Jared Leto’s character stand out acting as Paolo Gucci, the forced italian accents from most of the charactrers were offsetting. Sometimes, I found myself concentrating on some of their unrealistic sounding Italian accents rather than following the storyline.

On a positive note, if you like the music of the 1970’s and 1980’s, you may enjoy the music soundtracks that played during some of The House of Gucci’s movie scenes.

If you watch The House of Gucci movie, be aware of the caveat that the meat of the storylines do not happen until the film is about half-way over. In other words, to watch some exciting scenes in The House of Gucci movie, you will have to wait for them.

Rating of The House of Gucci Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, I rate The House of Gucci movie 3 stars.

Introduction to Margin Call Netflix Movie Review

When Margin Call appeared on my recommended movies to watch on Netflix, I initially thought it was a recent film  that had just been released. However, upon further inspection, I found out that Margin Call is actually a 2011 movie. Even though Margin Call Netflix movie is over 11 years old, once I started watching it, I got involved in the plot and what was going on just as if I was watching a film that had just been released.

WIll you have a similar opinion as mine if you choose to watch the Margin Call Netflix movie?

My movie review of Margin Call Netflix film may help you find out.

Synopsis of Margin Call Netflix Movie

The plot of Margin Call Netflix movie involves managers at a once prosperous stock trading company finding out abruptly that the company and its stock are worth close to nothing due to the market downturn. The company had already fired lots of people, including those who had been with the firm for many years. Right away you may have an inkling that something is terribly wrong with the company financially.  

One of the people who was fired was a manager, Eric Bale played by Stanley Tucci who discovered the company was in financial trouble.

The problem was Eric Bale's character was being fired from his job right on the spot and no one seemed to want to listen to him. However, while in the elevator, before he left the building, Eric Bale's character was able to slip a thumb drive with data about the company to one of his previous employees – Peter Sullivan played by Zachary Quinto.  

That same evening that Eric Bale's character was firied, Zachary Quinto’s character checked the data on the drive. He performed some calculations and was surprised to find out the dire results that surfaced about the company's finances. 

In a nutshell, the company was indeed in deep trouble financially, with its total losses projected to far outpace its earnings by a large percentage. Even more disturbing, the losses were already occurring on a regular basis, unbeknownst to top management. It goes without saying that something had to be done right away to try to save the company, if this was at all possible.

Action Scenes in Margin Call Netflix Movie

Margin Call Netflix movie is not an action movie with chases, bombs, explosions, etc. by any stretch of the imagination. I describe Margin Call Netflix film as a large corporate business movie, where the viewing audience become privy to how some powers that be may choose to try to to save the company, even if doing so would ruin the company’s reputation.

Towards that end, one of the managers, Kevin Spacey as Sam Rogers had to make a decision if he would outright let his employees know what was going on with the failing company or if he would give them a pep talk, tell a bunch of untruths and make promises to his staff that he could not possibly keep.

A-List Actors in the Margin Call Netflix Movie

Since Margin Call Netflix film is a 2011 movie, you may notice at least one actor who became well known later as Dr. Spock in the Star Trek Movie franchise. That actor is Zachary Quinto as Peter Sullivan who first broke the news about the company’s bleak future to his co-worker, and later to others.

Margin Call Netflix movie was loaded with other A-List actors such as Demi Moore as Sarah Robertson, Jeremy Irons as John Tuld, and Simon Baker as Jared Cohen. I think the cast of high talented actors is one of the reasons Margin Call Netflix movie kept my attention, in addition to all the drama that was happening in the film.

Escalation of Events in Margin Call Netflix Movie

It was interesting to me how quickly news of the company’s poor outlook spread once it was revealed by Zahary Quinto’s character. Mind you, his character discovered the unfortunate computer projections at about 11:00 p.m. at night, informed his co-worker a few minutes later, who in turn relayed the information to their new boss after hours when they were away from the office at a club.

A special executive meeting was called that same night, when by this time it was in the wee morning hours of the morning to discuss the company’s future and what actions were to be taken.

Of note to me was a line that was said by Simon Baker as Jared Cohen's character to his group before they entered this high-level meeting. His words were and I paraphrase here: “ I do not want  anyone to say anything once we get into this meeting. None of you are smart enough. Not even you – “Rocket Scientist.”  When he said Rocket Scientist he was looking at the person who initially interpreted the information on the drive and alerted his co-worker of the bad news -- Zachary Quinto's character.

Assessment of Margin Call Netflix Movie

Sometimes screenwriters have a problem picking the right time or moment to end a movie. For instance, at the end of Margin Call Netflix movie, you may wonder what happened next with the company or even some of its employees. 

Without spoiling the movie, I will say that I was disappointed in the ending, mainly because the writer seemed to leave it up to the audience to determine what happened to the company et. al after all the false trading and just overall unethical behavior of the managers, and the overall failure of the company.

Other than the ending, I found the movie to be interesting and the events in the film kept my attention. The actors were adequate in their roles and I think they all did a good job to make it seem as if the company was facing a huge crisis -- which it was.

Additionally, as I alluded to previously, the A-List actors added to the realism of what was going on in the Margin Call Netflix movie.

If you want to learn more about how some huge companies may operate in times of impending crisis or failure and what they do to cope or to try to keep the company afloat -- you may want to check out the Netflix movie, Margin Call.

You may also agree with me that the Netflix movie, Margin Call did not look dated, but could very well have been a recent film instead of one that was released back in 2011.

Rating of Margin Call Netflix Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, I rate Margin Call Netflix movie 4 stars. 

Introduction to Jason Statham Wild Card Netflix Movie Review

If I mention certain actors, you would probably know whether they are known for action films.

For example, when I say “Tom Cruise '' you will probably think of his latest action film, Top Gun: Maverick or one of his older movies such as Mission Impossible: Fall-Out or some other Tom Cruise action movie. In other words you would associate Tom Cruise with action films.  

I believe that Jason Statham falls in the category of action film stars. He may not be at the same level as Tom Cruise, but he shares similarities with Tom Cruise's tendencies and notoriety, for the most part, to star in action films.

The action film I'm referring to for my movie review is Wild Card, a 2015 Netflix movie that stars Jason Statham.

Did I enjoy watching Jason Statham Wild Card Netflix movie? Will you? Check out my movie review of Jason Statham Wild Card film to find out.

Synopsis of Jason Statham Wild Card Netflix Movie

The Jason Statham Wild Card movie begins with Jason Statham's character, Nick Wild acting attracted towards a woman bar patron, Sophia Vegara as DD. There is a twist here which I will not reveal to you so that I do not spoil the movie.

The plot of Jason Statham Wildcard Netflix movie centers around Jason Statham’s character who is a well-known personality around Las Vegas. In addition to being recognized as a Las Vegas gambler, he works at a law office as a security consultant who happens to also be bodyguard.

Towards that end, the movie storyline leads you through scenes with Jason Statham’s character helping Dominik Garcia-Loredo as Holly get revenge for the abuse a mobster inflicted upon her. I'll stop here to say that the Jason Statham Wild Card Netflix movie is rated R and should not be viewed by anyone under the age of 17.

In the film, Jason Statham's character is hired to be the bodyguard for a wealthy, seemingly timid man by the name of Cyrus Kinnik played by Michael Angorano.

The action of the movie shows Jason Statham's character many fights and escapes as he defends himself and others. As a warning, there are some gory scenes in the Jason Statham Wild Card Netflix movie, so you may want to look away from the screen when they show up.

Action Scenes in Jason Statham Wild Card Netflix Movie

As I alluded to previously, Jason Statham Wild Card Netflix movie is action packed, with lots of choreographed fights and altercations between Jason Statham’s character and his enemies. To his credit, Jason Statham seemed to keep up with all the action scenes even if some of the actions were probably performed by stuntmen and stunt doubles.

Negative Aspect about Jason Statham's Acting Skills in Wild Card Netflix Movie

A negative I noticed about Jason Statham in the movie Wild Card is he seems to have an angry expression throughout most of the fllm and was unable to express other emotiions such as when he suddenly decided to continue gambling when he was about to cash in his winnings. However, Jason Statham Wild Card Netflix movie is over seven years old, so hopefully he has learned how to express his emotions more adequately in his other movies since this film was released.

Assessment of Jason Statham Wild Card Netflix Movie

In my opinion, the storyline leaves you with a lesson, should you take heed of it and if you watch Jason Statham Wild Card Netflix movie. Even though for the most part, Jason Statham’s character appeared in plenty of scenes fighting and defending himself, there are scenes where he is seen doing what most people in Las Vegas do, which is gamble. 

During Jason Statham's character conversation with Michael Angarona’s character who he sort of struck up a friendship with, you may learn a lesson from the dialogue they had towards the end of the movie, Jason Statham Wild Card.

I will not divulge the content of their conversation; however, you will know when the message is shared during a deep dialogue that took place between Jason Statham’s and Michael Angarona’s character when Michael Angarona’s character had an “aha” moment.

Even though Jason Statham's Wild Card Netflix movie has an abundance of violent scenes, I will not penalize his movie for that with a low rating. In fact, to the contrary, I will rate this movie high due to the message in this film shared or inferred about fears some people may have as well as how they may try to overcome them.

If you are over 17 years of age, I recommend that you watch the Jason Statham Wild Card Netflix movie. I think you will find this Netflix movie to be not only entertaining, but you may learn a lesson at the end of the movie as well.

Rating of Jason Statham’s Wild Card Netflix Movie

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, I rate Jason Statham Wildcard Netflix movie 5 stars.

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