Review: Ava

Ava (2020) is a dramatic action film written by Matthew Newton, and directed by Tate Taylor. As we begin, we are introduced to Peter (Ioan Gruffudd) who has just arrived in France by plane. He is picked up at the airport by an alluring, blonde chauffeur who introduces herself as Brandy. Unbeknownst to the pair, another woman, clothed in motorcycle regalia spies on them from a distance. As Brandy drives away from the airport with Peter in tow, the mystery motorcycle woman follows them on her bike.

While en route to a convention center, Peter and Brandy engage in some flirtatious conversation, which results in Brandy pulling the vehicle over in an empty field, for the apparent purpose of climbing into the back seat, and enjoying a little afternoon delight with Peter. The motorcycle woman watches from a distance, and uses a bionic ear to eavesdrop on them.

Once in the backseat, Brandy pulls a gun on Peter, and asks him some personal questions. Things go south very quickly, and Brandy murders Peter. The motorcycle woman, having heard the whole thing, rides off in one direction, while Brandy leaves in the opposite direction.

Brandy pulls off her blonde wig to reveal her natural ginger hair. She makes a call to Duke (John Malkovich). Turns out Brandy is actually Ava, a professional hitperson, and Duke is her boss. Duke chastises Ava for getting too personal with her targets. He enquires as to whether or not Ava, a recovering alcoholic, has fallen off the wagon. Ava assures Duke that she has not been drinking, that he needn’t worry, and that she will be returning to Boston, home to both Duke, as well as her own family. And thus, Ava is under way.

I went in to this movie, completely blind. I knew absolutely nothing about it other than the release date, and the length. So I was completely open to wherever Ava wanted to take me. Stay tuned for specifics if you want em, but ultimately, Ava was fine. It wasn’t great, and it wasn’t awful. And this was basically across the board. From the script to the performances, it was just fine.

I’m not usually big into spoilers, however, I am going to spoil a thing or two in this review, so if you want to remain spoiler-free, don’t read the rest of this until you’ve seen the film.

At first, I thought Ava was basically going to be Jane Wick. But before long I realized that Ava was going for a story that was less gratuitous, and that promised more emotional depth than John Wick (Chad Stahleski, 2014). Ava has plenty of Wick-ian style action scenes, but it also has plenty of scenes featuring familial drama, and exploration of Ava’s backstory, delving deeply into the hows and the whys of her career as a contract killer. How many times did John Wick pay off his ex-fiancee’s gambling debts? Zero that’s how many.

I give the filmmakers credit for trying to fuse a balls-to-the-wall, action spy thriller, with a Lifetime movie of the week about dealing with addiction. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really working for me. The logistics of being a contract killer don’t seem compatible with living a family oriented life. Everyone is trying to kill Ava, yet between attempts on her life, she is hashing out daddy issues with her mom Bobbi (Geena Davis), dealing with her ex Michael’s (Common) gambling addiction, and putting up with the increasingly melodramatic temper tantrums of her sister Judy (Jess Weixler).

This set-up sounds like it could be a cool idea for a really fun, exploitation-style, piss-take of an action film. Unfortunately, that’s not what Ava is. Ava demands that the viewer split their attention equally between two separate, reasonably incompatible story lines. They want us to become emotionally involved in this story with a requisite amount of seriousness. But then every somber scene of intra-family drama is book-ended by a fantastical, over-the top action scene in which Ava handily defeats bad guy after bad guy who are apparently waiting in line for their turn to get their ass handed to them.

It isn’t long before one has to wonder, if so many people want Ava dead, is it really a good idea for her to be hanging out with her family? If Ava has returned home in pursuit of some kind of soul-cleansing reunion with her family, isn’t that being incredibly selfish of her to put the rest of her family in harm’s way? Interestingly enough, this could have been one of the issues they dealt with. Ava’s selfishness on full display having put her whole family at risk in hopes of absolving herself of her guilt over demons from the past. This could really highlight Ava being mistaken in believing she has grown emotionally or matured at all. Her falling off the wagon would have more weight, if it were a result of her own failings, rather than a result of things other people have done to her.

Another thing that was bothersome was the way Ava’s alcoholism was dealt with. Addiction is the real deal, folks. You may have a friend or a loved one who struggles with addiction. You may be an addict yourself. You may not realize it, but you very well could be. It is a serious thing. So when the film lets me know that not only are we dealing with an addict in Ava, but that her addiction, and the struggle that it comes with, will be central to the story, I expect that addiction to be treated with a requisite amount of gravity. Ava’s addiction is central to the story. But when Ava finds herself unable to stop herself from slipping off the precipice, back into using again, the film totally fails.

First, they never really sell me on her being pushed to the breaking point. Throughout the film Ava is established as a character who, while demons reside permanently in her closet, is a woman of profound internal strength. She is frequently tempted, but usually manages to rise above. Especially when the details of her previous relapses are revealed. So when she does finally break, it feels cheap. Like she HAS to fall off the wagon because we’ve been teased it throughout the rest of the film. She doesn’t relapse because she is genuinely motivated to do so. She relapses because she just has to. It’s cheap.

The other way in which this subject is poorly handled is that Ava’s relapse into alcoholism has absolutely ZERO CONSEQUENCES. She has a MAJOR relapse, and five minutes later, competently holds her own against an opponent in a physical contest. You mean she didn’t need to relapse in the first place? Then why the fuck did you have her do it?! The whole notion behind us not wanting to see her relapse (or anyone relapse for that matter), is that there would be real consequences.

And I’m not just talking about consequences during the fight. I mean in her life. Every aspect of it. Not just the boss fight at the end. I’m not sure there was enough of the film left to even have any real consequences, but that only confirms my suspicion that this subject was never meant to be handled with any real stakes whatsoever. It is enough that she crack, we don’t need to have her actually deal with anything.

If there are no consequences to a relapse, then why did she need to stop drinking in the first place? It’s just kind of dumb. And honestly, a little insulting to people who really struggle with alcoholism. I’m not trying to say that a fun, jaunty, romp of a murder-spree like Ava need to deal with addiction in a somber, clinical fashion. But Goddamnit, let’s have some consequences for these actions. So the film manages to be mostly unbelievable on both sides of its disparately decorated coin. The action, and the drama.

The performances are all satisfactory. Nothing exceptional, but most of the actors in this film are pretty solid in the clutch. Malkovich, Farrell, Davis, Chastain are all fine, and the film is a lot of fun at times. Watching Malkovich and Farrell have a punch-out to rival Keith David and Roddy Piper in They Live (John Carpenter, 1988) is joy to watch. I don’t remember if I’ve ever seen John Malkovich do anything quite like it, but it was awesome indeed.

Okay, I lied. That fight scene doesn’t come close to the pure, 24k, cinematic gold that RoddyPiper and Keith David mined in They Live. But it was still pretty fun.

Jessica Chastain handles the amount of ass kicking that is required of her like a champ. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t put her on the level of a Zoë Bell or a Cynthia Rothrock, but she is capable of selling many of the moves she exhibits. It’s just too bad the entire film doesn’t kick as much ass as Jessica Chastain has to.

Let’s sum things up, shall we? If you are looking to watch a movie that is a little fun, with no serious investment, emotional or chronological, and chock-full of gorgeous human beings, Ava just might be your jam. If, however, you are looking for a film that is going to wow you with amazing fight choreography and hoplophilic gunplay, Ava might not be your jam. Additionally, if you are looking for a drama that delves deep into a family’s demons, and/or that takes a serious, provocative look at issues that can really impact a person’s life negatively, then Ava also might not be your jam. It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve seen by any means, but it also certainly wasn’t the best.