Hi everyone!
Welcome back to another week of reviews! No new sponsors this week, so I’m going to check out a Certified Fresh film from earlier this year. We’re still working on the Patreon campaign, but now also another project, one I’m hoping to present to you in the coming months. We’re growing faster than our current funding levels, so if you want to make a donation and help the cause, head over to patreon.com/onemoviepunch for information about becoming a sponsor. Join at any level, and you can help make this podcast not just self-sustaining, but able to grow.
And now...
Today’s movie is “Gemini” (2017), the Neon studios crime thriller written and directed by Aaron Katz. The film follow Jill LeBeau (Lola Kirke), a personal assistant to Hollywood star Heather Anderson (Zoë Kravitz). After a horrible crime, Jill finds herself traversing Los Angeles to learn the truth of what happened, while being pursued by investigating detective Charles Ahn (John Cho).
Spoilers ahead.
One benefit of the recent boom in independent film-making is the willingness to explore older genres for the modern times. In particular, I’ve been loving the film noir genre getting modern and postmodern renditions, exploring how much things have changed, and how much they’ve stayed the same. And the biggest two worries for these endeavors? First, not becoming a caricature of the genre, which “Gemini” avoids just fine. The second is not being too obvious, or recycle too much of the genre, especially for genre nerds like me. I’m someone who has loved a good mystery from Edgar Allen Poe’s French analyst Dupin, through Conan Doyle’s Sherlock and Christie’s Poirot and Hammett’s detectives, not to mention a host of noir films. And unfortunately, for me anyway as a kind of superfan of the genre, “Gemini” was too obvious in story from the start.
“Gemini” begins with a somewhat rowdy night for Jill and Heather, blowing off some steam, introducing both the characters involved, and a breadcrumb trail that Jill will follow the next day trying to figure out who killed Heather. Hey, I said spoilers! Now, for those that don’t follow astrology, Gemini refers to a pair of twins, which means for the title to have significance, there are only few ways this film can go. And once they introduce the twinning super-fan in the beginning scenes, those possibilities shrink even further. I kept waiting for a plot twist, but the film ends right about where I thought it would. But while I was disappointed to solve the mystery way too early, I really did appreciate the ride from start to finish.
Aaron Katz does a great job of melding an excellent cast of characters and actors with a consistent aesthetic driven by downtempo jazz and different shades of blues. Lola Kirke is really good as Jill LeBeau, maintaining a mystery around her motives and emotions, never backing down even while the mystery is unraveling itself around her. Her journey around Los Angeles was a nice scenic ride for me, seeing a lot of iconic and hidden landmarks, and really nailing the feeling of Hollywood when you’re not a tourist, that elite and seedier Hollywood known to the locals. All of these factors are well done and well composed, which does a great job of off-setting the predictable story, one that noir buffs may not see coming.
“Gemini” (2017) is a modern noir film with a Hollywood-based story, awash in wonderful sights and sounds, but with perhaps a too predictable story. Aaron Katz brings the film together well, with a strong performance from Lola Kirke. Fans of noir films, or detective/police fiction, should definitely check out this film. However, I would also recommend the film to anyone who is a fan of Los Angeles, or Hollywood in particular.
Rotten Tomatoes: 75% (FRESH)
Metacritic: 71
One Movie Punch: 8.4/10
“Gemini” (2017) is rated R and is currently streaming on Hulu.
