Sundaymail Editor
Film Review-Tinashe Kusema
SCHADENFREUDE!
Derived from the German words Schaden (damage) and freude (joy), it means to derive pleasure from the misfortunes of others.
No woman in Hollywood has been a victim of this more than Angelina Jolie.
From her allegedly taking pleasure in kissing her own brother, her storied fight with a cocaine and heroin addiction, a tumultuous relationship with her father Jon Voight, right up to the time that she allegedly stole Brad Pitt from Jennifer Aniston, it seems like there were more than a million reasons to hate or despise this 45-year-old actress.
It should then come as no surprise that most trolls read the news of her official split from husband Brad Pitt last year with a grin on their face.
I, too, am guilty!
I am and will always be Team Jen (Jennifer Aniston). However, unlike internet trolls, I dislike Jolie but have always appreciated her as an actress over the years.
I was more than happy to see her doing what she does best, apart from adopting babies, in Taylor Sheridan’s “Those Who Wish Me Dead”.
Jolie stars as Hannah Faber, a smokejumper struggling after failing to prevent the deaths of three young campers and a fellow workmate in a forest fire.
Now, demoted as a fire lookout in Park County, Faber encounters a 10-year-old boy, Connor (Finn Little), who is on the run from two professional hitmen Patrick (Nicholas Hoult) and Jack Blackwell (Aidan Gillen).
Connor is the son of a forensic accountant who was a crucial witness in a federal investigation against a mob boss, Arthur Philip (Tyler Perry), who goes on the run after finding out that his boss was murdered and he could be next.
It is up to Faber to protect the boy and ensure he gets in front of news cameras.
There are so many things to love about this movie, but none better than Faber’s (Jolie) performance.
It was as if this role was tailor-made for her.
She successfully sells the grief that her character goes through after failing to save her friend and campers. The tears are convincing and her general demeanour is on point.
One would assume she is channelling her pain from what looks like a real-life ugly custody battle with ex-husband Pitt.
The story is simple and flows at a brisk and satisfactory pace.
Also, Faber and Connor demonstrate a lot of chemistry, mixing both humour and the serious beats of the story quite well.
Gillen and Hoult, or Littlefinger and Beast as I like to call them, do most of the heavy lifting as the film’s main antagonists.
The brothers are one-dimensional hired killers who will do anything to complete their mission. Much like most of her flicks, the ladies are bound to get a kick out of this film as it puts women at the forefront of the action.
On one side, we have Faber (Jolie) and on the other we have Medina Senghore’s Allison Sawyer. Sawyer is the pregnant wife of the town sheriff, who also happens to be the boy’s aunt. After a meeting and escaping the killers, Sawyer sets about riding a house to track them down and rescue her husband (Jon Bernthal) who has been taken hostage and being used to look for the boy.
As a man who has never been six-months pregnant, I would like to think that there is some skill needed to ride a horse, track down baddies and get involved in a gunfight.
This is the first of two releases by Angelina Jolie. She is also expected to play ‘Thena’ in Marvel’s “Eternals” slated for a November 4 release. I am excited; you should be too.
Online Reporter