Hit or Miss: Taylor Sheridan Makes You Question

• Those Who Wish Me Dead
• BRON Studios
• Directed by Taylor Sheridan
• Main Characters: Angelina Jolie, Finn Little, Jon Bernthal, Aiden Gillen, and Nicholas Hoult
• 1 Hour, 40 Minutes
• 3/5 stars

The movie, Those Who Wish Me Dead, based on the book by Michael Koryta, was as thrilling as it was confusing.  As someone who enjoys a well written plot and screen play, it took me a minute after thoroughly enjoying the movie, to sit back and grasp what I had watched.

Directed by Taylor Sheridan in correlation with BRON Studios, Those Who Wish Me Dead, is a movie about a dare-devil firefighter, Hannah, (played by Angelina Jolie), protecting a young boy (played by Finn Little), with a very large secret, from two assassins who are out to keep a secret, just that.  To make the plot a little more interesting, the escape plan is trying to get through a forest, which is rapidly going up in flames due to a forest fire. 

                If you are looking for the type of movie Taylor Sheridan usually directs, like Hell or High Water, then you will be disappointed.  It is not a neo western thriller, which Sheridan is known for, but instead, a suspenseful action movie.  If you do not have any preconceived notions on Taylor Sheridan, the movie is a lot more enjoyable.

 It is hard to compare this movie with other films by him because it’s not a thriller.  He branched out, and there are some learning curves.  However, he sets up the conflict well, and he follows through the whole movie.  With some more research, I found that this was not fully a Taylor Sheridan film.  The director who was meant to direct the movie dropped out, so Sheridan stepped in.  It is not a full defense, but it does make more sense.

                Overall, the movie was pretty good.  The acting was brilliant due to their use of emotion as well as their commitment to their characters, there was the perfect amount of humor, and it was not overfilled with fluff.  Angelina Jolie outdid herself in this film.  The whole reason I decided to watch this movie, as many of you probably are trying to decide off this factor as well, was because of her. 

I love the intensity Jolie brings in every movie, and she did not shy away in this film either.  The only controversial thought I have with the casting of Angelina Jolie, is the fact that her looks do not fit how her character is portrayed to be.

Angelina Jolie has a very super model type look to her.  From her super skinny body to her face touch ups, she has a particulate look to her.  Hannah, the character Jolie is portraying, is a dare-devil fire fighter, who lives in the woods, who I feel like should have more of a “tomboy” feel, rather than a “I drive a G-Wagon,” aesthetic.  But that is a very minor complaint.  It was easily overlooked by her passion and emotion she portrayed in the movie.

Another character that really tied the movie together was the kid, Finn Little, who played Conner, the boy that witnessed a murder and assassins were after.  As a child actor, it can be hard to fully characterize the exact idea of what a director would want, but Little did it.  How he was able to show his trauma all over his face throughout the movie, and be on point with his emotions, Little did a beautifully job and has a bright future ahead of him.

The biggest critic I have for this movie is all the plot holes.  There was a lot of unexplained situations that I could not make sense of.  For one, they show Hannah with all her firefighter friends in the beginning as if they were going to have a lot more involvement within the movie, and in reality, it was just fluff.  We do not see any of those characters again in the film.

In other scenes, timing did not match up.  The assassins were on a chase to murder this man, who was miles ahead of them, but somehow, the hitmen got ahead of the car and got their shot. 

Tyler Perry makes an appearance as well.  As nice addition as he was, he was in maybe three scenes at most, and I had no idea who he was until the end.  He did not even have enough recognition to have a say if he acted well or not, he might as well have been some random actor.

When you don’t put too much thought into the little plot holes, it really is a fantastic movie.  One further question I had was why, in the movie, it never fully gives answers to certain moments throughout the film?  After some research, since I never read the book myself, the answer was found.  The book was just a vague as the movie.  Just be prepared to be left with questions that will never be answered. 

Besides the obvious plot holes, and the questionable choices on actors, the movie was well put together.  From the research I discovered, the movie is in line with the book.  Taylor Sheridan did a fine job of keeping it in line with the book, it just was not a normal Sheridan film.

If you are into action movies with a bit of suspense, I would recommend this movie.  The acting was phenomenal, and even with the little discrepancies here and there, the film played out well.