Nope… maybe

NOPE is the film you want to love. You want to sit in tense anticipation from scene to scene. You want to walk out with that mind blown feeling that takes hours to subside. You want to sit and talk to others about the experience and dissect the emotion. Was that the case here? Nope.

The residents of a lonely gulch in inland California bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery. That is true and basically sums up the story. What it doesn’t say is how disjointed and often dull it is on the whole. Other than one incredibly chilling scene, there is nothing very engaging here.

Comparing movie makers is a slippery slope. No one likes to be compared especially when there is no element of competition. Hunting is a sport, but the deer doesn’t know he’s playing. That said I am going to do it anyway.

Jordan Peele (writer/director) solidified himself as a major player in the movie world with GET OUT. Is it fair to expect the same from US and NOPE? Yes. Did it happen? Nope. It is the M. Night syndrome. Everyone expected all of his films to live up to The Sixth Sense. We all wanted that same wow factor. Unfairly all of his later films were critiqued side by side. That is what is happening with Peele.

Don’t tease us with a trailer.

It is frustrating to get teased with something that is never coming. Don’t offer up a promise of intense horror, and then deliver a mediocre sci-fi tale with no scares.

Daniel Kaluuya (OJ) is one of the finest male actors in the business today.

He has the ability to sit in a moment and draw you in with silence and a lost gaze. Here he is fabulous as a young man trying to salvage the family business while dealing with an unknown enemy. He sells the internal struggle without having to spill the emotion out. Equally great is his co-star Keke Palmer (Emerald) who plays his sister, and lives out loud in comparison. It is enjoyable to watch them together here.

Many will disagree, but this film has a wonderful concept with not enough meat to carry it through. There is a terrifying side story in this movie that is actually stronger than the main. It sill gives me chills.

NOPE: rated R for language throughout and some violence/bloody images. I will be the first in line for the next Peele film, with hopefully better things to say.