10 Ridiculously Overhated Recent Movies
7. The Rhythm Section
A rare non-James Bond film from Eon Studios, The Rhythm Section was a colossal box office bomb and got generally negative reviews from critics; it's not entirely clear why.
Although the final act - complete with one of those awful surprise villains Hollywood keep insisting on these days - is a bust and it can be a little too grim for its own good, there's much to admire in this movie all the same.
It stands out among other assassin thrillers by featuring a trainee assassin (Blake Lively) who's actually quite incompetent, and this keeps the film down-to-earth and believable. Tone-wise, it's generally a soulful and refreshingly understated affair that does get quite moving at times and also features some rock-solid thrills - especially a memorable one-shot car chase in the second act.
Factor in the impressive performances from Blake Lively (who does a surprisingly convincing British accent), Jude Law and Sterling K. Brown, and you've got an overall effective thriller that's so much better than most of the rubbish studios dump into cinemas every January. It really doesn't deserve all the hate.