Opioid-epidemic drama ‘Crisis’ misses the mark
“Crisis,” an attempted thriller about the opioid epidemic, unfortunately doesn’t bring the experience home.
The movie is a multiplenarrative look at the misuse of the likes of fentanyl, oxycodone and heroin that, according to HHS, afflicted more than 1.6 million Americans in 2019. It’s a raging epidemic exacting a dreadful human toll, but “Crisis” doesn’t share it in a meaningful, emotional way; it feels like research dressed as a drama.
There are three storylines: DEA agent Jake (Armie Hammer) wants to take out both ArmenianAmerican and Canadian cartels by setting up a fentanyl sting; recoveringaddict mom Claire (Evangeline Lilly) goes on a mission of vengeance; and principled professor Tyrone (Gary Oldman) discovers something very wrong with a soon-to-market designer opioid.
Multiple-narrative, issue movies tend to be problematic largely because of how difficult it is for a filmmaker to craft one storyline that grips viewers throughout, much less three or more. Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic” is the gold standard for a reason. Even the official plot summary of “Crisis” seems confused about the storylines, claiming they collide (two do; perhaps they figured two out of three ain’t bad, but it all ends up a kind of cinematic meatloaf).
The sting scenario is handled sufficiently, though in a paint-by-numbers fashion. It fails to thrill or surprise, its turns visible miles away. Hammer’s driven performance helps, but the film’s attempt to motivate Jake by giving him an addicted sister (Lily Rose-Depp) feels artificial. The mom investigation is improbable. The film’s stated position is that police are bad at their jobs and this inexperienced, suburban person can easily solve the international crime that befuddles them – while also cracking a cartel.
The most compelling storyline is the professor vs. Big Pharma and his own university. Oldman (an executive producer on the film) convincingly portrays Tyrone’s inner struggle as he risks losing everything to try to head off a public-health crisis, if his data are correct. Even then, writer-director Nicholas Jarecki (“Arbitrage”) stacks the deck. The super-drug that’s not supposed to be addictive turns out to be three times as addictive as OxyContin and will kill users in 10 days to boot. Somehow the drug company didn’t notice that in its years of development and doesn’t mind the countless wrongful-death lawsuits sure to flood the courts. This is akin to “The Day After Tomorrow” tackling the very real and present crisis of climate change with a super-bogeyman (magically powerful storms); it doesn’t make the case.
Whatever its goals, the filmmaking is uninspired. It’s heavily reliant on clichés,
especially in its use of score, the lone-wolf cop and familiar devices to build tension.
The film also openly endorses street justice. On the bright side, that leads to the wisest moment in “Crisis,” though perhaps unintentionally so: After an act of vengeance, a character asks, “What am I supposed to do now?” The answer: “I don’t know.”
Crisis
Cast: Armie Hammer, Evangeline Lilly, Gary Oldman, Lily Rose-Depp.
Director:
Running time: 1 hour, 58 minutes.
Nicholas Jarecki.
Rated: R for drug content, violence and language throughout.
Available: In theaters now; on digital and on demand March 5.
In March 2020, the pandemic forced the Miami Film Festival to close with just four days left in its run. Now, a year later, the festival is going forward with a hybrid format: in-person screenings at one cinema (instead of its typical multiple venues) and virtual screenings to enjoy from home.
“Most of the films that will be live will also be virtual,” says Lauren Cohen, the festival’s associate director of programming. “We got over 1,000 submissions this year, and we have over 100 films from 40 countries.”
The festival opens on March 5 with an in-theater, world-premiere screening of Miami-based filmmaker Edson Jean’s “Ludi,” based on his Haitian mother’s job as a home health aide for Miami seniors and her experience trying to make her way in America. A personal story with a screenplay by Jean and co-writer Joshua Jean-Baptiste, “Ludi” will also be available to watch virtually.
The film will compete for both the $40,000 Knight Made in MIA Feature Film Award supported by the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation, and the $10,000 Jordan Ressler First Feature Award. Jean received $50,000 from Oolite Arts to create his film.
In fact, “Ludi” is the first film from Oolite Arts’ Cinematic Arts Residency program, which began in
2019. It is also Jean’s first feature film. His most recent work was an online streaming dramedy titled, “Grown,” and he wrote, directed and starred in “The Adventures of Edson Jean,” a 20-minute short film made in 2013 and aired on HBO.
Creating “Ludi” as part of the Oolite Art’s program was a learning experience in so many ways, Jean says.
“It taught me that there isn’t just one way to make a film,” he says. “It was really important for me to not try to make a film that looked like it had a half a million-dollar budget when it had $50,000.”
Jean says he learned to “lean into the fact” that he was working within a smaller budget. “Then, by proxy, you can get something that feels like a complete
story and a piece of art,” he says.
The Cinematic Arts Residency program is intended to help fast-forward the careers of Miami filmmakers and to bring Miami stories to the big screen.
“Oolite is a conduit for that,” Jean says. “There are some exciting filmmakers in Miami, and Oolite is literally creating this channel that’s not dependent on anything like an incentive from the city to build Miami’s film identity.”
Jean never expected “Ludi” to be selected to kick off the 38th edition of the festival. But like so many things, COVID-19 changed the course of the movie’s trajectory.
“The idea from the beginning was to use the film as a gateway to galvanize
the community,” Jean says, with the idea of presenting it in community centers and churches – and no goal of running it in big-box movie theaters or having it picked up by a large distribution house.
Once in-person gatherings return, he hopes to begin the movie’s Florida tour of eight cities, from Miami-Dade to Orange counties.
Jean says the film was finished before COVID-19 hit, so he was able to take his time and refocus. Then came the invitation from the Miami Film Festival: “Just for the film to appear at the festival was special on its own.”
To have it chosen as the festival opener was an extra honor.
“Edson’s film was one of the most exciting things to happen,” Cohen says. “When we saw the lineup taking shape, and when we were programming for the opening, we found this incredible film.”
Organizers also discovered another film that came out of Oolite Arts’ Cinematic Arts Residency: a documentary by Jayme Kaye Gershen titled “Birthright,” which follows Miami electro-pop duo Afrobeta as they prepare to perform in Havana. It is scheduled to close the festival on March 14.
“The film is about cultural identity. What does it mean to label yourself someone who is Cuban if your parents are Cuban but you were born in Miami and have never set foot in the country,” Cohen says. “They take this journey as they deal with their parents who left Cuba and are angry at the thought of them going there and them wanting to go to find their ties – their roots.
“It sets the right tone for the closing night.”
Gershen’s film will compete for both the festival’s Documentary Achievement Award and the Knight Made in MIA Feature Film Award.
“Made-in-Miami films are so important to us,” Cohen says. “And to be able to bookend the festival with two MIA films with these incredible local talents … they are both small films, but ones that pack such an incredible punch.”