Force of Nature (2020) - SPOILER-FREE Review
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Directed by: Michael Polish
Written by: Cory Miller
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Kate Bosworth, Mel Gibson, David Zayas, Stephanie Cayo, Will Catlett, Swen Temmel, Tyler Jon Olsen, Jorge Luis Ramos
Runtime: 91 min
Synopsis: A group of thieves scheme to pull off an elaborate heist during a hurricane. But their carefully-designed plan quickly begins to fall apart when a police officer attempts to evacuate everybody in the building.
One of the worst movies I’ve seen in my entire life! No, I’m not going to ease you in. I literally spent ninety minutes of my weekend feeling frustrated, angry, stressed out, and genuinely annoyed at how many aspects Force of Nature is horrible at. This is an atrocious film in every imaginable way. There’s no redeeming quality or a little tiny positive note. I’m going to be as straightforward as I can. I’m not going to waste the usual time I need to write a review, this one will be written in less than fifteen minutes.
First of all, the narrative. This movie is about a group of thieves that attempt to steal something from a building during a storm. It’s a Category 5 hurricane, and all the film shows is rain. There are no windows breaking, doors flying, or any sort of indication that the weather is dangerous in any way. Every single character is plainly stupid. There’s no way of describing them more accurately. Everyone makes astonishingly dumb decisions, based on the most illogical and unrealistic scenarios.
The action lacks everything it must have: energy, choreography, good editing, and everything else you can think of. A character dies, the camera goes in for a close-up, and the eyes are still freaking moving. That’s the level of amateurism Force of Nature displays. The sound design comes from the past century, with punches, kicks, and gunshots sounding like I’m watching an anime. The editing is terrible throughout, but it’s far from grabbing the spotlight with so much baffling stuff.
Even the cast delivers laughable performances. Emile Hirsch (Cardillo) has the worst emotional range I’ve ever seen in an actor. His expressions are cringe-worthy in almost every single situation, independently of how serious the latter is or not. I have no idea what Mel Gibson (Ray) is doing in such a wretched flick. The “plot armor” that protagonists regularly possess is taken to a whole new level. Usually, they survive a 99%-chance of dying scenario, and the audience simply accepts it. But the “bad guys” in this movie are ridiculously portrayed, almost like the actors are interpreting caricatures of their characters.
Throughout the whole film, I felt continuously frustrated. Every single minute is packed with story inconsistencies and truly irritating characters. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable watching a movie before. I never wished so hard for a film to finally end. I was moving around on my couch and giving these nervous chuckles because I was honestly feeling extremely annoyed at what I was watching. Michael Polish and Cory Miller should be ashamed of what they did. This is an embarrassment for any filmmaker. Believe me: I could easily write 2000+ words about this piece…
Final Thoughts
Force of Nature is indeed a force to be reckoned with… for the “Worst Movies I’ve Ever Seen” contest. From the baffling character decisions to the illogically absurd narrative, Michael Polish directs an appalling film packed with excruciatingly embarrassing acting, horribly dated sound design, a nonsensical attempt at creating a catastrophic atmosphere, awful editing, impressively lousy action, and last but not least, one of the worst screenplays ever put to screen, by Cory Miller. The level of amateurism is genuinely jaw-dropping. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable watching a heist movie. I’m feeling incredibly frustrated, bitter, annoyed, and unsure how a film like this was made possible. Please, stay away from this abomination. Even if you’re interested in watching it just to know how bad it actually is, be careful. Because you’re not going to feel that well after watching Mel Gibson fall to this level.
