Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)

After a traumatic experience, a smoke jumper (Angelina Jolie) is posted to a fire lookout tower in the mountains of Montana. A forensic accountant (Jake Weber) is murdered by two hit men (Nicholas Hoult, Aidan Gillen) but his young son (Finn Little) witnesses the murder and goes on the run from the hitmen. Based on the novel by Michael Koryta and directed by Taylor Sheridan (WIND RIVER). I was a huge fan of Sheridan's previous film WIND RIVER (2017) so I was looking forward to this action thriller. It's decent enough and it certainly delivers the goods but I was disappointed since it's a comedown from his previous and superior film. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed it but it never rises above a decent if generic thriller. The plot is highly contrived (I've not read the novel so I don't know how it plays out in the book) but I liked the movie's two feisty heroines (Medina Senghore as a cop's pregnant wife is the other) who are able to take the bull by the horns rather than wait for a man to save them. There's plenty of action and I liked that the film ended without a sappy happy ending even though one of the film's most likable characters gets killed off. With Jon Bernthal and in an atypical role, Tyler Perry as the mob boss who puts out the contract that sets the movie in motion.