Yes, there is bloody action and plenty of it, though unfortunately it's been directed by Tate Taylor ("The Help") in the now-seemingly-mandatory handheld, cut-cut-cut style of post-Bourne action pictures. The only satisfying sequence is a close-quarters fight near the end that goes on and on until it becomes horrific, then exhausting, then funny. "I'm a bit rusty," one combatant admits, blood streaming from his face.
But on the other hand—and here's where "Ava" will lose viewers looking for the usual—the film's heart belongs to its non-action scenes: simply staged face-offs between Chastain's Ava, a recovering alcoholic and former teenaged delinquent, and supporting characters played by Geena Davis, Common, Joan Chen, Jess Weixler, John Malkovich, and other performers skilled enough to make words sting like slaps. (Ioan Gruffudd, a handsome actor who's often cast as the slightly dull heroic lead, even shows up for couple of scenes as a scuzzbag money-mover, and seems to relish being free of the burden of nobility.)
The movie starts by establishing Ava as a talented but unstable "executive." She's adored by her grizzled mentor Duke (John Malkovich), a self-described father figure who replaced the bad biological dad who died when Ava was still a drunk. But she's marked as a problem employee, thanks to her habit of getting her targets where she wants them, then pushing them to confess a bad thing they've done before "closing" them. It's evidence of a latent moral streak that's bubbling up in Ava after years of being tactically suppressed—and it's bad for business. Another of Duke's trainees, Simon (Colin Farrell, playing a murderous family man with a pornstar mustache and side-walled pompadour), is a rising star who's being groomed as Duke's replacement. He warns Duke that Ava has screwed up too oftenand is on deck to get "closed" by another "executive." Duke can't cover for Ava forever. Her bill will come due. Can Duke save her?
"Ava" never completely loses interest in its spy-world plot, but it becomes increasingly obvious that the actors and filmmakers are more invested in scenes where the characters talk to each other, poring over personal business and picking at emotional scabs. As I sit here writing this review, I'm having a hard time remembering any of the action scenes except for that last fight. But I have a photographic recall of scenes where Ava visits her ill mother Bobbi (Davis) in the hospital and reconnects with her estranged sister Judy (Wexler) and her husband Michael (Common).
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