Dog’s Movie House: Allison Janney Elevates “Lou” Into An Intense Thriller From Netflix!

Directed by Anna Foerster, “Lou” is a mostly capivating piece of cinema, moving along at a goodly clip for the most part. The fight choreography is intense and well planned and Janney does a great job during the action sequences. She may be older but she is all whipcord and muscle and bad attitude. Despite being a mostly unlikeable character, Lou is made sympathetic by Janney’s wonderfully layered performance. Clearly something is weighing her down and Janney makes sure you see (and feel) that weight with every gaze and every line on her face. I’d love to see another film that further explores Lou as a character.

Smollet is also very good as the mother who is barely holding it together for the sake of her daughter despite having to team up with a woman she doesn’t really care for and doesn’t really know. The two form something of a bond though Lou is too wounded to really let Hannah in too much (I found the reality of the relationship refreshing as it isn’t to pat or easily resolved.) Marshall-Green gets to add a few layers to his personality despite being the villain of the piece. Most of the revelations are not really that suprising, but both Janney and Marshall-Green sell them to keep the movie moving.

Overall, “Lou” is a better-than-average Netflix thriller with outstanding performances and some really good action set pieces. Janney owns this film even more than Liam Neeson did in the original “Taken” and is on a path to become the next older generation action star. 3 1/2 Out Of 5 On Kendog’s Barkometer! So Sayeth The Kendog!

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