Movie Breakdown: The Guilty

Pre-Screening Stance:

I saw the original Danish version of The Guilty a million years ago (it was actually just 2018) at Fantastic Fest and thought it was pretty great. I don’t know if a remake for such a simple and effective film is necessary, but I can get behind it with Jake Gyllenhaal involved. I am, however, a lot less excited about it being directed by Antoine Fuqua, who already put out one of the worst films of the year in Infinite.

Post-Screening Ramble:

“Well, that was a movie.”

You ever watch something and then when it wraps, that’s all you’re left with? It’s neither excitement or disappointment, it’s just a real “OK, next” type feeling. This is Antoine Fuqua’s take on The Guilty. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Joe Baylor, a disgraced police officer who has been relegated to working at a 911 dispatch desk until his legal issues can be cleared up. On what is likely to be his last day doing a job he clearly hates, he takes a call from a kidnapped woman and then goes about doing everything he can to help her.

Gyllenhaal is one of the only faces you see in this movie, and he certainly does his part to carry it. Joe is a fairly rough guy – he’s not very likeable, he’s overly dedicated to his job, and he has a misguided view of justice – and yet Gyllenhaal still manages to make you root for him. Unfortunately though, the rest of the film just isn’t quite on the same level. At just an hour and a half, it shouldn’t drag, but Fuqua frequently let’s it get bogged down with random asides. There’s also an issue with the tone, which is so frenetic that it makes difficult to ever settle into the film. Less is more, you know?

The Guilty certainly isn’t bad, but it’s missing the magic that made the original Danish film so great. Look for it in theaters this Friday, September 24 and then on Netflix on Friday, October 1.

One Last Thought:

Trying to guess the famous face behind every voice that Jake Gyllenhaal encounters on the phone throughout this movie makes for a solid game.