REVIEW #79 Sweet Girl (2021)

Sweet Girl, directed by Brian Mendoza is the latest film from Netflix about Cooper a man who has lost his wife to cancer. A death that could have been prevented by a new trial drug that was shelved as a result of bribes from a larger bio company. Having vowed to get justice for his wife Cooper and his daughter Rachel are now the target themselves. 

CAST & THE ACTING 

Jason Momoa leads the film as Cooper, the family man who tragically loses his wife and vows to take down the CEO of the bio company responsible. I think Momoa done well to portray the shear contrast in emotion, within ten minutes there’s scenes showing his character at his happiest on a camping trip with his wife and daughter to then losing his wife where he must reflect that true pain that comes with losing a loved one. He also performed well in the action sequences that were choreographed well and looked quite fluid on screen. His daughter Rachel was played by Isabela Merced who I felt done really well. She matched her on screen father with the action choreography and also with the more emotional moments in the film. The chemistry between Merced and Momoa reflected nicely on screen and helped show the audience that father daughter bond. I don’t believe there was anyone else in the film worth noting for their performance, not that any of it was necessarily bad but nothing stood out. 

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

The plot for the most part is pretty predictable, everything goes how you would expect, however there is one big twist that really took me by surprise and that doesn’t happen very often! I won’t give it away but it was a nice twist to shake up an otherwise pretty predictable storyline. The basis was that Coopers wife and Rachel’s mother gets cancer and it looks like there’s a new drug that can save her, unfortunately some time later a large bio company paid the manufacturers to shelve the drug for their own business gains ultimately ending any hope of curing the cancer. The films premise is then how they can take down the CEO but there is a lot more going on that they don’t know which makes them a target. Overall it’s a nice mix of family and action but not a plot that’s going to blow you away. As I mentioned above the only thing that took me back was the twist which was a really nice take but I did find myself getting distracted at times because I wasn’t that hooked unfortunately.

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

The cinematography was okay, there were some nice scenes filmed and I liked the snowy woodland setting in the middle of the film especially, it made the action sequences look really good but that’s probably my personal preference. There wasn’t too many special effects, just the typical effects that come with gun fire and killing in an action film such as this and that looked realistic which was good. The fighting sequences were captured well and the camera motion was nice a fluid which let the fights flow well. There is one fight pretty early in the film on a train which involved a hitman and Cooper and his daughter. That’s captured really nicely and was probably one of my favourite scenes in the film for that reason. 

OVERALL (6.5/10)

I did like Sweet Girl, I’m a big fan of Jason Momoa so I knew it wasn’t going to be bad but I felt like it was just a little too predictable which allowed me to get distracted at times. There is a big twist I didn’t expect but it wasn’t enough to influence the score of the film in my opinion. The action sequences were good and it was nice that we saw Cooper and his daughter combat training in the gym at the start of the film, so seeing the MMA movements translate into the fight sequences later on was a nice touch. The acting from Momoa and Merced was good, especially during the scenes where their wife/mother dies that was quite an emotional moment. Their father daughter chemistry also come across nicely on screen. If you’re looking for a film to watch give it a go, it is enjoyable but I definitely knew what I was getting just from watching the trailer. 

Thanks for reading.

Callan