Beckett movie review & film summary (2021)

“Beckett” does nothing with the notion that a Black man would stick out like a sore thumb in rural Greece. Instead, it keeps him running while introducing the aforementioned political plot-line. The protest march under that hotel in Athens has something to do with Karras (Yorgos Pirpassopoulos), the newly elected leader rumored to have a shady past. Later, Beckett will team up briefly with two activists, Eleni (Maria Votti) and Lena (Vicky Krieps), who are headed into town to attend that rally. By this point, numerous acts of violence have been perpetrated on the poor guy, including beatings and falls from great heights. By the closing credits, he will also be stabbed, slashed, and shot (again and again). In the film’s most ridiculous moment, he jumps several stories to land on a moving car exiting a parking garage.

Through all this carnage, Beckett remains an enigma, and a very dull one at that. Even the violent scenes feel half-hearted. Washington doesn’t click with anybody onscreen; he plays Beckett so blandly that it becomes a chore watching him. Maybe it’s the roles he’s had lately, but I remain stunned by how forgettable this actor has been in a leading role. From the resentful “Malcolm and Marie” to Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” he hasn’t done anything on the big screen as sharp, charismatic, and dangerous as he was in “BlacKkKlansman.” (TV is another matter, as he’s quite good on “Ballers.”) Filomarino keeps Beckett running for his life, but we have no incentive to care whether he’ll live or die.

We do know Beckett can hardly take the risk of trusting someone, even if his situation is so dire that he has to rely on the kindness of strangers. But if you’ve seen any early-1970s thriller, you can easily guess who’ll be the turncoats and who’ll be the allies. “Beckett” made me wish its titular hero had seen them, too. They not only would have told him who to trust, they would have shown him what a compelling main character looked like as well.

Now playing on Netflix.

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