"Lou" doesn't always convince but a fierce Allison Janney sells her particular set of skills

Lou (2022)

Do you want to see Allison Janney have a particular set of skills? If you hesitated, maybe “Lou” will just feel too derivative, but the selling point of an unlikely cast Janney getting her own “Taken” could be enough. The film is set in the 1980s without being in the unapologetic style of an ‘80s action film that starred “Name Any Macho Action Star." Though not without some smart-ass attitude, “Lou” largely takes itself seriously and thrives as a gritty, character-driven survival thriller.


This is Allison Janney as we’ve never seen her before. As if she were joining Bryan Mills, Jason Bourne, or John Wick, Janney is Lou, a gruff, world-weary loner who lives a quiet life in the Pacific Northwest with her canine companion Jax (played by Ozzie and Jersey), and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Preparing for a raging storm, she withdraws a large sum of money, digs up a box buried in the ground, and gets her estate in order. Right before she plans on ending her life with a shotgun in the mouth, Lou realizes she has more life to live when Lou’s nearby tenant, single mother Hannah (Jurnee Smollett), needs her help. Hannah’s ex-husband Philip (Logan Marshall-Green), a highly trained but unhinged Green Beret, has kidnapped their 10-year-old daughter, Vee (Ridley Asha Bateman). As Lou and Hannah follow their tracks through the woods on foot, the hunt is on, but will Lou’s past catch up with her?


Shaved down to the bone, “Lou” is an effectively taut chase picture in the elements with two-way radios being the only source of communication. Set during the Reagan Era, the film uses the Persian Gulf War as a backdrop; it’s not random but doesn’t needlessly wedge in any political statement. It’s also established that the characters will be experiencing the worst storm the Pacific Northwest has ever seen. While the storm does taper off eventually, there’s still plenty stacked against Lou and Hannah, including a close-call on a rickety rope bridge. Jurnee Smollett is strong as well in determined mama-bear mode, along with newcomer Ridley Asha Bateman, who resists being just an adorable moppet as Vee. Introducing Philip as a mild-mannered hitchhiker, Logan Marshall-Green comes across more as a whiny, butterfly-crushing psychopath who likes the band Toto than someone to be feared, but he does balance out the sociopathy with trauma to make Philip more than a generic kidnapper. 


Director Anna Foerster (2016’s “Underworld: Blood Wars”) handles all of this with skill and enough breathing room for its characters, while achieving an artful moodiness in British Columbia with cinematographer Michael McDonough (who knows his way around naturalistic greenery and treacherous woods after “Winter’s Bone” and “Leave No Trace”). The script by Maggie Cohn and Jack Stanley does not skimp on Lou having a checkered past as a survivalist and links that to her motivation for helping Hannah, but less might have been more. Even once one plot reveal leads to another that’s less convincing than the last and characters keep explaining themselves, the film still remains compelling and interested in the people involved.


Lou may get her redemption, but Allison Janney and the script stay true to the character without softening Lou’s flinty edges or attempting to make her overtly likable. Through the dry comic delivery of a blunt line of dialogue or the natural gravitas she can bring to an emotional beat, Janney makes this hardened, headstrong, yet fierce character feel credible. She even acquires herself quite well in several hand-to-hand sequences. The first time we see Lou as a capable force—before taking out two of Phillip’s goons in a cabin, she pretends to be a frail old lady inviting herself in from out of the rain—is a major standout. It’s skillfully cut and resourcefully staged in a way that’s visceral and bruising yet crowd-pleasing. Janney has long proven her skill set before, so seeing her take her versatility to a more physical level alongside her already-commanding presence is thrilling. Even if the script overcomplicates itself more than it has to, Janney makes “Lou” worthwhile.


Grade: B -


Netflix is releasing “Lou” (107 min.) to stream on September 23, 2022. 

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