Bullitt, The French Connection, Death Race 2000, and The Driver. Car chase movies are the go-to for high-octane scenes that feature amazing stunts that try to cement their staying power in cinema history. Recent car chase movies like Baby Driver, The Fast and Furious series, and Drive try to bring something new to the genre to varying degrees. Shawn Simmons’s Eenie Meanie pops the film into gear in the hope of becoming a memorable thrill ride for viewers. It succeeds for the most part with its well-crafted action scenes, quippy dialogue, and leading lady Samara Weaving. However, this one slip-up gives the movie its most significant dent.
Eenie Meanie, directed and written by Simmons, features Weaving as Edie, who’s trying to leave her life behind as a getaway driver in Cleveland, OH. Edie has set her life on the right path when a life-changing situation and her ex-boyfriend, John, played by Karl Glusman, are set to derail her plans. Edie has to come back to her former employer, Nico, played by Andy Garcia, to bail her ex out of a life-threatening situation and put her plans back on track.
A good car chase movie has to have a well-rounded script for more dialogue-driven scenes to keep it engaging between car chases. Fortunately, Eenie Meanie does that with ease. The script is solid with the right mixture of character development and comedy. There were several instances in the movie where Edie had to match wits with other characters who harbored doubts about her. A great example is Edie and The Chaperone, played by Jermine Fowler.
Edie’s reputation as a getaway driver has become a thing of legend in Eenie Meanie, and The Chaperone calls that into question. It’s a back-and-forth that plays out almost like chess when the two are trying to figure each other out. The dialogue develops like a Soderbergh film minus the jazzy non-diegetic music. Alternatively, the Simmons’s script knows when to give the movie those heavier moments and let the actors go for it.
Weaving, Glusman, and their shared chemistry give Eenie Meanie some of the most crucial and hilarious moments of the film. John mentions throughout the movie that the two were meant to be together, and I felt a sense of destiny emanating from the two. The actors were able to bounce off each other in a manner that was honest and sucked me into their relationship. Weaving performance alone showcased a strong and capable woman who’s able to think on her feet. I honestly couldn’t get enough of her acting skills, and she was the perfect choice to lead this story.
Glusman was able to switch back and forth from a f**k up to a lovable idiot to a guy that gets s**t done. The actor even takes it one step further near the end of the 3rd Act when Glusman gives his character the full panic attack that had been building over time. It’s a sad moment where John is at his weakest and fully realizes how poisonous and destructive he can be.
The main selling point is the fast-paced action set pieces that Simmons directs. The first car chase showcases a more than confident directorial debut from the filmmaker. Edie and John have to get away on foot, which is shot well and keeps up the fast pace of the movie. The scene smoothly transitions to Edie behind the wheel and John riding shotgun. The action and direction play out like a more grounded car chase version of Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver.
Simmons shifts between well-placed and maneuvered camera setups that give the chase all the right angles. He continues this method to bring me in the car during crucial moments that made me feel I was right beside Edie. It’s a great display that sets the tone of the movie and gives a taste of what’s to come. However, it’s the final climactic chase that almost kneecaps that sentiment.
The final action set piece takes place in a casino, and Edie is behind the wheel again. The rawness that was felt in the first car chase is missing during this scene, and it only gets good near the end. It’s perplexing to watch because Simmons uses unnecessary close-ups and too many cutaways that leave me disoriented for the most part. Additionally, the action reaches the streets, and that realistic feel goes away further. There were several shots where there was an obvious green screen behind Weaving during the interior shots of the car.
It’s like Simmons blew most of the budget at the beginning of the film and barely got by in the 3rd Act.
I’m a sucker for an authentic car movie, and Eenie Meanie fits the bill for the most part. Some of the action works well for the movie, and the interactions between characters are a great filler. Weaving and Glusman truly breathe life and nuance into their roles. The two’s charisma and vulnerability help the movie’s heartbeat in a way that made me want more. I am sold on Simmons as a feature director/writer, as the filmmaker is not afraid to bring his characters to a breaking point where their shocking action is well deserved. He just needs to stick the landing on his climactic action set pieces in his future films.