EENIE MEANIE

Eenie Meanie speeds away with an entertaining heist thriller full of great stunt driving, a compelling character drama, and an always excellent Samara Weaving that makes for an enticing summer streaming film to steal your night away.

The heist genre is possibly best known for the more blockbuster level films that are designed to entertain with spectacle and impossible heists, like the Ocean’s Eleven series and The Italian Job. But, there are also more compelling character stories that can be told within this genre, focusing on the emotional stakes with the heists used as the instigating events, such as critically acclaimed films like The Town and Hell or High Water. Making his feature film debut after writing for many television series and creating the John Wick spinoff miniseries The Continental, Shawn Simmons finds the balance between the blockbuster spectacle of the heist genre and a compelling character drama. Armed with expertly crafted and executed heist sequences full of thrilling stunt driving and the ever talented Samara Weaving who captures the conflicting emotional conflict within and personal strength of the film’s lead character Edie, Eenie Meanie is a strong debut for Simmons that keeps its focus on meaningful storytelling that emotionally grips viewers while using the set pieces to up the stakes and entertainment throughout the film.

The heist genre has a blueprint that every film in the genre follows when it comes to the story. Through the perspective of the film’s protagonist, you are introduced to the backstory propelling the protagonist to be part of the heist, you meet the other team members and have a good portion of the film devoted to planning for the heist, before the heist itself becomes the central set piece of the third act, and while Eenie Meanie has these elements, the heist is not the focus. While audiences are along for the ride with Edie as she is pulled back to criminal past as a getaway driver by her ex-boyfriend, Simmons creates an emotional throughline for the film as Edie tries to break the cycle of her past and truly start a new life, that becomes the film’s guiding principle. It is the primary focus of the film’s first two acts, creating a more intimate character drama while the standard elements of the heist film play out, before everything comes to a head in the final act and the heist begins. The result is a screenplay that invests the audience in Edie’s personal arc with an almost soul searching feel as Edie strives for the life she deserves, allowing the film’s final act to pack an emotional weight that is far more powerful than just an exciting heist sequence with a satisfying conclusion for Edie.

Ever since Weaving broke onto the scene in 2019’s Ready or Not, she has time and time again proven herself as an actress of immense talent and with a natural ability to lead a film, and she does exactly that in Eenie Meanie. Beyond learning to drive for this film, despite saying she knew how to during the audition process, and then being able to do some of her own stunt driving, Weaving has a natural strength and grit that she emanates in every scene of the film. This makes Edie a strong protagonist, and one who can more than easily take care of herself in such a dangerous world, which is a prerequisite for a good heist film. At the same time, there is a vulnerability that Weaving shares with the audience through her performance, bringing them into the complex situation that Edie finds herself in and allows them to understand that draw she feels to her past despite all the heartbreak it has caused her. It’s further proof that Weaving is one of the most dependable actresses of her generation in Hollywood, and makes a great argument of why she needs to be back on the big screen as soon as possible in a leading role.

The rest of the cast is good, but with Weaving in the lead role and a script that does not give the supporting characters the time to truly shine, they all play second fiddle to Weaving. Karl Glusman is dependable as John, Edie’s ex-boyfriend that pulls her back into this dangerous world, carefully creating sympathy for this young man that, despite his best efforts, never makes the right choices to get his life back on track and continuously spirals into chaos. Glusman does it with care as he captures the erratic behaviour of John and the lack of foresight by his character, all informed by a heart that is in the right place despite his actions being poorly chosen. His chemistry with Weaving is palpable, with the two of them creating a heartbreak to their characters’ relationship with a doomed quality that is reminiscent of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde, even though Weaving acts circles around him. Andy Garcia and Steve Zahn both have great moments opposite Weaving as her criminal employer and father respectively, creating some of the film’s more powerful and intriguing moments, but neither has the screen time that their performances deserve.

While it is a streaming film, Eenie Meanie feels like a theatrical film with its production value. The car chase and heist sequences are expertly crafted with excellent stunt driving, great practical special effects and a welcomed lack of green screen and CGI, injecting fuel into the entire film. The shooting locations in Toledo give a larger scale feel to this intimate crime thriller, helping to pull the audience into Edie’s story, while the practical sets (though not extravagant) are a nice touch in a world of cinema where CGI is the easy answer to bring stories to life. And under Simmons direction, every element of the film comes together to deliver a crowd pleasing and electrifying streaming film that is a great watch for your next night in.

Had Eenie Meanie come out back in the 1990s and early 2000s, there is no doubt that it would have been a sleeper box office hit as it has everything audiences want: a powerful lead performance, an engaging story, and lots of excitement. Writer and director Shawn Simmons, in his feature film debut, calls back to the mid-budget studio thriller of the studio system with a slick production that is well crafted, quickly paced, heartfelt and exciting, delivering a great late entry to this summer’s movie lineup. Led by the always outstanding Samara Weaving, who fuses vulnerability with strength in a captivating performance as Edie, Shawn Simmons revs up a whirlwind of cinematic excitement in Eenie Meanie in this thrilling heist driven character piece that balances spectacle with emotional storytelling that is certain to entertain.