Rent Destroyer (2018)

To be clear it’s much more a drama than an action movie - Destroyer review by RL

Wonderful, someone has actually employed decent script writers for a change; has assumed the audience has more than the attention span of a goldfish and can cope with a cleverly revealed, non linear narrative; has not used shaky cam, hyperkinetic cutting nor cgi and has hired good actors to bring the characters to life. In the current days of Marvel and Disney I had almost given up hope. A proper film for adults. Well done.

Ridiculous - Destroyer review by MonsieurK

A film so flamboyantly bad that at times I found myself laughing. The direction is hackneyed and the script veers between the banal and the preposterous - there's barely a cliché of the genre that doesn't get an airing here. That said, a more subtle actor than Nicole Kidman might have made something of this low-grade material. Her performance here, however, is ridiculously histrionic. Instead of plausible characterisation, we're presented with an impersonation that's nearly all surface: but dead eyes, greasy hair, wrecked complexion, shambling gait and near-catatonic mumbling are not enough. The rawness that some reviewers have praised in this film I found to be wholly bogus. Kidman is at her best, I think, playing characters for whom life itself is a performance - as in To Die For, for example. Here, the relentless self-consciousness makes the character profoundly unbelievable.

Unconvincing downbeat character study - Destroyer review by Alphaville

Positive reviews of this film have focussed on Nicole Kidman’s “brave” performance as a downbeat detective in search of a murderer. Why brave? Because she wears no make-up. Wow! What an actress will do for her art! But focussing on her sullen face as she sits in her car and stares into space soon palls. The plot is painfully slow and is stalled even further by numerous flashbacks to a connected case 18 years ago (always a sign there’s something wrong with the script).

The title makes it sound as though Nicole’s going around on a vengeful killing spree, but instead we get a series of conversational vignettes with passing characters. There’s even a cliché of a subplot with her stroppy teenage daughter, which is best fast-forwarded. The narrative is so badly structured that the flashbacks build to a bank heist whose outcome we already know. The ending in the present is an even worse damp squib, deliberately devoid of thrills. Halfway through, there’s a well-shot bank heist that shows what the film could have been, otherwise it’s a long 2hr haul.

Dull turgid and too long - Destroyer review by cr

I think my review follows some of the others already on here. Awful film long grim slow depressing. Constant close ups of Nicole's face soon start to bore. The plot is not likely and drags on and on. Nicole is ok in it but a film needs more than good acting. All of the characters are ugly and unsympathetic. Avoid.

Not a great film - Destroyer review by DM

I had heard a little about this film, such that Nicole Kidman was in it, and that she put in a good performance.

Well I found it really slow going, almost to the point of boredom, but I thought see it through to the end, it may improve.

It did'nt, yes Nicole does put in a fine performance as a drunk detective, but the storyline was quite silly.

I don't wish to put people off watching it, we can all have our opinions, but for me this film just did not spark.

Soul and destroying - Destroyer review by KN

Disappointing thriller, I expected more as I always rate Kidman and I am a sucker for a bent cop film. This was turgid and depressing . No one to root for. Denzel Washington’s extraordinary performance in Training Day saved that film, unfortunately Nicole wasn’t strong enough 

Dull - Destroyer review by Old Devonian

I gave it 30 minutes. It was just plain dull. There were no redeeming features. The soundtrack was just depressing noise. The sepia like look and Kidman’s make up was unattractive. The storyline flitting between characters and timelines failed to allow the viewer to get to know and empathise with the character Kidman had become and the script was... well dull. The scene with Bradley Whitman brought the film to life but when Kidman’s assailant gave her a beating and put her in the loo and then knocked politely to see if she was OK, I just thought, you know what........ this is dull.