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Yikes! I finally decided to binge watch Ozark, which is a C- wannabe Breaking Bad. Marty Byrd, played by Justin Bateman, money launders for the cartel. When the head of the cartel discovers Marty's partner has been skimming from him, he murders Marty's business partner and agrees to a hair brain scheme that allows Marty to uproot his family from Chicago and move to the Ozark to recoup his stolen losses by investing in legitimate businesses that Marty can money launder the cartel's $8 million. Fast forward, and Marty proceeds to invest in a number of failing but legitimate businesses. He recoups the cartel's losses and "washes" the 8 million. Then the cartel boss demands he launder another $50 million. Faster than you can blink an eye, Marty hires other local criminals and the entire family is soon engaged in the family business: money laundering. Meanwhile, the Bryd's also partner with some powerful, local rednecks who run a heroin poppy organization. And they also partner with the Kansas City mob.(I know this must sound nuts to anyone reading this!) At the same time, the Bryd's whiny, entitled daughter, at first rebels against the move to the Ozark and the money laundering business but soon settles in with the program. The teenage son sits at his father's knee to learn how to money lauder. He eventually uses those same skills to become the money launderer for a rival criminal organization. But the person/character who seemingly makes the most dramatic change and embraces their new, outlaw life is that of the wife, Wendy's character, played by Laura Linney. Wendy soon becomes a mean spirited, deadly, conniving witch. She begins demonstrating a real knack for identifying business opportunities, embraces taking risks, and will do whatever it takes to succeed. She appears to be the real brains behind the organization, while Marty is diminished and seems to go into a shell. Blah, Blah, Blah, there is lots of gory violence, betrayal, murder, and unredeemable characters. About the only positive thing I can say about Ozark is it is well-acted, though, over-the-top in some parts. The characters are so unlikeable that I can truthfully say I didn't care if they lived or died. Pretty sad, considering I'd invested so much time.

This is a GREAT heist movie that has all the right ingredients. Robert DeNiro, Edward Norton, Marlon Brando and Angela Bassett comprise this ensemble, A+++ cast. A sexy, but moody, jazz score is led by songstress Cassandra Wilson and creates just the right atmosphere. And a fantastic script, directed by Frank Oz, adds the final touch. (I don't recall this movie from 2000, so I was pleasantly surprised to find such a sleeper hit. I really enjoyed it.) DeNiro plays a thief, who pulls high-value jobs that involve breaking into hard-to-crack safes. The aging DeNiro is looking to retire soon to a law-abiding life as a successful jazz club owner with his lover, Angela. Bassett. But there is just one last heist to do! Preferring to work as a lone wolf, DeNiro's character lets his old friend, played by Brando, talk him into working with a new, young, unvetted partner, played by Norton. Norton brings a big-ticket job to DeNiro which happens to be located in Montreal - DeNiro's home base. As a rule, DeNiro purposefully avoids committing robberies where he lives. Never the twain shall meet. Lots of action and suspense ensue in the second half of the movie as they detail the complex steps (gaining security codes, etc.) and risks that DeNiro will take to break into the high-security facility and crack the safe. Norton works at the facility as a learning disabled janitor as a ruse to learn their security's routine. He then feeds the information to DeNiro, who has relegated Norton to a second-tier partner. It's safe to say that things don't go as planned. Stay for the ending as DeNiro and Norton are electric on screen as they play off each other and DeNiro and Bassett have real chemistry together. I would highly recommend this movie!

What a BIG disappointment. After a long wait, I was thrilled to see Denzel and Spike Lee partnered again. Like so many others here, Denzel Washington is my absolute favorite actor. However, this movie is all over the place. Twenty minutes in and nothing had happened. No character building, no suspense, no chemistry between actors and no storyline and no action. It almost appears to be a vanity showcase for Denzel and Spike. Denzel does an awful lot of mugging, and sometimes appears to playing a parody of himself. That is doing an impression of others doing him (e.g. Jamie Fox, Jay Pharrell). Also, the lighting is very harsh and unattractive for Denzel. On the other hand, there are several very flattering magazine covers that supposedly feature his character on the cover, using old photos of him from his decades long, illustrious career. In the movie, Denzel plays a washed-up record executive, who is trying to buy back control of his company, when he receives news that a kidnapper has mistakenly kidnapped his driver's son for his son. After an excruciatingly long period, Denzel's character agrees to pay the ransom for his driver's son, which the kidnapper has demanded from him or else he will kill the driver's son. ASAP Rocky plays the kidnapper, a disillusioned young rapper, who idolizes Denzel's character but has been unable to get his attention. Their two characters do a lot of bantering after Denzel's character tracks him down. He challenges the kidnapper to make something of himself despite life's difficulties. In summary, a fight ensues between the two. Denzel's character manages to get back the money from the kidnapper, but his investors are no longer interested in selling their shares of the company. ASAP Rocky's character gets 25-years in prison for the kidnapping, and he becomes a folk hero and best selling artist. Denzel's character turns down offer from ASAP's character to join his roster as an artist. Denzel's character decides to leave his old company and start a new, smaller company that's focused again on the actual music and not the money. Lesson being, all money is not good. Finally, many people in these reviews have complained about the musical score. It was a variation of traditional and modern jazz, old R&B, musical theatre and what some people defined as elevator music. I agree the score did not always mesh with the scenes. Overall, I expected much, much better from these two legendary, seasoned artists. This ain't no Malcolm X.