EENIE MEANIE
Starring: Samara Weaving, Karl Glusman, Andy Garcia, Mike O’Malley, Jermaine Fowler, Steve Zahn, Randall Park, Marshawn Lynch, and Chris Bauer
Director: Shawn Simmons
QUENTIN
As far as straight-to-streaming distractions go, you could do worse than Eenie Meanie, mostly thanks to Samara Weaving. Her committed performance and take-no-shit charm are further evidence of why she should be a bigger star, especially considering she almost single-handedly saves Meanie’s confused story. The problem is that writer-director Shawn Simmons doesn’t seem to know what kind of movie he wants to make. There is a bit of a character study at the center, but it’s drowned out by undercooked heist tropes, a wavetop toxic romance, and lackluster car chases. But worst of all? A complete waste of national treasure Marshawn Lynch.
PAIGE
Eenie Meanie, starring the always watchable Samara Weaving, has some promising elements to it, including cool driving sequences and a clever heist. This action thriller is right in Weaving’s wheelhouse, and she flexes her no-bullshit, badass attitude throughout. Unfortunately, the movie can’t quite get the tone and pacing right, both swerving all over the road. One minute it’s a high-speed chase, next it’s a family/romance drama, and then a crime comedy. Those mashups can work together, but director Shawn Simmons doesn’t blend them smoothly enough. Overall, Eenie Meanie may be rough around the edges, but I still stuck around and didn’t mind the ride.
ROBERT
It is heartening to see Hollywood generating stories for female actors that were normally reserved for their male counterparts. In Eenie Meanie, centering on Samara Weaving as the most competent wheelperson in the Rust Belt was an inspired choice. However, the ancillary pieces revolving around Weaving’s Edie, including the circumstances of the plot and the visual effects, were lackluster, resembling a Jason Statham B-movie. I couldn’t ride along fully with the film up until the last twenty minutes, when it ramped up to places I didn’t expect and found a deeper well of emotion of which I didn’t think it capable; not enough to salvage it though.
KATIE
Eenie Meanie is a mostly entertaining, if uneven and confused, thriller that’s driven by Samara Weaving’s performance. Her character is annoyingly one dimensional, but Weaving still manages to make her somewhat compelling. However, overall, I found the film lacking in emotional engagement even though the ensemble is great across the board. The car chases and stunt-driving showcase writer-director Shawn Simmons' ability to create exciting action sequences, but outside of that, the film is full of an array of clichés, giving the odd impression that it was trying to replicate something better rather than being a thing of its own.
