Mayday

The closet scene is the one that stuck. Days later, still rattling around in my head.

This is a behind enemy lines buddy movie, plain and simple, and it works because the two guys at the center of it actually click. Ryan Reynolds is doing his usual thing, funny when he needs to be funny and serious when the movie asks him to plant his feet. That's not a knock. That's why you hire him.

Entertaining from front to back.

Kenneth Branagh is the one who surprised me. As Reynolds' savior in all this, he's very good, and he can turn the comedy on right when the movie needs a breath. The two of them together carry the whole thing.

I watched it with the family and everybody was locked in. Nobody reached for a phone, nobody wandered off to the kitchen. That's a win.

I came away happy with the result, which is more than I can say for a lot of what I sit down with on a random night. I'd watch it again, no hesitation, and I'd point just about anyone toward it.

Entertaining from front to back. Sometimes that's the whole job, and this one did the job.