Wine & Watch No. 9

Red Blend & Lift

Hey friends,

I’m not gonna lie, this week’s Wine and Watch isn’t going to have as much substance as the previous ones. This past weekend, I watched a few movies and TV shows. Some shows I’m already hooked on. There were a few movies I ended up watching and liking and others that I couldn’t make it the whole way through. Luckily, I managed to make it through today’s watch choice.

My mood for this weekend fell along the lines of, “give me some good fighting sequences, a splash of action, and a drop of romance.” Lift, which I watched on Netflix, managed to have all three, somewhat. But first, let’s jump into the sip.

The Sip: The more I dive into this hobby, the more I’m convinced that I’m a red wine girlie through and through. On another unsanctioned trip to my local Total Wine, I found myself in the Red Blend section. I saw this gorgeous-looking bottle, St. Giorgio Toscana IGT Super Tuscan, 2018, and impulsively purchased it. Lucky for me, this contains my favorite flavor, dark cherry with a spicy aroma. I found this leans more on the Pinot Noir side—which is not one of my faves, rather than Malbecs. But, I still liked it.

The Film: I went into this movie with pretty low expectations. Although I’ve seen Kevin Hart play/act in a serious role before, the idea of him in a heist thriller that doesn’t have his usual comedic style, made me a bit wary. However, I was excited to see some familiar faces on the cast.

Film Synopsis from the Internet: A master thief is wooed by his ex-girlfriend and Interpol to pull off an impossible heist with his international crew on a 777 passenger flight from London to Zurich.

Thoughts: If the movie 6 Underground, and the short-lived TV show, The Company You Keep had a baby, it would be Lift.

And… it wasn’t terrible. But it wasn’t great.

Things I Liked: The elements of the found family trope between the crew including, the leader Cyrus (played by Kevin Hart) Denton, master of disguise (played by Vincent D’Onofrio) Camila, pilot (played by Úrsula Corberó ), Magnus, safecracker (played by Billy Magnussen), Mi-Sun, hacker (played by Kim Yoon Ji), and Luke, engineer (played by Viveik Kalra ). From the start, you can tell they consider themselves a family of sorts. Even if what they do, prevents them from seeing their own families.

What do they do you ask? Well, they steal from the undeserving and help the deserving. The deserving mostly being themselves, but I digress. The slight Robin Hood trope that you mostly see with Cyrus, does trickle down to the rest of the crew.

Then there was the slight chemistry between Interpol agent, Abby (played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Cyrus. It was clear there was something between them from the start of the movie. Watching it unravel was intriguing yet not overly sexual. The chemistry was there subtly.

Next, I adored some of the side characters. The ones who stood out the most to me were Denton, Camila, & Magnus.

Things I Didn’t Like: Usually, I’m a sucker for overdramatized somewhat unrealistic fight scenes. You know the ones that would possibly take the work of some higher deity to execute? However, in this movie they didn’t all the way hit. In fact, I was left feeling kind of meh after a major fight scene in the movie.

Then there was just the overall feeling of the movie. It’s enough to garner interest to finish it. But, it doesn’t have the edge of your seat, exhilaration that I’d want.

So, if you’re in the mood for a somewhat low-stakes, slightly comedic heist film, then this may be your cup of tea. Overall rating 3/5 ⭐️