“Peppermint”– Movie Review

This week, I attended an advanced screening of the new action thriller “Peppermint”, starring Jennifer Garner.

Synopsis

After a woman’s family is murdered, will she be able to get revenge once justice is denied by the legal system?

Story

When Riley North (Garner) witnesses her daughter and husband murdered by a gang of drug dealers, she testifies against the killers in court.  Although it looks like an open and shut case since she was able to clearly identify these three men in a lineup, her testimony is discredited and the judge allows them to be set free.  Alone, understandably frustrated and angry, Riley mysteriously disappears. It would seem that she’s dropped off the face of the earth – or at the very least, has dropped off the radar of the Los Angeles Police Department. 

Five years later, the FBI believe that Riley may have turned up again.  The LAPD are shown evidence that she has been traveling around the world, learning how to fight, shoot and rob banks.  After some crimes have been committed – and men belonging to the gang of drug lord Diego Garcia are discovered either missing, injured or dead – the police start looking for Riley, who seems to have re-emerged as something of a self-styled vigilante with headquarters in the Skid Row section of Los Angeles.  Given how elusive and skillful she is, the police realize that they have their hands full.

Tracking down Garcia’s location, Riley is finally able to confront him directly.  But when escapes at the last minute, Riley is forced back into hiding.  Garcia is subsequently tipped-off to Riley’s whereabouts and leads his gang into Skid Row to search for her.  Upon their arrival, Garcia soon learns they’re in competition with the police, who are in pursuit of both Garcia and Riley.  Thanks to a corrupt cop who has long been on Garcia’s payroll, Riley is finally cornered. When she tries to take on Garcia one-on-one, will Riley finally be able to get her revenge or will she be killed before she can do so?         

Review

Unable to overcome either a trite screenplay or dreadful miscasting, “Peppermint” feels like it was better suited for another time – say 30 or 40 years ago.  Had this movie been released in the early to mid-80’s, it might’ve had a chance at some popularity. As it is, it seems like a truly bad fit for 2018.  This is especially true when you consider that the filmmakers throw any attempt at political correctness to the wind as they make it seem every Mexican in East Los Angeles is connected to crime.  One might get the impression the script was written by Stephen Miller, the Senior Adviser to President Trump.

With respect to the screenplay, there is a distinct lack of cleverness, originality or humor.  That last part is particularly worrisome given how drab the script is.  There are many missed opportunities throughout “Peppermint” where any number of jokes could have been inserted at various points, just to show that the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously.  This is especially true since the film stars Jennifer Garner; there’s a scene where she demands a man surrender his wallet – given her Capital One commercials, it would’ve been a good opportunity for her to say, “What’s in your wallet?”. 

Regarding the casting, it takes a great deal of effort to suspend your disbelief sufficiently to buy into the idea that Jennifer Garner could evolve into a badass.  Her persona is too much of a girl (or mom) next door type to be able to take seriously the thought that she could transform herself into this one-person wrecking crew – a vigilante capable to taking down an entire crime syndicate all alone (especially at this point in her life).  “Wonder Woman” is more realistic. As if to make matters worse, the end of the movie hints that there might be a sequel. Let’s try to prevent this from happening.

IMDB