Have to write to defend this... it's a perfectly decent film.
Katia Winter (Natalie) is good, captivating even, and everyone else is fine where, except for the photographer, they perform calm, minimalist characters. It fits with the mood of the film, some nice contemplative scenes, and dialog that, while others have said is weak, is also fine. Bits of mundane, predictable conversation isn't so far from real life I suspect, and I think it adds to the film, to keep it 'small'.
Not sure I know what cinematography really is, nor directing for that matter, but it seems relatively well put together.
I would agree that the weakness is the story logic, It almost worked that there was no time spent showing how the pursuers were tracking our leads, but not quite. Even a scene or two of them just asking a shop employee or two would have been enough (there was a nice moment where the male pursuer chats to a little boy tho). But ultimately, never saying how Natalie found our photographer or why it would matter so much to our pursuers kind of gnawed at me.
Plot summary
Negative is set in the American southwest and follows Natalie, a former British spy who flees Los Angeles for Phoenix after a deal with a cartel goes wrong. She's joined by Hollis, a street photographer who has put his life at risk by taking Natalie's photo at the wrong time and in the wrong place.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
April 18, 2018 at 01:55 PM
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Top cast
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If you can cut the premise a little slack, you might find a nice little film.
I am saving your life
Natalie (Katia Winter) has a great opening scene in a Chinese restaurant that we don't see, which is out first clue. In a park, Hollis (Simon Quarterman), a lonely sad sack photographer, snaps a photo of Natalie who somehow manages to find his apartment and demands the photo back. In what amounts to a semi-abduction Hollis goes off with Natalie who has a bag of cash, a gun, and 2 passports, but that is where the Jason Bourne comparisons end. At this point you expect some kind of Bourne tactics, but instead our couple drive a Volvo across the desert and fill us in with background that didn't help the film.
What we find out is that Natalie can take a punch to the face, but the dialogue was Jason Statham bland by design and it lacked the action. Did I mentioned they were driving a Volvo? Who carries a box of strike matches around instead of a Bic? Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.