During this highly contentious scene, where the character is meant to be getting angrier and meaner the longer his monologue goes on, there is an insert shot (or two) of Silva snapping that yellow rubber band. That snapping of the rubber band is a technique his mother taught him to do whenever his hyperactivity overwhelmed him. In this case, though, the entire point of the scene is that he is going over the top in a fashion he does not usually. Therefore, calming him down makes absolutely no sense in context. Why then, pray tell, is it awkwardly shoved in there? It is because no one making Mile 22 cared about making Mile 22.
Best exemplifying this is Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg can be a great actor, in the right role. He steals every gloriously odd moment of I Heart Huckabee’s, because that character is entirely sincere, perhaps to a fault. Alternatively, a better example would be the first collaboration between Berg and Wahlberg, Lone Survivor. But Silva is the single worst performance this actor has ever given. During that monologue to Axel previously described, Wahlberg comes off as phony, posturing as aggressive and forceful, but it is not believable. That is due to the viewer attempting to will him to shut the hell up for at least one minute. Wahlberg motormouths every line, and it would be hilarious if it weren’t so misguided. There is not a moment that Wahlberg truly inhabits this character.
Rousey seems just to be herself and only gets half an action sequence. Peter Berg hired Rousey and then does let her fight? Did anyone care about the finished film at all? Not that anyone else fares much better, save for Uwais. Uwais, the star of the phenomenal The Raid films, is the only one who seems to be having fun and has the charisma to overcome the awful script and directing. It certainly helps that his character has the fewest lines out of any of the major players.
Movies are a visual medium, but Mile 22 is so painfully ugly to gaze upon, with little rhyme or reason to the editing, and with the camera angles that make you question if you are somehow drunk it does not qualify as a visual experience. This isn’t a movie, it is anti-cinema; an endurance test to discover how malleable a human’s brain is. It just so happens to contain the worst performances anyone in the cast is capable of giving, as well; except Uwais, who is trying, in spite of everything else. This is a diseased product, and my only hope is that audiences are smart enough to stay far, far away from it.
Mile 22 (2018) Directed by Peter Berg. Written by Lea Carpenter. Starring Mark Wahlberg, John Malkovich, Iko Uwais, Lauren Cohan, Sam Medina, Ronda Rousey.
1 Brain Cell (out of 10)
