Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie Star in “The Banker”

“The Banker” tells the story of entrepreneur Bernard Garret, portrayed by Anothony Mackie, who in the 1960’s formed a partnership with Joe Morris, delightfully played by Samuel L. Jackson, to build a successful business in real estate. To overcome barriers of racism, they picked Matt Steiner to act like their business front only because he is a white man. The success of the duo encouraged them to go into the banking business in order to give the black community a fair chance in boosting their businesses and making a better life. That’s when their peculiar business arrangement is put to the real test.

You look at a film like “The Banker” from the outside and you think I can probably guess it all. It seems like another story about the struggles against racial discrimination only taking business entrepreneuship as the arena where the events take place. The film is in fact much more than that. It’s fresher and richer. It builds an increasingly interesting story over various pillars and with the element it borrows from each pillar it becomes truly unpredictable to anyone who’s not familiar with the real story.

First of course we have the angle of racism acting like a key driver for most of the transformations and escalations in our story. I can’t say that this was too fresh or different but at least we didn’t attribute everything to it. Because we also have a key character mainly driven by his desire to succeed and get rich. The story of the rise of Garret takes center stage in the design of his own motives and develops maturely throughout the entire film. Then we have our own drama where the character of Matt Steiner, played by Nicolas Hoult, offers both lightness and a great deal of complication. What starts as a humorous, Pygmalion style, transformation of a working class individual into a walking and talking businessman turns quickly into a lot more. Finally, as if all of that wasn’t enough, we have a reasonable amount of screentime dedicated to offering the audience with a clear look into the ins and outs of real estate and banking businesses. At least the parts that matter to us anyways.

What I appreciated the most is that the film never felt convoluted or messy. Maybe a little hasty at important points where a lot more could’ve been explored in our key characters, especially that of Morris. Yet, the overall sense of pace felt balanced and deliberately choosing not to get too comic or extremely dramatic.

Technically the film is also balanced with no major achievements in conveying the time period of the events. It covers what’s required but can’t say I came out with anything memorable from the visual experience. I’d say what captured the most of my attention is the performance of Mackie, who I think I’ll be taking more seriously moving forward. I also, as always, enjoyed the company of Samuel L. Jackson a lot. Nicolas Hoult also delivers a noteworthy performance for the character that represents most of the surprises and unpredictable turns throughout the film.

I would say that “The Banker” deserved more attention and much more appreciation, and if it is to be considered as a true representation to what Apple TV+ is planning in terms of films, then count me in.

Samuel L. Jackson is Mr. Glass

Events of “Glass” take place 3 weeks after the events of “Split” and 19 years after the events of “Unbreakable”. We start with David Dunn who has been fighting crime using his abilities with the help of his son, Joseph. Their target is now “The Horde” after knowing of his crimes at the end of “Split”. They track him down and Dunn confronts him only for the two to be apprehended by the authorities. They are both sent to the same mental institution where Elijah Price, or Mr. Glass, has been kept since the events of “Unbreakable”, and the three become subjected to sessions with Dr. Ellie Staple where she tries to convince them that they’re not really superheroes, and that every single power they showed has a scientific explanation. So will our heroes lose faith in their identity?!

To be honest the film started up fine, it was great to catch up to Dunn and see that his life progressed balancing happiness and tragedy. The Horde’s next steps are logic and Dunn’s quest after him is super logic. There was a problem though and it’s the easy transition of The Horde into The Beast. It made feel cheated out of an obvious M Night Shyamalan signature slow burn moment, and I started feeling worried that the biggest problem of this film is that it won’t be thrilling like I expected it to be .. Innocent times!

What followed next is the most organized chaos I’ve ever seen in my life. A wagon carrying dramatic garbage advancing on rails at a constant pace to reach a destination where nobody ever wanted to go. Our characters must cross roads even if it’s totally unnecessary. Each of the characters must have a significant other who cares about him even if one of them should never really care. We spend a reasonable deal of time showing off the security of this facility only for the events to escalate through its huge holes. Holes that could’ve been avoided by two extra employees! And holes that makes us sure that security of the facility was showcased for a whole other purpose. Thus minimizing any opportunity for the audience to be surprised or shocked or even thrilled. This is the least thrilling thriller of all time. The only time I felt worried or tense was during a flashback!

The few scenes where our characters should’ve been in real danger were ruined by the trailer. I know that they’ll be alright because I have seen them in other scenes in the trailer .. how dumb can this be? And all of this is nothing compared to how silly the ending sequence is. It felt like the directorial short film debut of an independent filmmaker who should never be allowed to make another film. Super cheap, super cheesy and devoid of any logic. With every decision each character makes I couldn’t help but think .. should this really be his priority right now? How can the other characters let him do this? Why is he listening? What is this nonsense? I need to see the manager please!

Glass is not just a bad film it’s an insult to Unbreakable and Split. I really tried to see Unbreakable again after this film and I couldn’t. This whole experience makes me doubt the whole concept of creative freedom. It makes me believe that any creative mind needs the boundaries of corporate awareness to really succeed. Because M. Night Shyamalan seems to deliver his best work when he’s under the full control of studios, while when he’s fresh out of success and has some degree of faith in his abilities, he gives us “Glass”. A film that I think can only be watched for its first 20 minutes and for the performances of James McAvoy and Samuel Jackson. Even Bruce Willis wasn’t given a chance to perform Also maybe for the comic books projections, which can be seen as a small redemption or the reason why this whole thing fell apart.