J.J. Abrams produced, but didn’t direct, 2008’s “found footage”/handheld camera sci-fi thriller “Cloverfield”. It is, however, the film that put his company, Bad Robot, on the movie map – and made us all unable to look at the Statue of Liberty the same way ever again. Eight years later, Abrams is producer of the carefully-crafted spinoff and franchise creator “10 Cloverfield Lane”.
Paramount hadn’t originally intended for this to be a continuation of the cult hit, as earlier titles of the project ranged from “The Cellar” to “Valencia” before the finalized name was announced to the masses only two months ago. Going in knowing the events of “Cloverfield” surround and shape this story does lower the suspense level a bit. But “10 Cloverfield Lane” still keeps you guessing, even when you think you’ve already figured everything out.
John Goodman has given showy performances recently in “Argo”, “Flight”, “Inside Llewyn Davis”, “The Gambler” and “Trumbo”. But his work in “10 Cloverfield Lane” is easily his most impressive in a long time. Goodman plays Howard, a survivalist who rescues (or so he claims) a young woman named Michelle (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) following a car accident. He brings her into his underground shelter because a surprise attack on the US by an unknown enemy has wiped-out much of the population. Emmet, a former handyman (John Gallagher, Jr.), is the third person now living in the shelter.
Howard believes the attack has made the air above too toxic for humans to breathe – and that he and these two strangers will be living in the shelter for at least a year or two. Michelle isn’t convinced. She desperately wants to get out and contact her family, as well as her boyfriend (a cameo appearance by an A-lister like you’ve never seen him before). So the question is: Is Howard a savior or a maniacal wacko? Clues to back both options are sprinkled throughout the tight script.
Along with its mother movie, “10 Cloverfield Lane” features elements from “Room”, “The Silence of the Lambs”, last year’s M. Night Shaymalan’s thriller “The Visit”, “Alien” and even “The Truman Show”. But while it lacks in originality, “10 Cloverfield Lane” is saved by Goodman, whose dialogue delivery and quick changes in facial expressions and tone always keep us engaged in his character.
However, as intricate and appealing as this story is, there are slow and predictable chunks of the film that causes the mind to wander and anticipate what’s to come – and that’s a problem. The fact that the audience (if they saw “Cloverfield”) knows more about their situation than the characters do hurts the impact of the final 20 minutes, and it allows all the prior events to be interpreted individually, resulting in a bunch of questions. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I’m really interested enough to care about the answers to those questions.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “10 Cloverfield Lane” gets a C+.
Running Time: 104 min.