In the 1990s, Brendan Fraser was a beloved superstar, churning out hits left and right. But in the mid-2000s, his career seemed to stall. Instead of hits, he was starring in little-seen sleeper flicks — before coming back with a vengeance in the 2020s. That complicated journey from ’90s action stud to Oscar darling is one of Hollywood’s most fascinating stories in recent years, as fans discover that during the period when he was struggling, he was still making great movies. Case in point, the 2021 HBO Max original, “No Sudden Move,” from director Steven Soderbergh, which puts Fraser in a supporting role alongside Benicio del Toro, Don Cheadle, David Harbour, and Bill Duke.
Set in the 1950s, “No Sudden Move” centers on a trio of small-time gangsters, Curt Goynes (Cheadle), Ronald Russo (del Toro), and Charley (Kieran Culkin). They are approached by Doug Jones (Fraser), who hires them to threaten the family of a Motor City accountant (Harbour) to force him to turn over an important document. But when the scheme goes disastrously wrong, and Goynes realizes they’ve been part of a set-up, they must work with the accountant to find out what they’ve really gotten themselves into.
Landing to rave reviews from critics, “No Sudden Move” received little attention on its release, yet it did some pretty solid viewing numbers. Despite it being one of the best-reviewed thrillers of the year, it’s only now that audiences seem to be discovering it, and we highly recommend you put it on your watchlist — especially with talk that Brendan Fraser will be reprising his role as Rick O’Connell in a long-awaited “Mummy sequel.”
COVID-19 added a heightened sense of drama
“No Sudden Move” star Brendan Fraser spoke with Screen Rant while promoting the film and talked about how the production began in late 2020, at a time when the world was still grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. “To make a movie at that time seemed like an impossible prospect,” Fraser said. “We had to delay — it was meant to go in April of 2020, but it got shut down. We weren’t sure if we believed or not that it would come back.”
Thankfully, director Steven Soderbergh was able to work with the studio and get the film up and running. “We had safety protocols, and all of that as a requirement to just show up to work. We were tested [often], and for good reason.” But more than just the precautions adding tension to the production, Fraser believes that the stress from everything else going on in the world added to the sense of camaraderie between the actors and their characters.
“Something that I know Bill [Duke] and I both noticed is that, in watching the movie, the ensemble has some sort [of] binding agent or something about it.” Fraser acknowledged that the pandemic helped bring the cast together as a more tightly knit group, all watching out for each other. “That shows in the performances and the dedication that went into really wanting to get this done under very high stakes. It’s a testament that when there’s a will, there’s a way. I take a bigger lesson from this that art can prevail throughout this kind of a challenge.” In the end, it wound up as one of Fraser’s best movies.