Sweet Girl finds Jason Momoa and all of his mammoth screen presence in John Q mode. Directed by his longtime collaborator Brian Andrew Mendoza, the Aquaman star plays Ray Cooper, a tried-and-true family man forced into the unthinkable. Admittedly, it is hard not to smirk at the need to include intense scenes of fight training early on to justify how an “everyman” who looks like Jason Momoa is able to fight like Jason Momoa.
Ray is tragically forced to watch his wife (Adria Arjona) die after pharmaceutical company BioPrime takes the generic version of her cure off the market to turn a larger profit. After he calls into a local news show and publicly threatens to kill the company’s CEO (Justin Bartha, going full Martin Shkreli), a journalist emerges to tell Ray he has proof of illegal activity. This all moves at quite the quick pace, which is appreciated.
Before long Ray and his daughter Rachel (Isabela Merced) are on the run from cops and assassins alike. The next bit moves considerably slower, incorporating a murky politician (Amy Brenneman, always welcome) and a couple of FBI agents (Lex Scott Davis and Michael Raymond-James) hot on the trail of the fugitive father-daughter pair. What emerges evolves from a straight revenge thriller into more conspiratorial territory, a provocative expansion of narrative scope thirty minutes into a Netflix programmer.
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo puts in cryptic work as the big bad hitman, whose alliances are murky. Momoa and Merced have an easy rapport that helps navigate a considerable amount of plot turns with ease and clarity. Accomplished cinematographer Barry Ackroyd captures Pittsburgh with zest while applying his kinetic frames to the action sequences. And while the editing of these choreographed fights often feels a bit too busy, the energy is well-placed and effective.
As a current resident of the City of Bridges, this writer can confirm many striking facets of the city are utilized to great effect here, up to and including the iconic PNC Park, where the Pittsburgh Pirates play their baseball.
Where Sweet Girl stumbles a bit is in its third act. Do not fret—there will be no spoilers in this review. Suffice it to say decisions are made in the interest of narrative innovation and the result is decidedly mixed. One imagines a second watch of the picture would reveal some glaring miscalculations in how certain information is introduced in service of the ending. That said, Merced is doing noble work throughout and Momoa is clearly determined to offer a softer side to his hulking persona.
Despite its shortcomings, Sweet Girl is a fairly enjoyable watch. These are easy people to root for, no matter how complicated their actions get. Given the complexity of the plot and the multitude of reveals, some deeper introspection into our lead characters would go a long way, but Mendoza opts instead for a big, bad final showdown with an appetizer of sequel set-up. If he does not stick the landing, the ride along the way is diverting enough.
Sweet Girl is now on Netflix.