Destroyer review: Half-baked procedural destroys Kidman’s performance

AFI Fest Review: Destroyer

Destroyer gives us another excellent performance by Nicole Kidman, but the script’s silly, retro pastiche of cop films leaves us wanting.

It seems every year, we get a “bad cop” drama wherein a cop breaks the law, either out of greed or a general disgust for humanity, to do what’s right. Denzel Washington, Harvey Keitel, Kurt Russell, they’ve all done variations on this. Screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi’s pitch for Destroyer appears to be “let’s make that same movie… with a woman!” Inserting a woman into this male-dominated genre could yield positive results, but Destroyer ends up self-destructing.

Everything is immediately familiar, starting with our anti-hero, police detective Erin Bell (Kidman). She walks into a murder investigation, seemingly stumbling in from the car she crawled out of. Her colleagues respond to her in various shades of “F you” and Erin could really care less. But the body that’s been discovered holds something for Erin, a connection to her past, and the reveal that a notorious murderer might be back to reclaim a pound of flesh.

With the stakes so rapidly established you’d think Destroyer would foster that momentum, but instead, everything plays painfully slowly. We see Erin in her day-to-day which consists of drinking and engaging in the same old fight with her teenage daughter, Shelby (Jade Pettyjohn). These moments aren’t so much unique as fallout from a botched assignment that Erin hasn’t been able to get over. Shown in flashback, we watch Erin as the bright-eyed young sheriff’s deputy tasked with infiltrating a drug gang alongside established agent, Chris (Sebastian Stan).

These flashbacks, wherein we watch Chris and Erin engage in drugs and develop a relationship, came off better in the 1991 film Rush and just play as a CliffsNotes version of that movie. Like many elements of Hay and Manfredi’s script, no one questions whether the two are in too deep. Are they cocaine addicts? Yes. When Erin discovers she’s pregnant Kidman gives an incredible reaction shot, realizing the extent of what she’s already done to her unborn child, but the movie doesn’t think to linger on these moments because — being written by men — it doesn’t think to. Instead we’re treated to boring arguments between mother and daughter that reiterate the idea that women can’t have it all, and that being a terrible mother is the ultimate failure.

Nicole Kidman stars as Erin Bell in Karyn Kusama’s DESTROYER, an Annapurna Pictures release.

Director Karyn Kusama proficiently directs this cop thriller which, when it isn’t focused on prototypical “strong woman” problems, is a solid throwback to the gritty cop thrillers of the ’70s. You could easily see Mark Wahlberg or Bruce Willis make this film which lends a fan fiction quality to Destroyer, as if this is a story an ex-cop wrote wherein all cops get to beat on criminals and live the job. We should probably be thankful that the movie avoids the uncomfortable issues of having the white Kidman beat on minorities by just making every character white to begin with.

Working alongside Kidman, Kusama’s leading lady is an anti-hero in a loose definition of the world but lacking in the motivations that make you love and hate her. Thankfully the actress knows what to do and is just too good for Destroyer. Her ability to react to everything is subtle in contrast to the more openly staging acting of her co-stars.

Her best scenes are opposite Stan and it’s sad this isn’t a remake of Rush or a proper neo-noir because the twosome’s morally ambiguous motivations and sexual chemistry are amazing to watch. Give me these two pulling off crimes and you have a movie. Unfortunately, Stan is barely in the movie enough to register, playing the film’s Captain America — yes, that was an intentional joke — and acting merely as a springboard for Erin’s deterioration. It’s almost hard to believe Erin would go to such lengths for Chris considering they have so few scenes together.

The cast around Kidman and Stan are ripped straight from Villain Academy 101, lacking anything in the way of terror or general competence. Erin’s entire quest revolves around capturing a man named Silas (Toby Kebbell), and though we see him and his gang of miscreants, one of whom is played by Tatiana Maslany as a Manson girl/meth addict, there’s little in the way of interest. A scene in front of a bonfire is meant to set up some type of philosophy of Silas’ but it all leads to nothing. He dresses like he’s auditioning for an Anne Rice film but ends up looking like Sam from Benny & Joon. I’m unclear whether we should fear him or just laugh at his atrocious wig.

The memorable twist at the end isn’t earned in a movie that’s two hours of “I’ve seen this before.” Kidman is great, but she’s far too good for this feature. If she gets recognition for it, assume it’s more for her letting herself eschew her good looks. Kidman’s done better work in better films — watch them first.