Oscar Isaac, right, pulls a full Tom Hardy by adopting a weirdo voice, awkward mannerisms and unknown motivations in a bid to give life to a villain who becomes obsessed with a pretty-boy filmmaker, Garrett Hedlund.
Why do bad movies happen to good actors?
It's a question Oscar Isaac might want to pose the next time he sees his agent. The erstwhile Poe Dameron has been on a remarkable streak over the past few years: Drive, Inside Llewyn Davis, A Most Violent Year, Ex Machina, The Force Awakens … and now, for some reason only known to him and his handlers, Mojave.
As a psychotic drifter who becomes obsessed with a pretty-boy filmmaker (Garrett Hedlund), Isaac pulls a full Tom Hardy by adopting a weirdo voice, awkward mannerisms and unknown motivations in a bid to give life to a villain who is, in his own words, pure "motiveless malignancy."
It doesn't work, nor does anything else in this so-bad-it's-good-no-wait-still-bad mess from William Monahan.
The screenwriter of The Departed aims for a statement about the perils of fame, but instead comes off as the poster boy for toxic celebrity narcissism.
At least Isaac isn't failing alone: Two other usually excellent actors (Walton Goggins and Mark Wahlberg) also pop up here, and are just as wasted.
Barry Hertz