Written and directed by Shawn Simmons, Eenie Meanie has the air of something given to someone finally allowed a shot at feature film-making after years spent helping to create entertainment for the small screen. A quick glance through the filmography of Simmons confirms that, yes, that's exactly what has happened. Simmons has his name on about 30 or 40 various TV show episodes, but this is his first major film credit. He helps himself immensely by getting Samara Weaving for the main role. Sadly, he spends a lot of the movie then working against himself.
Weaving plays Edie (nicknamed Eenie Meanie by some). Edie used to be the best getaway driver in the business, but she got out of that life. Unfortunately, her on/off boyfriend, John (Karl Glusman), didn't. He now owes Nico (Andy Garcia) a large debt, and Nico has a plan for John to repay that debt with a major score. It will need an excellent getaway driver though.
There's nothing new here. The super-skilled getaway driver has been done in a number of movies. The ex-criminal unable to go straight because they've been manipulated into one last job has been done in almost every other crime flick from the past hundred years. And daring heists that have people using skill and a bit of luck to defy impossible odds? Well, I'm sure you can name a few films with that main plot point. So the only real novelty here is having Weaving as the central figure, and it's her charisma and talent that make this more watchable than it otherwise would be.
Simmons makes the mistake of not really nailing down the tone, which doesn't help. Some moments are fun, some moments are thrilling, and some moments take viewers on a hard turn into a road called downbeat street. If these different strands flowed and blended well then Eenie Meanie could have been a pleasant surprise, but they do not. None of the fun moments reach their full potential as viewers are reminded of the high stakes, the same goes for the thrills (a couple of expected driving stunts aside), and the most downbeat moments feel as if they've been spliced in from another film entirely.
Weaving is great. When is she not? That's rhetorical. Don't answer, especially as I anxiously try to remember the many film appearances she has racked up that aren't deserving of her good work. Glusman is fine, although he has to struggle at portraying a character who feels quite irredeemable. He's a greedy and selfish idiot, and doesn't get any big moment to turn things around. Garcia delivers the goods in a few scenes that are real highlights, and the rest of the supporting cast members - including Steve Zahn, Jermaine Fowler, Marshawn Lynch, Randall Park, Mike O'Malley, and Chris Bauer - are almost all wasted. Nobody is given enough time or character development, which is more annoying when it means more time spent in the company of Glusman's character.
There's a nice muscle car being put through its paces in the third act, the score is decent, and Weaving gets to carry the film. It's just a shame that there's nothing more to it, and it's a shame that I was thinking about twenty better movies I could have rewatched instead of giving this one 106 minutes of my time.
5/10
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