The Gateway Review: Big Ideas That Are Let Down By Execution

Release date: September 3, 2021
Running time: 91 minutes
Directed By: Michele Civetta (Agony)
Written By: Michele Civetta (Agony), Alex Felix Bendaña, and Andrew Levitas (Lullaby)
Starring: Shea Whigham (American Hustle), Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse), Taryn Manning (“Orange Is the New Black”), Mark Boone Junior (Donnybrook), Taegen Burns (Dumplin’), with Frank Grillo (The Grey) and two-time Academy Award® nominee Bruce Dern (The Hateful Eight).

Shea Whigham (American Hustle), Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse), and Frank Grillo (The Grey) star in this gritty, edge-of-your-seat crime-thriller. Whigham is Parker, a down-on-his-luck social worker who finds himself in over his head when he tries to protect his client from her recently paroled husband. Can Parker save the family from the violent threat of the maniacal drug dealer and his crew, desperate to reclaim their priceless stash?

The Gateway, like it's main character is a little rough around the edges.  The cast is a stellar one, with Bruce Dern being the biggest name on the roster, but having some great performances by Olivia Munn, Frank Grillo, and Shea Whigham.  I really liked the cast and loved Whigham as a grizzled ex-cop social worker.  And seeing Grillo as a bad guy was a lot of fun as well.  The story has a slow start, which is fine, but then kicks off with an odd raid type scene.  There is a lot going on and this was an exciting, but strange, highlight of the film.

Unfortunately for The Gateway, it was all downhill after the raid.  I liked the raid itself, but after this highpoint, the Gateway just seemed to become too disjointed.  The introduction of Zach Avery as Mike threw a wrench in the film, as his character caused lots of the problems but also had some pretty ridiculous solutions as well.  His character was very abrasive and seemed to create most of the problems in the film.  I can't help but think that a lot of this film just felt like manufactured drama from characters making poor decisions.  And this is not helped by writing that is a little overdramatic and some less than stellar delivery overall.  And the action itself doesn't redeem this film as it is too little and feels disjointed.  The film goes for a fast paced action, but that leads to lots of cuts and tough to follow scenarios; it makes what should be the most exciting parts of the film feel hectic and rushed.  And the movie also has a strange ending, that seems to try to push some greater ideas that the film was trying to highlight but wasn't quite able to.

The Gateway has a good cast and tries for an important message, but the story feels contrived, with some abrasive characters, poor decisions, and disjointed action.

Pass on it.

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The Gateway is available in theaters, digitally, and on demand on September 3, 2021.  For showtimes, click here. 

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