Ava

I’ve heard enough from Jessica Chastain to believe she simply wants to be treated like one of the guys. The problem with that is if your only goal is to be like everyone else, you’ll never be better than anyone else. “Ava” (2020) retraces the steps of “Atomic Blonde” by building a mediocre spy thriller around the novelty of a female assassin. Chastain’s subplot (complicated family and substance-abuse baggage) is also somewhat novel, but it’s a slight variation on a role her co-star, Colin Farrell, could have played in 2006, or Burt Reynolds in 1986 or Gene Hackman in 1976.

The 355

Spy movies. They’re all different, yet all the same, because that’s how most of the audience wants it. “The 355” (2022) goes out on a limb simply by having all the main spies be women. Subtract the eye candy, however, and there remains a boilerplate, globetrotting espionage flick. Bad guys steal a superweapon. But who exactly are the bad guys? Our protagonists form a rainbow coalition to save themselves – and also the world (of course). Jessica Chastain does Jessica Chastain things. Nobody runs out of bullets – or hits anything – except when they absolutely need to. Eye candy is comfort food.

Red Sparrow

I’m so glad “Red Sparrow” (2018) didn’t suck. Because somebody told me it sucked. I shouldn’t have believed them. Maybe it was a double cross. Maybe they actually liked it but they wanted me to not like it so that I would be surprised it didn’t suck because they wanted me to trust them but then not trust them. Oooooh, so crafty. The movie’s like that, too. Jennifer Lawrence is performing at another level right now. It’s her, Jessica Chastain, and, um, right. Also, best three-way knife fight in movie history. And definitely the Oscar frontrunner for best one-piece swimsuit.