It’s the last weekend of July, which means one thing: Deadpool & Wolverine will take over the movie conversation. The latest MCU movie is projected to do huge business over the weekend, with comic book fanboys and common folk alike lining up to see two dudes in brightly colored spandex duke it out.
The Marvel movie isn’t for everyone, however, which is why we’re here to recommend some good movies to watch on Max, HBO’s subscription streaming service. Max’s enviable library of titles includes these three films, all of which are underrated in one way or another. With stars like Robert Redford, Samuel L. Jackson, and, yes, Ryan Reynolds, each movie is sure to entertain you.
The Company You Keep (2013)
I don’t need to tell you what The Company You Keep is about for you to want to see it. (Don’t worry, I will eventually.) I merely need to tell you about the film’s absurdly talented cast, which includes (deep breath) Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie, Brendan Gleeson, Anna Kendrick, Nick Nolte, Terrence Howard, Stanley Tucci, Richard Jenkins, Brit Marling, Sam Elliott, and Chris Cooper. Oh, yeah, Shia LaBeouf is in it too, but the less said about him, the better.
Redford stars as Jim Grant, a political activist who has been in hiding for decades because he allegedly killed a bank security guard years ago. He’s discovered in the present by Ben Shepard (LaBeouf), an ambitious reporter who eventually publishes Jim’s true identity and whereabouts.
But that’s just only part of the story as Ben gradually discovers the real reason why Jim went into hiding in the first place. Intelligent and involving, The Company You Keep functions as a fine actor’s showcase for a lot of the cast, and features yet another great late-career performance by Redford.
The Company You Keep is streaming on Max.
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
There’s Jaws, and then there’s everything else. The 1975 Steven Spielberg film not only changed blockbuster films forever, but it also represented the peak of a very specific subgenre: the killer shark movie. No film before or since has matched its virtuoso filmmaking or capacity to elicit both cries of terror and joy at the same time.
One shark film came close, though: 1999’s Deep Blue Sea, a late summer movie by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2) that arrived with zero expectations and surprised everyone with how much fun it was. The film takes place in an underwater station in the middle of an ocean, where a team of scientists genetically modify several sharks to enlarge their brains so they can find a cure for Alzheimer’s. Yes, that really is the setup.
These superintelligent sharks soon escape, and threaten everyone on board, including the lead scientist (Saffron Burrows), a talky corporate guy (Samuel L. Jackson), and a kindhearted cook (LL Cool J) who really loves his parrot. Most of these people end up as shark chow, and the movie is aware of just how corny it is. It’s a perfect movie to watch as the summer season enters its final stretch.
Deep Blue Sea is streaming on Max.
Definitely, Maybe (2008)
Before he struck gold as the Merc with a Mouth, Ryan Reynolds was a struggling actor looking for his big break. He came close with Definitely, Maybe, a rom-com with an unusually stacked cast consisting of Oscar winners Rachel Weisz (Dead Ringers) and Kevin Kline, plus Abigail Breslin, Isla Fisher, and Elizabeth Banks.
Reynolds stars as Will Hayes, an ad exec whose precocious 10-year-old daughter Maya (Breslin) wants to know how he met her offscreen mother. Will obliges, but changes names and timelines so that Maya, and by extension, the audience, will keep guessing as to which of the three women (Weisz, Fisher, or Banks) he ends up with. This sounds almost too cute, but Definitely, Maybe doesn’t push the sugar too much, and Reynolds’ scenes with Breslin have an unforced warmth that really sells their father-daughter relationship.
Definitely, Maybe is streaming on Max.
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