The IMDB "content filter" is out of control

I have been reviewing films for decades on IMDB.  The current level of SJW filtering is just out of control. Here is a review that I wrote recently on the film "Destoryer" titled "Starring Nicole Kidmans Wig..." 

The final moments of this film came with what was supposed to be a dramatic fade out of the haggard, liver-spot riddled face of the protagonist evaporates in what is supposed to be wave of glorious white light. Only there is no glory in this film. As we are reminded at the end as we staring at the glaring latex skin over-application unnaturally clogging up MS. Kidman's nostrils. John Wayne would not have approved of that shot for The Shootist, nor should have Ms. Kidman. Sadly, most of her acting in the film consists of her being boring and ugly. Which is an affront to both quality actresses and homely women.

The plot is a redemption arc turned on its head with a twist of non-linear story-telling and "hide the salami" which attempts to maintain the audience interest by forcing to piece together who is who and what happened when. Not in a nose-bleed Tenet way, but in an "OMG! That is Nicole Kidman looking like my leather-skinned, bag-of-bones alcoholic cousin who lives in a trailer park! I can't take my eyes away." Could the producers have found a powerhouse actress to carry this film without 10 pounds of latex applied to her face? Of course. But in recognition of how flimsy the plot line was, they opted for the "Guy Piece as Peter Weyland" shock and awe approach. The shock and awe wears off after about the thirteenth close up of her staring into space looking tired and haggard and walking like her legs have atrophied.

As bad as that sounds, it gets worse. The moralizing (and there is constant moralizing) in this film is not just confused, but goes nowhere. The good mom-bad mom idea fails as we have no clue about why Kidman's character didn't manage to do something at least somewhat decent for her daughter. I guess that's because she's a drunk? Greedy cop - haunted cop also goes nowhere because other than putting two nice looking individuals together in the flashbacks, there is almost no indication of chemistry between Kidman's character and her baby-daddy. (The relationship was obvious a mile away.)

Getting back to what is supposed to pass for a plot, something shows up from the past in old drunk cop's life. Now that's original! Old cop is apparently having PTSD related to an undercover op gone bad. That's original too. The breadcrumbs are dropped slowly but pointedly so that the is never any confusion about what you are supposed to piece together. But when first twist finally comes, first you'll think it's so obvious that you won't even bother to consider why the clue that was left there makes absolutely no sense. And the second twist (which involves more flexing by the make-up artists) arrives immediately thereafter, you are meant to feel sad for the protagonist, but my reaction was to curse the producers for literally attempting to glorify an exercise in screenwriter mental (and visual) masturbation. I think I just threw up a little visualizing that scene again.

It is also worth noting that for an a-list production like this, the production team was a little sloppy with their set dressings. Unless Ms. Kidman's character is supposed to be 65, there should not be any crown vic station wagons parked in bank parking lots like that's something everybody would have been driving. In the cell phone department, they take us back to the pre- iPhone era, but why even have cell phones in the flashbacks? The only way the story works is if the flashbacks are supposed to happen around 1980 (i.e., the production team went out and got the right cars) and if the current day stuff is around 2005-2010 (which also fits with Kidman's police force driving around in crown vics... something you don't see much of in 2020). I suspect that's how things started out, and then somebody in the writers room came up with the "out-of-control teenage daughter" plot thread, which required a post-2015 context where everybody walks around with a smartphone. And thus things were time-shifted about 20 years into a future that is just far less credible.

Bottom line: save yourself the frustration and revulsion of enduring this film. Send a message to Hollywood that if they want to have diverse heroines of all ages and appearances, they should try casing diverse women into lead roles. If you are looking for a modern entry in the neo-noir genre, I recommend the totally overlooked "Small Town Crime". Even if you don't find the drunk-cop hero compelling, you'll at get to enjoy a decent soundrack!Starring: Nicole Kidman's Wig and Latex crows feet.