Dollar Tree Cinema: Peppermint

“Peppermint” (2018)
Starring Jennifer Garner, John Gallagher Jr., John Ortiz, Juan Pablo Raba
Directed by Pierre Morel
Written by Chad St. John
Rated R for strong violence and language throughout

In the 2003 “Daredevil” movie, Jennifer Garner played Elektra, a character I generally think of as one of Marvel's most dangerous and cold-blooded “heroes.” Garner's Elektra was driven and tragic, but, as much as I like my fellow native West Virginian, she didn't strike me as the right person for the part.

Or maybe she just wasn't ready.

I could be way off base, as I still haven't gotten around to watching Garner's star-making series “Alias.” I associate her more with 2004's “13 Going on 30,” a movie that I, back then, argued should have earned her an Oscar nomination because it simply wouldn't have worked with another actress in the role. That might have been a bit extreme, but Garner's performance and charm as a newly minted teenager in an adult body does carry and elevate the film.

My shorthand argument against her Elektra was that she was simply too adorable to play a cold-blooded killer.

Years later, I saw “Peppermint.”

Originally a Netflix watch, I found it at Dollar Tree as a sort-of gag gift for my mother, who watched it with me the first time. While I was horrified to the point of almost stopping the movie at the sequence in which Riley North's (Garner) husband and, worse, daughter are gunned down by a drug dealer's henchmen, Mom identified with her relentless pursuit of vengeance for not only the people who took their lives but also the drug lord pulling the strings and the corrupt officials who enabled them. She didn't condone it; but she understood it. And it was so over the top, she was able to separate the more painful elements.

I have long grown weary of the revenge thriller. Understandable, perhaps even justifiable violence is still violence. There might be times when it's unavoidable or even necessary, but it's not something to be sought or celebrated.

But I'm open to interpretations, like Jon Bernthal's performance as the Punisher, which was brutal, ugly and somehow moving without praising a guy who is, let's face it, a mass murderer. I gave “Man On Fire” a chance, just because I expected Denzel Washington to deliver something beyond a joyful bloodbath, and he did. Similarly, I felt like Garner would do more than creatively rack up a body count, if only because she seems so darn sweet.

I didn't particularly enjoy “Peppermint” the first time around, because of its gore and its straightforward story that didn't leave much room for nuance or consideration of whether Riley's actions – however understandable and viscerally satisfying – are actually noble and heroic or just a slightly lesser form of evil.

I ended up watching it again after the triple feature podcast episode Mark Radulich and I were discussing around the theme of female-fronted films based on comics was derailed. Turns out, several people in Mark's podcasting circle were interested in discussing “Josie and the Pussycats,” and I had to admit I wasn't the right man for the job in a trifecta that also included “Spice World.” When Mark asked for another suggestion and I returned to “Elektra,” my assessment of Garner's poor fit in that role brought to mind “Peppermint.” Naturally, we had to finish it off with one of her family friendly comedies, in this case Netflix's “Family Switch.”*

You can check out the episode here. As usual, Mark's language is a bit more... boisterous? colorful? ... than what you'll find in my posts.

Garner is well cast as Riley, a devoted mom in the flashbacks that follow an opening scene more intense than anything in “Elektra.” When her husband (Jeff Hephner) and daughter (Cailey Fleming) are killed and she nearly joins them - after the husband turns down an offer to help rob drug lord Diego Garcia (Raba, left) - she's pushed beyond her limits. She returns to Los Angeles five years later practically a female Punisher, having trained to deliver the justice denied her by a corrupt judge, high-priced defense attorney and police too scared or too bribed to do their jobs. She's pursued by federal agents, the detective who tried to help her (Gallagher) and his ex-partner (Ortiz) who warned him not to pursue the deadly Garcia.

Spoilers follow.

Riley's rage is simmering under the surface but ever present, as is her sadness. It doesn't seem Riley is under any delusion that her quest will bring her any kind of peace; she just doesn't have much else to live for.

The movie is very lean, eschewing the expected training montage or “Batman Begins”-style origin story. We see why Riley is doing what she's doing, and we see some of it. The most obvious revenge kill – the smarmy defense attorney who tries to bribe her before humiliating her in court – happens off-screen. Her transformation into a protector of the downtrodden is largely told rather than seen, except when she scares straight a drunken father ignoring his son.

The action is violent, with the requisite slo-mo shootings, but feels somewhat grounded. It doesn't crescendo; the climactic fight with Garcia and his henchmen is less dramatic than other sequences.

Some of the story elements, including the revelation of the bad cop and (relatively) good cop are a bit confusing. In many instances, there's nothing very new.

What makes the movie interesting and worth watching is Garner, whose performance works because of, rather than in spite of, a surface appearance of incongruity. A lot of actresses could have done angry and relentless, but she mixes them with a sadness and weariness that further humanize Riley.

* - This is the same reasoning I used when I suggested a Sin City-centric Triple Feature of “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Casino”
and “The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas.” Surprisingly, there were no takers.