Peppermint (2018) STX/Action-Thriller RT: 102 minutes Rated R (strong violence and language throughout) Director: Pierre Morel Screenplay: Chad St. John Music: Simon Franglen Cinematography: David Lanzenberg Release date: September 7, 2018 (US) Cast: Jennifer Garner, John Gallagher Jr., John Ortiz, Juan Pablo Raba, Annie Ilonzeh, Jeff Hephner, Cailey Fleming, Eddie Shin, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Tyson Ritter, Ian Casselberry, Richard Cabral, Johnny Ortiz, Michael Reventar, Kyla-Drew Simmons, Gustavo Quiroz, Pell James, John Boyd, Michael Mosley, Chris Johnson. Box Office: $35.4M (US)/$53.8M (World)
Rating: ***
After more than a decade of dramas and silly rom-coms, it’s nice to Jennifer Garner back in bad ass mode in Peppermint, a sweet revenge fantasy in which she goes after the scumbags that killed her family and the corrupt officials that denied her justice. For some reason, this one is getting a lot of bad reviews. It only has a 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I think I understand why and I fully intend to set the record straight in a moment. For now, I’ll just say that “revenge fantasy” is the operative term here. Keeping that in mind may help you enjoy Peppermint. Or not depending on what you’re looking for.
Riley North (Garner) once had a near-perfect life living in upper suburbia with her husband (Hephner, Chicago Med) and young daughter (Fleming, Star Wars: The Force Awakens). That is, until members of a Mexican drug gang gun down her family in a drive-by shooting. The hit was ordered by drug lord Diego Garcia (Raba, Narcos) who found out the husband considered taking part in a plan to steal money from him. He backed out at the last minute but it was already too late. It’s bad enough Riley loses her family but what happens next is worse. The justice system screws her royally. The defense lawyer calls her reliability into question by claiming her meds have affected her memory. The judge dismisses the case and lets the shooters go. The DA’s office doesn’t even try to object. Naturally, she flips out in court and has to be restrained. En route to a hospital psych ward, she escapes and disappears completely.
She returns to L.A. five years later to even the score. She starts by killing the three shooters and takes it from there, going after the lawyers and judge before turning her attention to Garcia and his operation. It doesn’t take the police long to figure out who’s behind all the killings. The same detective, Carmichael (Gallagher, 10 Cloverfield Lane), that handled the original case is on this one too as is an FBI agent, Inman (Ilonzeh, ‘Til Death Do Us Part), investigating the theft of military-grade weapons. Unfortunately, Garcia figures it out too and orders his guys to find and kill her. Unbeknownst to any of them, Riley has taken up residence in a van parked on Skid Row where the crime rate has mysteriously gone down since her arrival. Will she be found before she completes her mission of revenge?
Okay, let’s now discuss my theory of the overwhelmingly negative reaction to Peppermint. Anybody looking for a serious exploration of Riley’s damaged mental state as it pertains to the horrific loss she suffered will be disappointed. It is NOT that kind of movie. For the most part, it sweeps all things psychological under the rug. Nothing that happens in it takes place in the realm of believability. It’s pure revenge fantasy. It takes place in a world where somebody can shoot up a piñata store (a cover for a money laundering operation), kill about 20 gang-bangers, shake down a geeky accountant for information and still get away before the police arrive. I may be putting my credibility at risk but I live for movies like Peppermint. I like it for the same reasons I like the Death Wish movies. Watching Joe (or Jane) Q. Citizen take the law into his/her own hands is most gratifying especially if it’s super-violent like it is here. If you accept Peppermint on these terms, you might like it.
Some of you might not remember but Jennifer Garner’s first major role was on the TV series Alias (2001-06) where she played a tough CIA agent. She also co-starred as Elektra in the 2003 Daredevil movie opposite Ben Affleck as the titular blind crimefighter. She was pretty bad ass in that one too. We won’t talk about 2005’s awful Elektra; it defies rational explanation. After that, with the exception of 2007’s The Kingdom, she did a string of movies- e.g. 13 Going on 30, Juno, Dallas Buyers Club and Miracles from Heaven (to name but a few)- that didn’t involve kicking bad guys’ asses. It’s great to see her back in fighting form in Peppermint. This is one legit bad ass babe! She’s convincing as a grieving wife/mother who chooses a different form of therapy to deal with her loss. Is she the picture of perfect mental health? Not at all! She shows up at the home of a snobby rival mother who insulted her and her daughter years earlier and holds her at gunpoint until she wets herself. She has hallucinations of her daughter. It keeps her going. Hey, whatever works, right? The point is that Garner is very good in the lead.
Some will inevitably complain that Peppermint indulges in negative stereotypes of Latinos as vicious drug-dealing gangsters. To them I say this, the bad guys in Peppermint are NOT representative of an entire race. Mexican drug gangs exist. They are killers. They deserve everything they get in Peppermint. I’ll say this in Riley’s defense; she has compassion. She stops herself from killing one dirtbag when his young daughter enters the room. She doesn’t want to traumatize the kid. It’s okay though, she gets this person later. In any event, I don’t think people should be offended by Peppermint. Remember, it’s a revenge fantasy. It’s not real, it’s entertainment.
As for the violence, there’s a lot of it. Some of it is quite sadistic like when she nails somebody’s hands to a desk. All of it is extremely satisfying. One of the best bits is when she threatens an alcoholic dad to take better care of his kid or else after which she orders a liquor store clerk to never sell him another thing or else. I had a blast watching Peppermint. It’s a cool action flick. I expected nothing less from Pierre Morel who also directed Taken, From Paris with Love and District B13. He directed another picture I liked, 2015’s The Gunman (seriously underrated if you ask me). Like I said, Peppermint has a few flaws but none worth discussing. If you go in knowing that it’s not a quality art film, you won’t be disappointed. I will now offer it the highest praise I can. Garner does Charles Bronson proud. How’s that for a compliment?
