Tag: Jon Bernthal

His & Hers

STREAMING REVIEW:

Netflix;
Thriller;
Rated TV-MA.
Stars Tessa Thompson, Jon Bernthal, Pablo Schreiber, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Sunita Mani, Crystal Fox, Marin Ireland, Poppy Liu, Chris Bauer.

Netflix’s “His & Hers” is a sharp and engaging limited series (six 45-minute episodes) that retools the traditional small-town murder mystery into a study of domestic wreckage and professional rivalry. Set in the humid outskirts of Atlanta in Dahlonega, the story tracks a high-profile newscaster who, after a year of exile following the death of her infant, returns to her job and hometown to investigate murders involving her childhood friends. It is a sleek, industry-focused noir — a style that uses dark, cynical themes but polishes them with high-end production to show the cutthroat nature of the news media world. While it doesn’t reach the level of prestige series such as “Breaking Bad” or “Ozark,” it features a powerhouse cast and top-tier production, making it an addictive, “guilty pleasure” thriller.

The series avoids the sterile, “catalog-ready” look of many streaming mysteries. Instead, showrunner and British film and theatre director William Oldroyd uses gritty, tactile realism. You can practically feel the Georgia heat and the mess of the grieving households, which makes the small-town setting feel less like a safe haven and more like a weaponized trap. The show is a major project for Freckle Films, the banner led by Jessica Chastain, who partnered with Fifth Season — the studio behind “Severance” — to ensure the show looks expensive and cinematic, even when the plot gets “theatrical.”

Tessa Thompson holds the mystery together as Anna Andrews, a woman caught between professional ambition and personal ruin. Thompson, who you might recognize from her roles as Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Bianca in the “Creed” franchise, brings a grounded, volatile energy to Anna. Opposite her, Jon Bernthal provides a necessary anchor as Jack Harper, Anna’s estranged husband and the lead detective. Bernthal is a veteran of intense, character-driven action, having led Marvel’s “The Punisher” and played the unforgettable Shane in “The Walking Dead.” Bernthal makes it work despite his character being deeply flawed and making several missteps.

The “juice” of the show is the web of infidelity: Jack slept with a murder victim, and Anna retaliated by sleeping with Richard (Pablo Schreiber), the cameraman husband of her professional rival. Their interracial dynamic is handled naturally, focusing on the remains of a broken marriage — defined here as the total emotional and structural collapse of a private life — rather than social tropes. By casting actors of Thompson and Bernthal’s stature, the production ensures that these messy, personal betrayals feel like high-stakes drama rather than simple tabloid fodder.

The supporting cast keeps the pacing lean, tracing a group of characters still stuck in high school pecking orders. Rebecca Rittenhouse shines as Lexy Jones, the rival newscaster who changed her name from Catherine Kelly to bury a past of being severely bullied for being fat. Her transformation from a victimized outsider into a thin, ruthless competitor highlights the theme that you can’t outrun your origins. Joining the investigation is Sunita Mani, known from “Glow” and “Mr. Robot,” as Detective Priya, Jack’s partner. Mani plays a vital role as the team player who throws us off; as a secondary sleuth, she often casts doubt on the primary investigation, keeping us wondering if the detectives themselves have something to hide. While the series occasionally goes over the top — like a grandstanding news report where you’ll want to yell at the mayor to grab the mic — the acting keeps you invested.

“His & Hers” isn’t perfect, but it respects our time by delivering a fast-paced, intentionally misdirected story that is worth watching.

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Netflix: Georgia Crime Drama ‘His & Hers’ Topped Weekly Streaming Through Jan. 11

The new Georgia-based crime drama “His & Hers,” starring Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson, ranked No. 1 overall on Netflix, including on the English-language TV chart, with 19.9 million views for the week through Jan. 11.

Thompson plays Anna, a reporter who’s estranged from her husband Jack, a detective played by Bernthal. They’re reunited by a murder in their sleepy Georgia town: She’s reporting on the crime and he’s investigating it, but both think the other is a prime suspect.

A film based on Emily Henry’s 2021 best-selling novel People We Meet on Vacation transitioned into the No. 1 English-language movie for the week. The film, starring Emily Bader and Tom Blyth, tallied 17.2 million views.

The South Korean sci-fi disaster movie The Great Flood remained atop the foreign-language movie chart with 5.2 million views. In the film, AI researcher Anna (Kim Da-mi) fights for the lives of her and her son as they seek safety from a global flood in their high-rise apartment.

The Swedish crime series “Land of Sin,” which chronicles the investigation into a murder in the Scandinavian countryside, rose to No. 1 on the foreign-language TV chart with 3.2 million views.

The fifth and final season of the sci-fi blockbuster “Stranger Things ” ranked No. 3 on the English-language TV chart with 9.3 million views. The season also moved up to No. 6 on Netflix’s all-time most popular English-language TV shows with 115 million views.

All five seasons of the series remained in the top 10 for a seventh week, with season one at No. 4 (5 million views), season two at No. 6 (4.5 million views), season three at No. 7 (4.4 million views), and season four at No. 8 (4.1 million).

At No. 2 on the English-language TV chart, with 15.6 million views, was “Run Away,” the Harlan Coben-based mystery drama starring Ellie de Lange, James Nesbitt and Minnie Driver, among others.

Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story documentary, about a Utah therapist (Hildebrandt) whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a web of manipulation, ranked No. 2 on the English-language movie chart film with 9.1 million views.

In addition to winning two Golden Globe Awards over the weekend, KPop Demon Hunters took No. 4 on the English-language movie chart with 7.6 million views.

The fourth season of the Spanish comedy series “Alpha Males,” about the lives of men in their 40s, bowed at No. 6 on the foreign-language TV chart with 2.1 million views.

Finally, “Emily in Paris” ranked No. 5 on the English-language TV chart with 4.5 million views. The series, which stars Lily Collins in the title role, was renewed for a sixth season.

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The Accountant 2

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Street Date 8/12/25;
Warner/MGM;
Action;
Box Office $65.52 million;
$27.99 DVD, $35.99 Blu-ray, $43.99 UHD;
Rated ‘R’ for strong violence, and language throughout.
Stars Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda, Allison Robertson, Robert Morgan, Grant Harvey, Andrew Howard, J. K. Simmons.

This engrossing sequel to 2016’s The Accountant sees Ben Affleck return as the title character, an autistic number cruncher with a talent for violence.

Still on the run since the events of the previous film and taking on odd jobs to survive, Christian Wolff (Affleck) is drawn out of hiding by a case involving his former treasury department ally Ray King (J.K. Simmons), who now works as a private investigator.

King was trying to track down a missing Salvadorean family that was apparently ensnared by a human trafficking ring. To solve the case, Christian must team with King’s treasury department protégé (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and enlists the aid of his estranged brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal), who has become an international mercenary.

Needless to say, their activities draw the ire of the leaders of the smuggling operation, who are keen to eliminate anyone looking into their business.

A key difference in this second outing relates to the structure of the story. The first film’s plot twists mainly involved revelations about Christian’s identity, but since those are known quantities now this new chapter is more dependent on the mysteries of Christian’s investigation to drive intrigue.

The sequel builds upon some of the concepts established in the original, expanding the role of Christian’s neurodivergent aid Justine into a full-fledged team of computer hackers tasked with assisting his extralegal activities.

But the film’s best asset is its pairing of Affleck and Bernthal as the reunited brothers, who spent most of the previous film inadvertently on opposite sides of the case. Together, they serve as effective foils for each other, while as a team provide a great contrast to the more strait-laced and ethically minded Medina.

For his part, Affleck is playing much more into the autistic affectations of his character than he did in the first film, where his performance was more subtle. It’s much more Rain Man this time around than Sheldon Cooper.

The film has been readily available on Prime Video since June, and its disc release seems more like a perfunctory gesture to reach fans of the original who may want a physical media copy. In whichever format the collector prefers it is available solely as a single-disc release, with a digital copy included with the Blu-ray and 4K versions, but no bonus materials.

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Fury

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Street Date 7/15/25;
Sony Pictures;
Drama;
$47.99 UHD BD Steelbook;
Rated ‘R’ for strong sequences of war violence, some grisly images, and language throughout.
Stars Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal, Jason Isaacs, Jim Parrack.

History buffs should appreciate director David Ayer’s gritty World War II drama Fury, which shines a light on the life of U.S. Army tank crews during the brutal final days of the war. With the allies rapidly advancing toward Berlin, the fierce German counterattack made them earn every inch of land along the way.

The film offers a fictionalized amalgam of the tank crew experience. Brad Pitt plays the commander of the five-man crew of a tank named Fury, who begin the film having lost one of their own in battle. The replacement is a fresh recruit (Logan Lerman) named Norman whose timidity and inexperience contrasts sharply with the grizzled veteran crew (Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña and Jon Bernthal), who won’t blink at summarily executing German prisoners.

Ayer’s script takes an unflinching look at the brutality of the war and the strain it took on American troops. Sticking the rookie Norman on the crew is a classic film device, giving the audience a surrogate with whom to follow the story. Fury gets involved in several intense skirmishes that begin to harden Norman as he experiences the dehumanizing realities of war.

Eventually, Fury finds itself isolated on a country road and face to face with a battalion of SS troops and a series of critical decisions to make about their best chance at survival.

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The Steelbook edition of the film is essentially a repackaging of the film’s 2018 4K presentation, which included the 2015 Blu-ray release and a 4K disc with new supplements.

The four informative featurettes that were new in 2018 include the 28-minute “No Guts, No Glory: The Horrors of Combat,” about the effort it takes to craft an authentic war film; the five-and-a-half-minute “Tiger 131,” a historical look at the Tiger Tank; the six-and-a-half-minute “Heart of Fury,”  a tour of the interior tank set; and the seven-minute “Clash of Armor,” a look at battlefield tactics and the comparative strengths of the Tiger and Sherman tanks.

The featurettes on the regular Blu-ray focus on how the production strived to achieve realism in depicting tank warfare.  These include the 11-minute “Blood Brothers” focuses on the way tank crews had to count on each other for survival, and training the cast to simulate that chemistry by working with actual WWII tank veterans. “Taming the Beasts” is a 13-minute featurette about the actual WWII tanks used for filming, while “Director’s Combat Journal” is a 17-minute piece that mostly deals with filming battles scenes with the vintage vehicles. Most affecting is probably “Armored Warriors,” a 12-minute documentary about real WWII tank crews, featuring interviews with real veterans who served as consultants on the film and vividly recount several harrowing experiences. The Blu-ray also includes about an hour of deleted scenes.

The film’s trailers also are included.

 

Amazon MGM Studios Premieres ‘The Accountant 2’ at SXSW Film Festival Ahead of April 25 Theatrical Debut

Amazon MGM Studios March 8 released the world premiere of The Accountant 2, the Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal follow-up actioner to the 2016 original, at the 2025 South by Southwest Film Festival taking place through March 15 in Austin.

In attendance were the movie’s director director Gavin O’Connor; star and producer Affleck; stars Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniella Pineda, Allison Robertson, Grant Harvey, Presley Alexander, Vincent Juskalian and Avery Taylor; producer Lynette Howell Taylor; and executive producers Dani Bernfeld, Allison Winter and Matt Damon.

The sequel, which hits global theaters on April 25, again finds Christian Wolff (Affleck), an accountant on the Autism Spectrum Disorder who has a talent for solving complex problems, compelled to solve the case of a friend, who has been murdered. Realizing more extreme measures are necessary, Wolfe recruits his estranged and highly lethal brother Brax (Bernthal) to help. Working together with U.S. Treasury Deputy Director Marybeth Medina (Addai-Robinson), they uncover a deadly conspiracy, becoming targets of a ruthless network of killers who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried.

The original The Accountant from Warner Bros. Pictures co-starred Anna Kendrick, generating $156 million at the global box office.

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King Richard

BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Warner;
Drama;
Box Office $14.87 million;
$29.98 DVD, $34.98 Blu-ray, $44.98 UHD BD;
Rated ‘PG-13’ for some violence, strong language, a sexual reference and brief drug references.
Stars Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Jon Bernthal, Tony Goldwyn.

Will Smith gives an outstanding performance as Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena Williams, in a film that explores his vision for making them tennis superstars when they were growing up.

Hoping to break free of the cycle of poverty and violence of Compton, Richard creates a plan for his daughters to become professional tennis players and relentlessly sticks to it, often times running afoul of the coaches who agree to nurture his daughters’ talent. At times this makes him seem hard to like as he stubbornly refuses to take outside advice, but he remains intent to follow the plan he thinks gives his daughters their best shot at success in tennis.

The film covers the girls’ early years on the junior circuit, dominating the competition to such a degree that they attract the attention of a bevy of sports agents and management firms. Richard rejects most of their offers, wanting his instill a sense of normalcy in his girls and not willing to move on to the next level until he feels they are ready.

The Blu-ray includes two superfluous deleted scenes running a total of three minutes, and three behind-the scenes featurettes.

The nine-minute “Following the Plan” covers the making of the film, the six-and-a-half-minute “Becoming Richard” focuses on Smith’s performance, and the six-minute “Champions on Screen” looks at the child actresses playing Venus and Serena.

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Ford v Ferrari

BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Street Date 2/11/20;
Fox;
Drama;
Box Office $116.38 million;
$29.99 DVD, $37.99 Blu-ray, $45.99 UHD BD;
Rated ‘PG-13’ for some language and peril.
Stars Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Ray McKinnon.

Director James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari provides an immensely entertaining look at an international corporate rivalry that changed the face of auto racing in the 1960s.

Matt Damon stars as automotive designer Carroll Shelby, a former race car driver enlisted by the Ford Motor Company to design a car that can break the dominance of Ferrari in France’s prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. Shelby in turn recruits Ken Miles (Christian Bale) to drive the car, a move that rubs certain Ford bigwigs the wrong way, most notably Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas), the executive in charge of the racing division.

Bales, whose turn as the hotheaded mechanic and driver Miles is essentially a co-lead with Damon, dominates every scene he’s in with an energetic performance that commands attention. In fact, some of his best scenes involve Miles alone on the road in the racecar, commenting to himself about how much he enjoys the ride or doesn’t appreciate the actions of the drivers around him.

The film delivers both in the corporate versus maverick politics of the company’s attempts to constrain Shelby’s efforts, as well as being a thrilling racing movie. Mangold’s racing footage puts viewers on the track and in the cars, and viewers can practically feel the crashes through their high-definition home theaters.

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The scenes involving the design and testing of the new racecars are equally compelling, as Shelby’s team takes on the engineering challenge with the focus and intensity of a NASA mission to the moon.

Though Damon and Bale get the headlines with one of the great screen partnerships of recent years, the supporting cast delivers some noteworthy work as well, particularly Caitriona Balfe and Noah Jupe as Miles’ wife and son, and Ray McKinnon as one of Shelby’s top mechanics.

And the film gets to have its cake and eat it too with the “Batman v Bourne” of it all, when Shelby and Miles have a bit of a spat over how much of Ford’s corporate meddling they’re willing to take.

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The intricacy of detail the filmmakers took in re-creating the racing culture of the 1960s is on display in the hour-long making-of documentary “Bringing the Rivalry to Life” that is included with the Blu-ray and digital copies of the film. The eight-part program offers ample interviews about how much the cast enjoyed making the movie, and how the filmmakers went about making replica cars to use for the racing scenes.

Digital versions include the exclusive “The 24-Hour Le Mans: Re-creating the Course,” a 22-minute featurette that delves into how the filmmakers re-created the Le Mans course, using a mix of replica cars and visual effects to enhance the backgrounds. In some cases, the sons of the original drivers were bought in to play their fathers in the climactic race.

The digital edition also offers a 26-minute highlight reel of pre-vis animation of the race scenes.

Vudu has an additional three-minute featurette edited from clips culled from the other bonus materials.

 

Netflix Pulls Plug on Marvel TV Collaboration

Netflix Feb. 18 confirmed it is canceling the Marvel TV series “The Punisher” and “Jessica Jones” — the last two original shows from a collaboration with the Disney-owned superhero IP unit’s TV arm that began in 2013.

The six-series Marvel lineup exclusive to Netflix also included “Luke Cage,” starring Mike Colter; “Daredevil,” starring Charlie Cox; and “Iron Fist,” starring Finn Jones. All three shows were canceled last October and November. The team-up miniseries “The Defenders” featuring a crossover of the various casts, was not renewed either.

The move underscores ongoing strategic shifts between the erstwhile business partners highlighted by the pending fourth-quarter launch of Disney’s competing SVOD service: Disney+.

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Netflix, which ended its license agreement for original Disney movies beginning with the studio’s 2019 theatrical releases, will stream the third season of “Jones,” starring Krysten Ritter (“Breaking Bad”).

Season three production of “Punisher” starring Jon Bernthal (“The Walking Dead”) has been shelved.

In a media statement, Netflix praised showrunners Steve Lightfoot (“Punisher”) and Melissa Rosenberg (“Jones”), the respective production crews and cast, including Bernthal and Ritter.

“We are proud to showcase their work on Netflix for years to come,” said the SVOD pioneer.

The cancelations also appear strategic considering both “Daredevil” and “Punisher” ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, on Parrot Analytics’ weekly chart of Top 10 original TV shows generating the most online chatter. Indeed, “Punisher” finished first on the chart for the week ended Feb. 2.

“We are grateful to Marvel for five years of our fruitful partnership and thank the passionate fans who have followed these series from the beginning,” said Netflix.

In a statement from Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb, the executive thanked Netflix  viewers for their interest in the brand, hinting Marvel’s super heroes could re-emerge on TV elsewhere.

“Our network partner may have decided they no longer want to continue telling the tales of these great characters … but you know Marvel better than that,” Loeb wrote.

 

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