No Sudden Move

Corruption in the burgeoning auto industry in 1950s Detroit provides the backdrop for No Sudden Move, a neo-noir steered confidently along a familiar path of deception, betrayal, and dishonor among thieves.

Bolstered by a deep first-rate ensemble cast, this taut crime saga from Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh is an amusing takedown of capitalist greed and social oppression layered with some intriguing character-driven twists.

Soderbergh immerses us in a period urban milieu populated by shady characters cloaked in shadows and amber hues. They’re mostly variations on the sort of hot-tempered, quick-triggered types we’ve seen before, with no traditional heroes and only varying degrees of villainy.

At the center are two small-time crooks — livewire Curt (Don Cheadle) and more laconic Ronald (Benicio Del Toro) — an odd couple bonded only by their mutual disdain for a former associate named Frank (Ray Liotta), a local organized crime middleman.

Curt and Ronald are offered some quick cash as part of a larger scheme that involves a third partner (Kieran Culkin) retrieving a high-level document of unknown contents by kidnapping a corporate executive (David Harbour). Meanwhile, Curt and Ronald are left to “babysit” the victim’s wife (Amy Seimetz) and children at home.

When the ruse inevitably goes sideways, the suspicious babysitters decide to raise the stakes by cutting out their mysterious employer, scoping out a new plan, and trying to cash in themselves. As a detective (Jon Hamm) starts snooping around, their lack of power and resources make them a target among the wealthy elite.

Known for his idiosyncratic visual choices especially in his more offbeat works, Soderbergh again acts as his own pseudonymous cinematographer and editor. His curious decision to shoot with a fish-eye lens — which distorts the image on the edges of the frame — is initially distracting.

Sprinkling in dark humor throughout, the richly textured screenplay by Ed Solomon (Now You See Me) is intricately constructed to maximize the suspense without turning contrived or manipulative. It captures characters navigating the margins of a city amid racial and socioeconomic upheaval.

The result turns convoluted in the final act, and moviegoer sympathy for these unscrupulous rogues might ultimately lean more toward comeuppance than prosperity. Yet like the colorful Studebakers lining its streets, No Sudden Move motors along in style.

Rated R, 115 minutes.