The Hummingbird Project
Directed by: Kim Nguyen
Written by: Kim Nguyen
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Alexander Skarsgård, Salma Hayek, Michael Mando, Johan Heldenbergh, Ayisha Issa, Frank Schorpion
Thriller - 110 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 20 Mar 2019
Written by: Kim Nguyen
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Alexander Skarsgård, Salma Hayek, Michael Mando, Johan Heldenbergh, Ayisha Issa, Frank Schorpion
Thriller - 110 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 20 Mar 2019
How is The Hummingbird Project not based on an adapted screenplay? It screams “This is based on actual events” because it is so absurd, there must be an automatic pause for the writer to say, “You wouldn’t believe me if I made it up.” Well, writer/director Kim Nguyen made it up, but I want to believe him that a couple Wall Street guys out to game the system would sell with a straight face, a project to build a fiber optic line from Kansas City to New Jersey - in a straight line - under mountains, lakes, swamps, and sacred Amish farmland. This feels like one of those long-form magazine articles which go viral and didn’t Elementary, the Sherlock Holmes weekly on CBS starring Jonny Lee Miller, do an episode somewhat similar to this? The point is, perhaps this is the ultimate original screenplay - it is so shocking two goofballs with more foolhardy moxy than risk management skills have not attempted this feat in real life, because only true originality could produce such a strong “haven’t I seen this somewhere before” feeling.
Apparently, milliseconds matter. Wall Street receives their investment and trading information from its source in Kansas City in 17 milliseconds. In the spirt of There’s Something About Mary’s 6 minutes abs instead of 7 minute abs, what about 16 milliseconds instead of 17? Vincent Zaleski (Jesse Eisenberg, Café Society) claims he knows how to make this dream a reality. In zippy financial speak in the realm of even more complicated screenplays like Margin Call and Arbitrage, Vincent explains the potential rewards of working on information one millisecond faster than the competition. However, Vincent wants to keep his idea from those who may stake a claim to his intellectual property - the evil Eva Torres (Salma Hayek, Muppets Most Wanted).
Apparently, milliseconds matter. Wall Street receives their investment and trading information from its source in Kansas City in 17 milliseconds. In the spirt of There’s Something About Mary’s 6 minutes abs instead of 7 minute abs, what about 16 milliseconds instead of 17? Vincent Zaleski (Jesse Eisenberg, Café Society) claims he knows how to make this dream a reality. In zippy financial speak in the realm of even more complicated screenplays like Margin Call and Arbitrage, Vincent explains the potential rewards of working on information one millisecond faster than the competition. However, Vincent wants to keep his idea from those who may stake a claim to his intellectual property - the evil Eva Torres (Salma Hayek, Muppets Most Wanted).
Ms. Torres comes off as a demanding boss to work for, but we’ve seen far worse on screen. Wouldn’t you rather work for someone who demanded results, but also cut you loose to go figure it out without micromanaging every pencil click? Give me Eva Torres any day over Mr. Lumbergh at Initech. Vincent steals Eva’s prize 'big ideas' man, Anton (Alexander Skarsgård, The Legend of Tarzan), to write the code for this millisecond epiphany tunnel. Anton is also Vincent’s cousin. Nguyen picks up our Manhattan dwellers, pivots the film’s slick start, and transforms the rest of the business into a cinematic logistical nightmare.
Thousands of land leases must be signed, drills must break, phones must be yelled into, and the pacifist farm-dwelling Amish must be sweared at and threatened. What we were led to believe, that The Hummingbird Project is about saving a millisecond, reveals it is more concerned with how much is too much and how far is too far. In their own ways, the project throttles Vincent and Anton as well. Vincent suffers physically with the amount of responsibility hanging over his head. Anton suffers emotionally. He is separated from his wife and two daughters, Eva threatens his freedom with letters like ‘FBI’, and Vincent demands near impossible code to satisfy some boastful promises made to investors.
Financial thrillers and guys in over their heads frequently make worthwhile films, but The Hummingbird Project is worth a look not so much for an unrecognizable Skarsgård and his fake bald head, it’s for Eisenberg’s performance. Eisenberg may be most famous for portraying Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network as a condescending, smarmy asshole, but an asshole with vision. Eisenberg’s Vincent Zaleski is Zuckerberg on speed. He talks faster, he sweats fear, and we can see the breakdown coming, even though Nguyen has something else up his sleeve instead of the heart attack or mental crack-up you imagine lurks around the next calamity. In the few times Salma Hayek is on screen, she exerts power and has an amusing scene lording her presence over a cowering Anton in a hot tub. If Eva Torres wasn’t such a one-dimensional personality, and the film elbowed aside some superfluous tunnel construction, she most likely would strengthen the narrative and leave a more lasting impression. Nguyen may have come up with a creative idea about milliseconds we already thought was a thing, but it’s his characters and their suffering for the sake of that millisecond which propels an engaging film.
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