Blink Twice is a bit of a problem movie. It has a good setup but it slogs down in the middle before delivering a pretty great finale. It’s such a good ending that it blew past my three stars and landed at a low four. Just a lot of glorious cathartic bare-your-teeth revenge. Sometimes its the simple pleasures in life that twist the knife clockwise.

The film is about a couple of young women (Naomi Ackie and Alia Shawkat) who meetcute a billionaire played by a disarming Channing Tatum. He invites them to his private island where they meet up with other men and women who are just here for a good time. But it’s a thriller so there’s something else going on just under the surface.

I had a problem with this movie that I can’t ignore: it lacks a sense of forward momentum. For much of the middle chunk of film, they drop hints and suggestions but nothing that feels like they are moving forward. And once the shoe drops, there’s a solid chunk of time spent wheel spinning. There’s some tension and worry but there’s waaaay too much waiting for something to happen.

But, hey, when it finally happens it’s pretty great. Just good old fashioned red in tooth and claw revenge. The revelations are good and the script, which I’d thought mediocre, picks up with reveals and callbacks. Such an accomplishment making us feel good for bad deeds.

Channing Tatum turns in a shockingly nuanced performance, turning on and off the charm we saw early on. Plus he delivers a couple of words so many times, so quickly that, like his character says in the first act, causes them to lose all meaning.

My favorite bit might have been early on as Tatum walks through a crowd. I was like “Christian Slater’s in this? Was that Kyle McLachlan? Oh hey that’s Haley Joel Osment!”. Then Geena Davis shows up later and it’s like everyone was coming out to support Zoe Kravtiz. I found that charming.

Even though the middle of this picture sags too much, I’m giving it a surprise bump to a great rating. I wish I’d enjoyed the whole movie more and that the absurdist, almost satirical comedy was more consistent, but what I liked, I liked a lot.

Score: 85