On the upcoming season of So You Think You Can Action Star, watch luminaries such as Joey King, Bob Odenkirk, and our latest contender Allison Janney trade in their usual Hollywood stardom for a life of kicking butt and taking names.

Yes, Allison Janney is the latest actor to try her hand as an unlikely action hero. It might not compute, but I think Janney pulls off a good enough performance in a decent enough film.

She plays a retired CIA agent living out her golden years on an island off the coast of Washington. When her single mother neighbor has her daughter abducted by her low-life ex-husband, she springs into action to save the little day.

The first two acts of this film are a good (if very rainy) example of setup and rising action. It’s not the best drama and it’s not the best action, but it’s good enough to pass the time and lay some intriguing groundwork. Janney does a good world-weary and they use her age and grandmotherly looks to play fast and loose with expectations.

It makes good use of its heavily forested Pacific Northwest setting of Orcas Island. It’s very green, very dense, and very, very, very damp. Like, get these actors a towel, damp. But it’s setting we don’t get super often so I liked it. Plus I got some What Remains of Edith Finch flashbacks which were welcome.

The final act gets a little draggy and loose though. The film barely clings onto my good will through sheer cast charisma. But it’s action and thrills are at very low tide.

The film is good enough to earn a decent rating from me, but it was a tightrope of a watch. It works well enough that I’m willing to be charitable and say, yeah, good enough for government work.

Score: 75