Helen Sterling (Susan Sarandon) works too much. A dedicated and trustworthy nurse at a small understaffed hospital who leads and thinks like a doctor, Helen works double-shifts and takes care of fellow doctors (Amir Malaklou) as much as the sick and injured kids in her ER. However, if you looked at Helen close enough, you'll see a storm brewing inside of her: her adult son, a war correspondent, has been kidnaped in the Middle East and the government is dragging their feet with the rescue.
Maryam Kershavarz wrote and directed Viper Club, which gets its name from the organization in the film that aides Helen in the ransom negotiations for her son. Sam (Matt Bomer) and Sheila (Sheila Vand), fellow journalists and friends of Helen's son, Andy (Julian Morris), help the mother find locate this secretive yet seemingly effective organization that helps solve these kinds of problems. Just don't expect it to be easy or to have any assistance from the government.
Inspired by real life events, Viper Club is a messy-looking film with shaky camera maneuvers, bad lighting, and an overall lack of style. If you want true art, go somewhere else. This flick looks like a film that some college senior in film school would make to impress his professor, and since YouTube Originals is behind the production, it makes some kind of sense. Luckily, this amateurish-looking film has Susan Sarandon in front of the camera.
I don't think she's given a bad performance in her entire career, which spans 153 different roles, but this one ranks as one of her best and shows her in a different light. A more quiet force of nature who leads by action and not words, Helen is a sweet older woman who hates attention and has a few regrets in life, but will do anything to get her son back. A little too trustworthy outside of the hospital, the organization helps her and drives the second half of the film, but Sarandon is the reason to see this film. There's a quiet nobility about Helen that can't be taught to any actress. You either have it or you don't.
When Kershavarz was wondering how this film would work at all, she must have thought of Sarandon, the 63-year-old owner of an Academy Award and someone who can looked lived-in on screen without an ounce of extra makeup. Sarandon doesn't age...and doesn't overact the role. She's just in the role of Helen, a woman who cares extra for strangers to make up for the pockets of time she missed with her son.
Aside from her, Bomer fares well and Edie Falco is effective as a friend with connections. Few others really leave a dent. They are actors in the background waiting for a snap.
The hospital scenes do have a quiet charm, and Helen is depended upon to keep the place above ground with an audit looming over their heads, an evaluation that could lead to a wing being shut down--and jobs being cut as a result. There's real care given to these scenes. The majority of the film takes place in the hospital, with very little being shown overseas with the terrorists and Andy. You could call this an unconventional hostage drama; one with a limited amount of thrills.
I'll say the film's story is slow yet dependent in telling the story that the writer/director set out to tell, without being flashy or showing much standout skill in direction. Perhaps this was on purpose, or maybe there were cries from outside (perhaps from Diane Foley, mother of slain war-correspondent James Foley, who didn't like the finished product) that choked out its power.
In the end, Viper Club has a powerful vessel in Sarandon, who manages to make it all work.
A potent finale involving some misdirection should stir the soul. I won't give too much away, but I will say the final scene and shot hit so hard because of Sarandon and her effortless skill. She pulls you in tight.
Paying tribute to the many real life journalists and photographers who take the risk in telling the harsh tale overseas may have inspired Viper Club to be made, but seeing an ageless talent dominate the screen all by herself is the true reason to see it.
Susan has still got it.
