Review: 'I'm Your Woman' focuses its energy in the wrong places

Amazon Studios, 2020.

Rachel Brosnahan - "Mrs. Maisel" to most - stars in the lifeless thriller, "I'm Your Woman," new on Amazon Prime this weekend.

Grade: C

"I'm Your Woman" is quite the oddity. Set in the 1970s, Jean (Brosnahan) and her husband Eddy (Bill Heck) seem to lead a decent life, other than the fact that they are unable to have children. That is, until one day, Eddie comes home with an infant baby and -  no questions asked - announces that it is theirs. Jean is used to not questioning her husband, because Eddy is a professional criminal, and the less Jean knows the better. Soon afterwards, Eddy goes missing, and Jean gets caught up in the fall-out of her hubby's criminal activity, finding herself on the run and in hiding under the care of one of Eddy's associates (Arinzé Kene).

The odd part is not just this weird premise and set-up, it's that the film decides that the more interesting story here is Jean's. Somewhere on the fringes of this film and outside of its frame and scope is a good crime thriller...in another, better movie, Jean would be an important character, but not the entire focus. Instead, we get a "thriller" that isn't all that thrilling, as we watch - for the most part - scenes of Jean and her crying baby hanging out together as ominous music plays in the background. In a world full of criminals, guns and shady people, we instead get to watch Jean try to make her baby breakfast while she cautiously peeks out the window wondering what's out there. I can relate to Jean...as the viewer, I was thinking the same thing.

By the time things do get interesting for Jean, the payoff is not worth it. There are some generic car chases, a few gun fights, and little left to care about.

I'm not quite sure what purpose "I'm Your Woman" was looking to serve, but it seems like it chose to explore a dead-end detour instead of the wide, open road that we might have found ourselves on otherwise.

Grade: C

Genre: Crime, Drama.
Run Time: 2 hours.
Rated R.

Starring: Rachel Brosnahan, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Frankie Faison, Arinzé Kene.

Co-Written and Directed by Julia Hart ("Stargirl," "Fast Color," "Miss Stevens").

"I'm Your Woman" is available on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, December 11th, 2020.