Crime-dramas are by far my favorite genre of film. Whether it be mob related, heist centric, or cop-themed, I’m always intrigued by the gloomy, foreboding tales this genre can deliver. “I’m Your Woman” is coming soon to Prime Video and explores the female perspective on the traditional crime-story format. Here, Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) plays Jean, a suburban wife that is forced to go on the run with her baby after her criminal husband double-crosses his partners. A scenario that to me was incredibly intriguing, as we usually only see the male side of this plot-line. While the wife, or girlfriend character, usually only chimes in with a few scenes opposite their male counterpart to fill run-time or convey a fracture in the relationship of some kind.

Going into “I’m Your Woman” I was hoping to see the intense journey of a woman who had lived a life sheltered by her husband’s business dealings. All the while knowing what he did to make money. Who is then forced to stand on her own, and left with no choice but to confront the unsavory and violent world that her husband lived in. The story-line admittedly does deliver these moments, however it does so through an extremely methodical progression. The run-time hovers around the two-hour mark, but it does feel much longer than that. Primarily because the dangerous expeditions Jean embarks on in this movie didn’t feel as unique or compelling as they could have. Instead, it felt like a bit of a patchwork of other character-arcs in past films.

Brosnahan does her best to make this character’s mission her own. She delivers an emotionally charged performance. Yet, I failed to really connect with her character. I also had a hard time connecting to the story-line, and for me it was because the first hour of the movie felt uneventful despite the exploration of the emotional stress put on this character. By the time the narrative kicks into gear in the third-act and begins to deliver suspense, the fatigue from sitting through a slow-burn of the two acts prior had also kicked in. The film wants the viewer to build the larger world of this plot in their head and the quick doses of exposition fail to connect the characters with the authenticity needed to be able to properly invest in it all.

The performances do make the most of it. As mentioned, Brosnahan was pretty good here, and she certainly poured herself into the role. Arinze Kene, and Marsha Stephanie Black, provide the story with a couple of strong supporting characters as well. Yet the slow pace and having most of this movie’s more suspenseful moments happening off-screen, may result in your mind wandering off to think about the more compelling layers of this story that the script doesn’t really explore. The 1970’s setting is nicely-captured, and the direction in a subtle way feels like a movie made from the era. There is a visual mood and atmosphere that lays the groundwork for what could’ve been an emotionally searing tale of a mob-wife on the run. But in the end the potential fizzles out and results in a movie that is sadly forgettable.

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GRADE: 65%

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