On Screen: “Ride or Die”
Ride or Die
Obviously inspired by “Thelma & Louise,” Amazon Prime’s new female-focused action-adventure “Ride or Die” stars Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer as unlikely best friends on the run across Europe.
Their relationship takes some explaining. Although she claims to be a forensic accountant, Judith Burton (Hannah Waddingham) is really an elite professional assassin known as Whiptail.
Indeed, when we first see her, she’s a sassy, sly sharpshooter at an Austrian ski resort, deftly taking out her target, making a spectacular escape, then James Bond-like bedding a bartender.
On the other hand, Debbie (Octavia Spencer), a Yale Law School graduate, is the underestimated, wily wife of David Claybourne (Jamie Parker), a dimwitted British politician who took money from Albanian mobsters who — understandably — want it back.
Judith and Debbie crossed paths many years ago and became inseparable, sharing the same taste in music, mystery novels and antiquing. But when Debbie learns what David did and what Judith really does, these secrets are shocking revelations.
In the meantime, Judith’s dastardly boss (Bill Nighy) doesn’t realize that psychotic Ana (Sylvia Hoeks), one of his other assassins, wants to wreak revenge on Judith, who becomes involved with flirtatious Billy Donovan (Ed Skrein) while they elude Jacques (Jacky Ido), an Interpol agent who develops a soft spot for Debbie.
Sure, it’s a bit confusing but always compelling, even incorporating a bond between Whiptail’s young handler Sam (Calam Lynch) and tech guru Queenie (Savannah Steyn).
As for the title, calling someone your “ride or die” means they’ve got your back — no matter what.
Created by Tessa Coates with showrunner Matt Miller, it’s a distinctive buddy caper-comedy with intertwined WOACAs — women of a certain age — engaged in some thrilling stunts (thanks to Czech coordinator Jan Petrina and Whiptail’s double, Chanique Greyling). There’s even a clever “Thelma & Louise” homage near the conclusion.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Ride or Die” is an engaging, escapist 8 — ideal for binge watching since all eight episodes are streaming on Amazon Prime.
Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures. Her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M.
As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien, and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism.