Child 44 was supposed to be Oscar bait. Instead, its star-heavy cast is dragging it through opening weekend with a 27% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a deflated box office take. But why? This week, the film board gathers to take on Daniel Espinoza’s latest film of Richard Price’s once lauded Blacklist screenplay. Spoiler: This is not the script that Andy remembers — substantial changes to plot and tone appear to have neutered the final film of much of the gravitas the script had originally deserved. But, the problems do not end there. Join Andy Nelson, Tommy Handsome, Justin Jaeger, and Pete Wright as we discuss what worked, what didn’t work, and what is just plain inexcusable this week on The Next Reel’s Film Board!
