Moving Pictures

'TENET' IS FINALLY STREAMING ON THIS TIMELINE

BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC

Christopher Nolan’s Tenet is emblematic of the tent-pole films — like Mulan and Dune — which rode massive rolling waves of movie fan anticipation during their productions, only to land right in the middle of a global pandemic.

Dennis Villeneuve’s Dune made a very smart — if excruciating for me and Dune stans — move to delay their Dec. 18, 2020 release until Oct. 1, 2021. Tenet — like its relentless protagonist — determinedly pushed-through three delays before the film opened in theaters in the U.K. on Aug. 26, 2020, and in the U.S. on Sept. 5. Tenet was the first highly anticipated, presumed blockbuster to open in a theater after the spread of the pandemic, but despite that distinction, the dearth of theater-goers meant the movie didn’t even meet its budget at the box office. The last time Christopher Nolan directed a mind-bending thriller he brought us Inception (2010) — a contemporary classic of the kind. Tenet stars John David Washington who got high marks for his performance in Spike Lee’s Oscar Nominated — and my top film of 2018 — Black KKKlansman. The gravitas of Tenet’s production and marketing budgets might have funded the building of an actual time machine, but even the biggest movies weren’t able to breakthrough on big screens in 2020. Tenet was re-released in theaters back in March, and after an on demand run, the movies is finally streaming on HBO MAX, where even this blockbuster film with a celebrated director and star will be seen by most viewers for the very first time.

Tenet opens with a crowd streaming into a massive opera house to the dissonant strains of an orchestral string section tuning-up. In 2020, I’m not sure if the violent action that breaks out at the beginning of the symphony was scarier than the sight of thousands of people packed elbow-to-elbow in endless tiers of seats. Tenet’s unnamed CIA agent protagonist (Washington) proves his trustworthy character during a rescue raid gone wrong. He’s recruited to stop the doomsday threat of a secret international cold — “cold as ice” — war. The agent is given only a single hand gesture and a code word: tenet.

Tenet’s time-bending special effects will appeal to fans of Inception and the film was practically a lock when it won an Academy Award for Best Production Design. Tenet has the trappings of a James Bond film: globetrotting locations, daring and dangerous spies, immaculate fashion, sophisticated gadgets. But, the Tenet universe trades the campier bits of a 007 romp for a cold nihilism that penetrates the rarefied air found in free port art storage vaults, massive yachts, cliff side mansions and all the places where extreme power and limitless wealth play at ruling the world. Some critics have panned Tenet’s lack of humanity, but I think Nolan would argue that that’s precisely his point.

The plot of Tenet is byzantine to say the least, but at just over two-and-ahalf hours I didn’t find myself nodding off or rewinding. The audacity of the action and the sleek look of the film do a lot of heavy lifting, but I think Tenet would skid off the runway if it weren’t for the excellent performances of its cast. Washington shoulders nearly every scene of the film without wavering and Robert Pattinson is great as his hard-to-trust ally. Kenneth Brannagh does an understated send-up of a Bond villain, and Michael Caine gives great Michael Caine in a fun cameo that features some of the only hints of humor in this effectively heartless film.

Tenet is streaming on HBO MAX April 16.

Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.