The film comes from writer Daniel Kunka (“12 Rounds”) and director F. Gary Gray, who is no stranger to heist movies that take place at least partially in Venice — after all, he directed the 2003 remake of “The Italian Job,” starring an ensemble that included Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, and Edward Norton. That’s the type of film that was looked down on by some critics at the time, but would likely be seen as a breath of fresh air if it came out in our current landscape.
I’m fascinated to see if Gray will be able to recapture that film’s buoyant sense of playfulness here (at the very least, it looks like they actually filmed in Venice), or if “Lift” will end up feeling like just another mega-expensive Netflix original movie. Which is to say, will it feel like it’s been algorithm’d so hard that any semblance of soul it may have once had has been stamped out of it, leaving behind nothing but a chalk outline of what a movie is supposed to be?
We’ll find out when “Lift” flies onto Netflix on January 12, 2024.
