‘Jolt’ Is Jarring as a Comedy, but Hilarious as an Action Film

Tony Sokol

“Jolt” is the “Hulk” rom-com no one knew we needed to see. Lindy (Kate Beckinsale) is new on the dating scene, and at first glance, she looks like should have her pick of the choicest prospects. She’s got a fast but dry sense of humor. She’s intelligent, accomplished, and can rock any outfit, from proto-punk to haute couture. Her natural beauty makes her stand out in any crowd. But, like the lonely, wandering physicist of the Marvel Comic universe, Lindy is a self-imposed romantic exile.

“Some people cry,” she tells Dr. Munchin (Stanley Tucci), the closest thing to a BFF she’s left herself. “Some people drink. Some people write shit poetry.” But before Lindy slums in a low-rent “Arthur” reimaging, her inner Hulk emerges. Lindy has trouble holding down jobs, apartments or angst. She is positively riveting when in the best of moods, but you don’t want to get her angry. “I hurt people,” she explains. “Might as well put it to good use.”

But it would have been put to much better use had the film remained the romantic comedy of the opening’s false promise. Beckinsale would be free to explore the emotional canvas of a damaged adult woman, born with a rare neurological disorder and dating whatever Justin (Jai Courtney) is supposed to be. He might be a milquetoast accountant cooking books for the mob or a double agent way out of his jurisdiction, but he is a perfectly awful first date, and it is apparently exactly what Lindy needs. What she doesn’t need is an action revenge plot with unattainable dream rides, transparent twists, unbearable contrivances and unbelievable cop characters masquerading as “Sex in the City” extras.

Homicide detectives Vicars (Bobby Cannavale) and Nevin (Laverne Cox) are modern day Keystone Cops. Their car chases are deliciously disastrous. The banter works. Cannavale hasn’t been this eager to please since he mouthed Rick “The Animal” Sanders on “Robot Chicken.” Cox efficiently follows buddy cop protocol, and excels in physical comedy. There is a particularly effective maternity ward scene with sardonic suspense. 

The villain is the elderly billionaire Gareth Fizel (David Bradley). We don’t exactly know why he’s so evil. He runs some vague criminal enterprise out of a Manhattan penthouse, and his chief of security, Delacroix (Ori Pfeffer), maintains a science lab fit for NASA and a torture chamber suitable for a modern Tower of London in the subbasement. 

Tanya Wexler directed the 2012 vibrator-invention comedy “Hysteria,” and delivers a hysterical take on the superhero stereotype with every jolt of “Jolt.” The screenplay by Scott Wascha, never explains why a person becomes gifted with superhuman strength, speed, acrobatic acumen and martial arts expertise just because they get angry every time someone stiffs a valet. Though 150,000 volts of jolt juice probably packs more muscle-density crunch than a month of Kegel exercises. Of course, the “Underworld” franchise training gives Beckinsale the power of the collective unconscious. Lindy takes so many beatings, she’d be in the same league as Bruce Willis’ David Dunn from the film “Unbreakable,” if there were any justice.

The film disintegrates into a series of fight sequences, occasionally broken up by a series of brutal wish-fulfilment asides. We are given so many violent fantasias, we’re less surprised when real damage is done than we are relieved. Lindy’s condition means she reacts violently to cruelty, deceit and abuse. Whenever she begins to feel murderous rage dilating her pupils, she shocks herself with a special electrode device she keeps strapped on her body in a state-of-the-art experimental vest. Lindy has to wear it at all times, and it has to be said, just the idea of having to attach that many electrodes onto that many specific body parts should be enough to drive her into the very kill frenzy it is designed to avert. 

“Jolt” doesn’t take itself seriously, winks at the audience, even as they wince at another impossible feat, or the realization that Justin has been the one all along. They both hate the same things, and couples bond moreover those shared annoyances than their favorite movies, or how to present pie a la mode. “Jolt” is “Harry Met Sally” with guns, but there’s no “True Romance.” The film could work just on the basis of Lindy dealing with anger management issues. Her exploits as an easily annoyed little girl could cut more slices from the birthday cake of painful possibilities. The actor who played her as a child brings a great slow burn, and a natural knack for timing. 

The opening voice-over is done by Susan Sarandon, who enters the film at the end as the Woman with No Name. She comes with the most frightening consequence of any homicidal deed performed in the feature: The very real possibility of a sequel, and a more action-packed, adventure-filled future. It’s so bright and promising, Lindy could have stuck a pencil in her unnamed neck in sheer excitement. The shock therapy film genre is running low on power, and “Jolt” could spark the charge.

“Jolt” begins streaming July 23 on Amazon Prime Video.