Nope

           

          The third film from Jordan Peele owes a great deal of gratitude to Steven Spielberg.  Written, produced and directed by Mr. Peele, it's an original plotline that borrows heavily from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Jaws". While the trailer promises thrills and chills, the final product, while suspenseful, rarely produces actual scares or horror.

          Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer play "OJ" and "Em", brother and sister ranch owners who train horses for movies and TV.  When their father, played by Keith David, dies from a bizarre accident, the ranch starts to fall on hard times. Discovering what they believe is a UFO in the sky above their ranch, they decide to try to capture it on film for a profit. They enlist the aid of an electronics store employee, Angel, played by Brandon Perea and later a famous cinematographer, played by Michael Wincott to get pictures and video of the UFO.

           A subplot involving a TV sitcom chimpanzee begins the film and Mr. Peele returns to it later to expand on the backstory of the other main character, Ricky "Jupe" Park, the former star of the sitcom,  played by Steven Yeun. Jupe has built a strange theme park nearby the horse ranch trying to capitalize on his former TV fame. While a fascinating character, Jupe and his backstory seem completely out of place in "Nope" but certainly lend an element of additional weirdness to the story. It's as if Mr. Peele had fragments of another film project that he abandoned and stuck into this one.

          Mr. Kaluuya is the understated, stoic, older brother to Ms. Palmer's outgoing personable younger sibling.  Ms. Palmer is a standout in the film, injecting energy, comedy and a hip presence to her character even in the face of danger. Mr. Yeun is also quite good, even if his character seems to belong in a different film.

          Without revealing to much about the UFO, I can say I was very unimpressed when all is finally revealed. What did impress me though is the wonderful cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema. The film looks fantastic. The music by Michael Abels, is also quite good, adding a level of much needed suspense to the story.  It is especially effective during the brief shots of the UFO, much like Mr. Spielberg used music to heighten the suspense  during the early glimpses of the shark in "Jaws". 

          There is a sequence when Em and Angel are trapped in the main house while OJ watches, trapped in a truck nearby that was the highlight of the film for me. Other than that, I was underwhelmed by the lack of thrills and chills that were so promising in the trailer.