A Closer Look at Ben Affleck's 'Animals': The Riotous Elephant in the Netflix Room

It's time to switch on Netflix and take a stroll through Tinseltown (a.k.a. Los Angeles) with Ben Affleck's latest directorial piece, 'Animals'. This crime thriller holds your attention enough to have your popcorn bowl empty before you know it. But hold on a minute - doesn't the plot smack of Akira Kurosawa’s legendary ‘High and Low’, that wonderful blend of nail-biting investigation and domestic drama? Has Affleck borrowed inspiration but not given recognition? That's a mystery worth solving.

To jog your memory, let’s reel off a few elements from 'High and Low', originally based on an Ed McBain novel. A rich man risking all his assets? Yup. A wife put in suspense about a high-stakes financial roll of the dice? Absolutely. An outsider stewing in poverty and vengeance? You bet. A botched kidnapping involving the wrong kid? Check. Class tensions adding sharp edges to the story? Oh yeah, it’s all in there.

'Animals', penned by Affleck, Connor McIntyre, and Billy Ray, seems to cosily fit this narrative jigsaw. Nonetheless, its own unique brushstrokes - lukewarm infidelity, yawn-inducing marital squabbles, and humdrum political games - makes the movie tread water.

A saving grace comes with the fabulous Gillian Anderson who, let's face it, always amps up the show. Sporting a killer white suit, she plays a high-profile fixer with a frosty demeanor that adds a dash of piquancy otherwise missing from this flick. Her every appearance, as the inscrutable Dayle Burton, reminds viewers of her no-win-no-fee promise - with a cheeky caveat of doubling her $1.4 million fee if she has to get “kinetically” involved.

The curtain lifts to find Affleck’s character, Mark Kimball, in full campaign swing. Our Gulf War veteran protagonist has quite a noble resume and the gift of multilingual speeches - perfect for courting immigrant votes. But his campaign advisor, Sam Allison (played by Steven Yeun), cautions him on his need to rope in more Latino voters.

Faithful to the life of busy public figures, Affleck's character grapples with personal miseries camouflaged by rosy media images. His marriage to his therapist wife, Abigail, a role fittingly portrayed by Kerry Washington, is not as rock solid as he presumes. With a looming mayoral election and her ongoing affair with a UCLA teacher, Abigail’s mental calculus turns quite messy, presenting a side-plot that keeps the intrigue cooked up.

Fast-forward through a hefty ad budget, a mortgaged dream home, and a misfired kidnap plot, the story plunges into the unexpected. When the wrong child gets kidnapped, the storyline takes a significant swerve that even seasoned movie buffs will relish.

Affleck's film gallops well initially, but slows into a lazy canter when it suddenly begins to rehash cliched tropes and tedious dialogues. However, the calm and composed Anderson playing troubleshooter brings much-needed relief, her flawless presence reviving the narrative spark.

Despite intricately layered plot lines and some potentially suspense-filled intersections, 'Animals' fails to maintain its grip towards the climax. What could have been finely-cut action ends up being a hodgepodge of complications, undermining the overall narrative pacing.

What stings more is the faux pas of the denouement, where multiple bodies and a revised narrative tips the plot into the realm of the absurd - not to mention the reductive portrayal of the Mexican characters. The plot’s botched twist, coupled with a phony interview scene, almost induces an eye-rolling session - but hey, who said Bollywood was the only industry nail-bitingly spiced with incredulous drama?

Despite these bumps, the evocative performances by Anderson, Paz, and Méndez add an undeniable charm to 'Animals.' While Affleck and Washington’s on-screen chemistry underwhelms and Yeun is left shadowing other characters, they still make for a watchable ensemble worthy of a casual Netflix browse.

Still, for those hungry for crafty crime thrillers with deeper social commentary, 'High and Low' is an unforgettable classic worthy of queueing up right away. Sorry Ben, but you've still got some catching up to do Toshiro Mifune's mastery.