It’s an odd time of the year for Americans. This weekend is sandwich between a Halloween that’s already over and a U.S. election that looms over everyone. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to say that many want a relief from it all.
Well, there’s always Netflix. The streamer has tons of movies at its disposal, including some you may have passed over to binge the latest season of The Diplomat. The following three movies may not be at the top of everyone’s list, but they are worthwhile movies to watch, and contain absolutely no serial killers or contested election results.
We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
Robin Hood (2010)
Every decade, a big-name director wants to tackle the mythic story of Robin Hood and band of outlaws, and put his or her stamp on it. And every decade, these films, which often employ big-name stars and are very expensive to make, often flop at the box office. Gladiator II director Ridley Scott, along with stars Russell Crowe as the Hood and Cate Blanchett as the maid Marion, tried and failed to entice audiences to go to a movie theater to watch Robin steal from the rich and give to the poor, but that doesn’t mean Robin Hood isn’t worth watching.
In fact, it plays pretty good to watch at home. The story is what you’d expect from a Robin Hood movie: our hero runs afoul with law, namely Godfrey (Mark Strong, in one of his many, many villain roles) and the Sheriff of Nottingham (a pre-Succession Matthew Macfadyen), in an attempt to bring equality to the English masses circa the 12th century.
This Robin Hood, though, is less concerned with men in tights and more focused on intense battle scenes and bloody fights, which is where Scott really comes alive as a director. Crowe makes for a good, brooding Robin, and Blanchett brings her own unique blend of steeliness and vulnerability as a damsel who may be distressed at times, but can handle her own with the big boys.
Robin Hood is streaming on Netflix.
Starsky & Hutch (2004)
I wasn’t born when Starsky & Hutch was a hit on broadcast television, and something tells me even if I was around that time, I wouldn’t be a fan. It seemed too corny, too dated to be taken seriously. Maybe that’s why I have a soft spot for Starsky & Hutch the movie, which gets all the details right, but doesn’t take the original source material as holy gospel. How could you with a character named Huggy Bear?
It helps when you have Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson teaming up as the two leads. The pair have a fun and loose chemistry with one another as the titlular duo detectives, who must go undercover to apprehend a drug kingpin who has developed a new kind of cocaine that’s untraceable and undetectable. It’s a pretty routine action-comedy movie plot, but Stiller and Wilson liven things up with their top-notch comic timing.
It doesn’t get any “2004-era movie” than this film’s supporting cast, which has Vince Vaughn, Snoop Dogg, Juliette Lewis, Amy Smart, Terry Crews, Carmen Electra, Fred Williamson, and Jason Bateman lingering around. If you’re a fan of Pineapple Express, or just want to see a fairly decent buddy action comedy with some expertly-delivered punchlines, Starsky & Hutch is the film for you.
Starsky & Hutch is streaming on Netflix.
Maid in Manhattan (2002)
Ralph Fiennes isn’t thought of by many as a rom-com lead. The British actor is more well-known for his roles in Oscar-friendly movies like Schindler’s List, The English Patient, and this year’s Conclave, so it was surprising then, and even more surprising now, that he co-starred in a J.Lo romantic comedy about a maid in Manhattan looking for a little love.
That film, appropriately and punningly titled Maid in Manhattan, isn’t a classic — hell, it’s barely adequate — but it works largely because of Fiennes, who brings his own unique charm to his role. He plays Christopher Marshall, a New York politician running for senator who strikes up a friendship, and then something more, with Lopez’s Marisa Ventura, an enterprising hotel maid who is mistaken by him for someone richer (thanks to a snazzy Dolce & Gabbana coat) and more in his class.
As is typical with these kinds of movies, this mistaken identity plot drives the main narrative, and leads to a very obvious conclusion. Yet the pleasures of Maid in Manhattan aren’t in its story, but rather the surface details, like the Central Park and Midtown Manhattan locations, and the performances by Fiennes and Lopez, who sell this contrived nonsense like the pros they are. In the days before a heated U.S. election, you couldn’t ask for anything more escapist, and thankfully fun and frothy, than this movie.
Maid in Manhattan is streaming on Netflix.