At some point, “it’s likeGroundhog Daybut” became its own peculiar genre (see alsoEdge of Tomorrow, Happy Death Day,orDeathloop), but the new action movieBoss Leveladds a new twist to the proceedings, and that twist is visually appealing violence. The movie stars Frank Grillo(Captain America: The Winter Soldier)as Roy Pulver, a retired soldier who’sstuck in a violent time loopon the day he dies. Every time he gets killed, and he’s been killed dozens of times by the time the movie starts, he wakes up that morning to start it all over again. Even the film’s director, Joe Carnahan(Smokin' Aces, Death Wish),described the film at one point to Movieline as “Groundhog Dayas an action movie.”
When Pulver is contacted by his ex-wife Jemma Wells (Naomi Watts), who he’d apparently thought was dead, Pulver is convinced to rally and figure out a way to survive long enough to escape the loop. That’s going to require him to evadea group of idiosyncratic assassinsand confront Clive Ventor (Mel Gibson), the man in charge of a government program that might hold the key to why Pulver’s gotten stuck in the first place, and that in turn means he gets to be chopped up, shot, exploded, and dismembered a few dozen more times. In one movie, Grillo may be preparing to overthrow Sean Bean for the title of the most chronically killed actor in modern cinema.
RELATED:Netflix Scoops Up Gal Gadot Spy Thriller ‘Heart Of Stone’
Under the working titleContinue,Boss Levelhas been in the works off and on since early 2012, with Frank Grillo attached to the project from the start. The film initially seemed to have hit an unspecified snag later that year, with Carnahan posting a couple of tweets showing off Grillo’s early screen tests in a “what could have been” sort of way. However, the filmwasn’t actually ever canceledand eventually started principal filming in and around Atlanta in mid-2018. It then proceeded to miss its initial release date in 2019 before Hulu acquired its distribution rights last November.
In addition to Grillo, Watts, and Gibson, the film stars Hong Kong action legend Michelle Yeoh(Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).The peculiar band of assassinswho are after Pulver include Selina Lo, Quinton Jackson, Rashad Evans, and Rob Gronkowski, with Ken Jeong in a blink-and-miss-it part as a chef. Carnahan directs from his own screenplay, co-written by Chris and Eddie Borey (the little-known 2013 murder mysteryOpen Grave).
