I BELIEVE EVERYONE FROM TIME-TO-time experiences events that seem as if they had just come out of a book or movie. Many years ago, I was visiting a friend who lived on the west coast. One day we planned to go for a hike in the mountains. Neither of us had any experience, we assumed there would be a trail where we walk up to the top and visit a gift shop and have a bite to eat before making our way down. It turned out none of that was reality based. There were paths we were able to follow, but some parts were steep where we had to use our hands to steady ourselves. Because of the thick growth and trees, we wound up losing our bearings. The sun was beginning to set, and I knew the temperature was starting to drop. We started to head down, but somewhere we must have taken a wrong turn and we got lost. Not able to see the sun or shadows at times, we found ourselves wandering, revisiting some spots unexpectedly and soon after there was not even the sun to help guide us. Enveloped in darkness, an array of sounds and noises became noticeable. I was not happy, wondering who or what was making the sounds. We remained on the mountain for hours to the point where my teeth were chattering, and my body was shaking from the cold. Just by sheer luck, we passed a spot that was familiar which then led us to finding our way down to level ground and our car. By the time we made it back to his place, we could only sleep a couple of hours before driving in to be in the studio audience for a taping of a television game show.      ONE OF THE BEST EXAMPLES OF life imitating art was the way a friend of mine met her husband. Perfect strangers who were in the right place at the right time. My friend worked in a downtown office building. At lunchtime, she ran out to grab and bring back something for lunch. She was the only one who was in the elevator to take her back up to her floor. As the doors started closing a hand thrust in to block the doors and they retreated. He had an appointment at one of the companies that had offices in the building. The elevator finally began its ascent, but halfway suddenly stopped with a jerk. They were stuck in the elevator for only one hour before it continued moving up. In that hour, the two of them sat and talked and she even offered part of her lunch to him. Before one of them exited the elevator, they agreed to meet for a dinner date. And as they say, the rest was history. It was like a scene out of a movie. Experiencing something that could easily be found in a book or movie seems highly likely for any one of us; it certainly was for the main character in this action thriller.      WHEN THE CHARACTERS FROM HER RECENT espionage novel come to life, the author suddenly becomes the focus of a secret spy organization, who want to know her secrets and will stop at nothing to get them. With Henry Cavill (Enola Holmes franchise, The Witcher-TV) as Argyle, Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World franchise, Gold) as Elly Conway, Sam Rockwell (Jojo Rabbit, Seven Psychopaths) as Aidan Wilde, Bryan Cranston (Asteroid City, Your Honor-TV) as Director Ritter, and Ariana DeBose (West Side Story, The Prom) as Keira; this movie had a great cast of characters. I thought all of them did a wonderful job of selling the script to the audience. Sadly, that script did not contain a cohesive story line that was easy to follow. I found myself floundering through the second half of the picture. With so many action scenes, with twists and turns in the story line, I found myself getting bored. I believe some scenes were supposed to be funny, but I did not think so. I almost felt like the writers were trying to produce a hit in the same vein as the film Knives Out, but they failed. By the end, I felt I had read the story but with some pages missing in it.            

1 ¾ stars