Whatever your opinion of Amber Heard, nobody can deny that she can generate publicity. Whether her presence is positive or negative, simply having her in a movie will inevitably result in some press, usually accompanied by a raging comments section populated by Depp stans. Such is likely to be the fate of acclaimed music video director Nabil Elderkin’s indie film Gully, which hit theaters yesterday and features Heard in a key role.
The movie centers on three young LA men fed up with their lives who decide to take their Grand Theft Auto addiction to the streets with nightmarish consequences. It stars Kelvin Harrison Jr., Charlie Plummer and Jacob Latimore, with support from Terrence Howard, Jonathan Majors and Heard as a “zonked-out mom.”
Gully premiered way back at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, though the whole COVID-19 thing means it’s only getting a theatrical release now. But is it worth braving a trip to your local cinema for? Well, the prognosis isn’t good and critics seem to be unimpressed. It’s sitting at 33% on the Tomatometer, with reviews calling it “disastrous and confusing,” “generally pointless,” and saying that it’s ambitious, but “the execution falls decidedly short.” Perhaps one to skip, then.
Some more engaging drama is happening in Virginia courthouses, where Heard and her ex-husband Johnny Depp are preparing for their 2022 defamation trial. Amber’s legal team is arguing that as the UK court concluded that it isn’t libellous to refer to Depp as a “wife beater,” the judge should throw his case out now. That’s naturally being resisted by Johnny’s lawyers, who call the move “the latest Hail Mary.” But Amber Heard did receive a recent boost in that the LAPD are not investigating her for perjury, so that’s nice for her.
In the meantime, Gully is currently on limited theatrical release and will probably soon appear on VOD and streaming services.
