Is the 'Suburbicon' superb casting enough?
'Suburbicon' tells the story of a home invasion that rattles a quiet family town.
Despite being penned by the Coen Brothers and directed by George Clooney (who also had a say with screenwriting duties), it's not quite the entertainment piece fans will relish.
Unfortunately, 'Suburbicon' is awkwardly pieced together, and ultimately a disappointment despite the talent involved, making it the lowest wide opening of Clooney's efforts behind the camera, and also for Matt Damon's career. This can be pinpointed down to the fact that it attempts (and fails) to juggle racial commentary, murder mystery, and social satire, only to be completely underwhelming.
The film arguably drags on for the audience, who receive no payoffs. By all means, the film had potential - especially with the casting of Julianne Moore, but its downfall was the failure to explain or even resolve some of the many storylines, making it hard for viewers to feel fulfilled by the film's end.
SPOILER ALERT!
'Suburbicon' is set in a quaint town in a 50s/60s era, whereby an African-American family moves to the area, sending the town into an uproar, which results in a break-in to Damon's house, leaving his wife dead. Just to make things clear, there is no connection between the family that moves into town and Damon's wife being murdered. In fact, they hardly delve much into the major storyline of the film, whatever that may.
So now, there's the question of why the writers decided to go with a twist that its' nothing more than a life insurance scam.
What?
To explain this simply, Damon falls in love with his wife's sister; hires a hit man; the hit man kills Damon's wife; the hit man wants his money; and the life insurance company sees through the scam. Amongst all this, people start dying and the film finishes.
Double what.
It's so hard to connect with the film and its characters, but it's made that bit more difficult with Damon's emotionless portrayal that the audience just doesn't feel invested.
It feels like the film's cast and crew just don't know what they want this film to be or achieve.
What. What. What.
'Suburbicon' is in cinemas now.
Criss Gidas
