Director Steve McQueen
WIDOWS B
Great Britain
USA (129 mi) 2018
‘Scope d: Steve McQueen Official
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Our lives are in
danger; our husbands aren’t coming back; we’re on our own.
―Veronica Rawlings (Viola Davis)
This has the steely feel of a Soderbergh film, especially
with the percussive musical score by Hans Zimmer, and a luminous look glistening
with an accent on artificial surfaces by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt,
featuring exquisite locations throughout, including a floor-to-ceiling windowed
penthouse suite to die for, resembling a similar upscale hotel room used in
McQueen’s Shame
(2011), making this one of the better looking films shot in Chicago, where
the sleazy criminal vibe of rampant corruption feels like the perfect backdrop. The script, however, written by the director
and Gone
Girl’s novelist Gillian Flynn adapting Lynda La Plante’s six-part robbery mini-series
(by the same name) made for British television in 1983, just doesn’t live up to
the potential of having such a superb cast, assembling one of the best ensemble
casts of the year to work with, turning this into something of a politically
correct revenge saga, empowering women to do what men typically do in a heist
film, with audiences cheering morally bankrupt actions, making this a better
looking film than it actually is. Filled
with plenty of plot contrivances, little about this film is actually
believable, straining credibility throughout, yet however implausible it may
be, its meant to be massively entertaining, filled with supercharged thrills,
feeling more like a guilty pleasure. Taking a lead from Spike Lee’s INSIDE MAN
(2006) or Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven
series (2001, 2004, 2007), with a women’s version entitled OCEAN’S 8 released earlier
in 2018, the key is establishing character first, with viewers becoming
familiar with the subjects seen onscreen, in particular four women from
different economic and social backgrounds who lose their husbands in the
opening moments of the film, blown up in a failed robbery attempt that shows
Chicago’s finest actually cornering the bad guys, something they’re completely
inept at doing in real-life, with audiences identifying with the manner in
which these women are strong-armed into taking extreme measures, having to
stand up for themselves after being placed in a precarious position by their
criminal-minded husbands who stole $2 million dollars from a loathsome
underworld character who is actually running for Alderman, hiding his shady
past with a face of respectability. But
this man demands his money back, threatening the wives of the men who stole his
money, along with their families, all of whom face dire consequences if the
debt is not repaid in 30 days. Consequences ensue.
At the center of the picture is Veronica (Viola Davis), a
teacher’s union delegate living in a posh penthouse apartment with a view she
could never afford, where it’s clear from the outset she’s already living high
above her means, but she’s also married to Harry (Liam Neeson), a criminal
mastermind behind the operations gone wrong that sets the gears in motion. This racially mixed marriage produces an
awkwardly uncomfortable moment of intimacy, set to the lush music of Nina
Simone, Nina Simone -
Wild Is The Wind (Original Version) - YouTube (6:46), as the blatantly raw and
crude manner in which their mouths and tongues intertwine is just gross, nothing
romantic about it, where you realize right away that something is off, despite
all the claims of grief expressed at the funeral, where among those paying
their respects is Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell), running for his father’s seat
in the City Council, Alderman Tom Mulligan (Robert Duvall). Their family have been Chicago powerbrokers
for generations, where by now they believe they own this position by Divine
right. Ironically the man Mulligan is
running against, black gangster and community businessman Jamal Manning (Brian
Tyree Henry), is the man Harry was robbing, delivering his heavy-handed message
to Veronica personally, making sure she understands exactly who she’s dealing
with. Perhaps even more preposterous is
the chauffeur-driven black limousine that escorts Veronica wherever she needs
to go, with her own private chauffeur, Bash (Garret Dillahunt), who delivers a
message that her husband wished she would receive in the event something
happened to him, which is the key to a safety deposit box that contains Harry’s
notebook, which contains the meticulously detailed plan for a heist worth $5
million dollars. Like a message from the
dead designed to answer her prayers, she summons the other widows who lost
husbands, one with a newborn declines the invitation, Amanda (Carrie Coon), for
reasons that are explained later, while two show up, Alice (Elizabeth Debicki)
and Linda (Michelle Rodriguez), all duped and deceived by their husbands and now
in desperate straits, agreeing to go ahead with Harry’s planned heist, each
assigned various aspects of the plan, with Veronica coldly assigning the tasks
like a gangster’s moll, refusing to show an ounce of emotion, remaining dead serious,
as if their lives depend upon it. While
Davis is a force throughout, haunted by flashbacks of her missing husband (who’s
also seen in a beautiful reflection in the window as she peers out), her
incessant grief throughout defines the depths she must pull herself out of,
becoming the ringleader for this band of sisters. While the other women find her a bit bossy,
they realize she has the notebook so they do what’s asked, even when it seems
impossible.
Delving into side stories, we discover Jack Mulligan is at
odds with his father’s old-century way of doing business, getting into a
shouting match of profanities, wanting to break free from the nepotism and racial
divisions, where he’s only half-heartedly interested in becoming an Alderman,
wanting to pursue other interests. When
we see him on a campaign stop in the vacant lot of a rundown black
neighborhood, he parades a host of black women as model entrepreneurs, each
claiming he helped them become self-sufficient and successful businesswomen,
examples of exactly what the neighborhood needs, providing well-needed income
into the poorer regions of the city. But
there’s also a reporter hounding him about a corruption investigation hovering
over his head that he refuses to discuss, hopping into his chauffeur-driven limousine
where he becomes unglued, decrying how unfair it is being a white politician
for a black district, as his district has recently been redrawn, making it less
of a sure thing this time around. The
neighborhood changes from black to white as he speaks, becoming upscale when he
gets out of the limo, living in a palatial estate protected by iron gates and
security cameras. Meanwhile Jamal
Manning has his own private hitman in the form of his brother Jatemme, Daniel
Kaluuya from Get Out
(2017), who is more cartoonish than real, as Chicago politicians have
reputations for embezzlement and fraud, basically stealing money, but not
murder. Meanwhile they get to Bash, whose
murder leaves the widows without a driver, so Linda, enraged from losing her
clothing store, as her husband gambled it away, enlists her babysitter, Belle
(Cynthia Erivo), one of the few people she trusts, a fitness nut who also works
as a hairdresser, where we quickly learn who her business partner had to pay to
go into business for herself, Jack Mulligan, who is basically extorting money
from up and coming black entrepreneurs.
But it’s Debicki as Alice who is the real surprise, a trophy wife abused
by her husband, then urged by her overbearing mother (Jacki Weaver) to get into
the highly profitable escort business, meeting David (Lukas Haas), a wealthy
man in high stakes real estate who seems to appreciate being with her, but only
on his own terms, paying up front with every visit, never opening up or
becoming vulnerable, remaining a control freak, which causes her some concerns. So we realize what’s at stake when the women
go all-in on the plan, as it’s the price of their own freedom, essentially the
ability to set the ground rules of their own lives. McQueen delivers a well-deigned heist, though
it’s much more sophisticated than viewers are led to believe, encountering
surprises along the way, but they strike back relentlessly, defending their
turf while protecting the money, showing a sense of uncompromising resolve when
it matters, becoming a badass team, earning cheers from the audience, becoming
a crowd pleaser. While the cast is a
delight, and the film well-crafted, along the way it attempts to throw in
matters of inclusivity, class, corruption, feminism and race that get easily
overlooked in this breezy entertainment venture that is mostly about visceral
thrills, with the sultry sounds of Sade playing over the end credits, Sade - The Big Unknown
(Lyric Video) - YouTube (3:46).
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