Year of Release: 2020
Director: J Blakeson
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza Gonzalez, Dianne Wiest, Chris Messina, Alicia Witt, Damian Young, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Nicholas Logan, Celeste Oliva
Genre: Thriller, Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
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Synopsis and Review:
Another film to have premiered at the Toronto Film Festival of 2020, which has seen the light of day through Netflix in 2021. The film, written and directed by J Blakeson, follows his previous directorial effort, "The 5th Wave", which failed to create much engagement with both audiences and critics. The film focuses on the story of Marla Grayson, a grifter who has set up a very intricate process of targeting elderly people, whom she gets to take under her legal guardian wing, upon which she disposes of their assets, making a sizable chunk of money while at it. Of course, while she's milking the dividends with her partner in crime and life, Fran, those individuals slowly waste away in care facilities which she pays off, in order to control those same patients. Through a doctor in her network, she targets another woman in her early 70s, still very self sufficient, Jennifer Peterson. After corralling Jennifer, and dropping her off at the facility center, things start taking a darker turn, since Jennifer isn't actually who she seems to be, and her son, who has ties to the criminal underground re-surfaces, putting Marla's operation in danger. It will take all her resourcefulness and cunningness to overcome the challenges that are thrown her way.
This is a film that is an interesting mix of influences, including obviously David Fincher's "Gone Girl", but also Stephen Frears's "The Grifters", to name but a few. However, and unlike those aforementioned films, it fails to registers quite as successfully since once again, most of the characters on this film fail to have much dimension, or for that matter motivation, aside of course from getting money. It's a film where there's a desperate attempt to come across as intelligently built and cunning, particularly when it comes to Marla Grayson's character, but there are leaps of believability that are taken, that undermine how effective the film actually starts. As despicable and profoundly repulsive as the narrative is, the film originally holds some attention, since it analytically captures the process taken by Marla and her cohorts and making their operation works. However and instead of giving glimpses of the characters, the film takes a detour with the introduction of the criminal underground, which sadly registers more as slapstick, and never truly menacing or for that matter lethal. By the time the third act comes along, the film feels more like a soap opera, with a series of surreal events, all intending to showcase Marla's cunningness and resourcefulness. Unlike David Fincher's "Gone Girl", where Rosamund Pike brought Amy to life, with dimension, carnality, and intelligence, Marla however feels like a somewhat basic interpretation of what a smart, complex and resourceful woman is all about. The most interesting character in the film is of course Dianne Weist, who with her weary look and energy, manages to convey more rage, incredulity and a slow burn intensity than any of the other characters. For all that it sets out to comment and be critical of, it's a film that lacks dimension and heart, even if it is indeed a cynical one. Unbalanced and ultimately not very interesting.
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