Kajillionaire

A delightfully weird movie directed by --- no surprises there! --- Miranda July.

This is the kind of movie that could never succeed without actors who know how to play the material just right, so let's start with Richard Jenkins and the unrecognizable Debra Winger, shall we? Could these two be any better? They play a married couple (or at least a couple) who try to live off the grid but in the middle of Los Angeles, a tricky business. They have all sorts of conspiracies about how the government, big business, etc. is trying to mind control people, so they don't do things like shop in stores, have an online presence, bathe, things like that. Instead, they spend every waking moment coming up with cockamamie schemes to steal and rob whatever they can. They're raising their daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) in this environment, and things seem to be going ok, or as ok as such a situation could ever be, when the family dynamic is upset by the addition of a normal person from the actual world (Gina Rodriguez) who wakes Wood up to all the ways her parents have failed to show her love or even affection.

If you are the kind of viewer who demands realism from your movies, this one will try your patience. There are at least a couple of events in this film (like what happens to Rodriguez's apartment, and those of you who've seen it know what I'm talking about) that not just strain credibility but try mighty hard to entirely break it. But the thing is, they don't. They feel credible within the world July creates in her movie, a world that's just a hair out of kilter with the world as we actually know it. And for me, everything worked.

Well, almost everything. I didn't love the lesbian themes that become increasingly prominent as the movie progresses, not because I have a problem with lesbian themes in general, but rather because they didn't feel well integrated into this particular story. But the movie is about loving and being loved in return, and there are all kinds of love, so in the end that too mostly worked for me.

Evan Rachel Wood is sensational, but this movie is stolen by, of all people, Gina Rodriguez. Who would ever have thought?

One of 2020's standout movies.

Grade: A

I confess the main reason I looked forward to this quirky movie is Evan Rachel Wood, I have been a big fan, she is good in everything and especially good in quirky roles (as she was in "Whatever Works"). She is really good here as the 26-yr-old daughter living as a 3-member team with her parents. They named her Old Dolio and the story explains that quite interestingly.

Just as a family of deer or elephants spend most of their waking hours foraging for food, this 3-some does just that, food and money just to meet expenses, with no regard for where it comes from. Running any number of scams. And Old Dolio, who seems to be played as a high-functioning autistic, accepts her lot in life.

Until another young lady comes into their lives, after getting to know Old Dolio seems bent on breaking her out of the emotional chains and towards a more normal life.

This is NOT a mainstream movie, and the very skewed IMDb reviews indicate that. In fact my wife gave up after about one-third of the movie, the quirkiness did not appeal to her at all. I stuck with it, things eventually come to a decent resolution of sorts, but it is not the kind of movie that I prefer. But I must give credit to the actors, all do a very good job.

Watched it at home on DVD from my public library. No "making of" extras.

Robert (Richard Jenkins) and Theresa (Debra Winger), along with their grown daughter Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) are a "team of con artists" living on the fringes of society. The parents have raised their daughter to follow in their footsteps. This sounds like it could be the basis for an intense drama or even thriller. It could also be the basis for a wacky comedy or a family comedy or a dark comedy.

Set your expectations elsewhere. KAJILLIONAIRE is its own very unique, strange drama/comedy hybrid. I put "team of con artists" in quotations because these guys are TERRIBLE at what they do. They put A LOT of energy into their schemes yet things go wrong or the amount of return they expect is way above reality. They live on the fringes of society (in fact, they live in a crumbling office suite that is located next to a bubble factory [yes, a bubble factory] and each day they must get back to their home/office at the same time in order to clear away the bubbles that leak through the wall). They barely have enough money for food. Your first thought after spending 10 minutes with them is "if they just put this energy into a real job, they'd be fine." But the parents also are paranoid: the government is watching them, there are secret rays beaming at us through cell phones, etc. etc. These guys are nuts (I realize that's a very uncharitable and non-PC characterization, but believe me, watching the movie, you will have the same reaction.) And their adult child has been raised like this. Mistrusting. Living on the edge of the law. And without hugs and affection either. She's emotionally stunted, and even moves through the world with weird posture. She doesn't fit in. You can sense she's aware that she's in an unworkable and abnormal situation, but has no sense of a way out.

Into this strange, fringe family comes Melanie (Gina Rodriquez), a vibrant, flashy, energetic but also troubled young lady who develops a fascination with the family and wants to join in on their con artist ways. She's a natural at the work, but she's also living on a different wavelength. Flashy when they are quiet. Ballsy when they are cowardly. And affectionate. At first, it's the parents that are entertained by her (and Old Dolio is alarmed by her). Yet, these relationships are forced to develop in new ways because of Melanie's intrusion.

The PLOT of the film is almost beside the point. It's the relationships that matter. Lots of things happen in the movie, but there's never a strong sense of a beginning, middle and end. And this gives the film a highly rambling quality, which coupled with these very strange people, makes for a tough movie viewing experience. We're not quite sure how our loyalties should lie (or if we should even forge any). Writer/director Miranda July has made the quirkiest movie I've seen in a long time. Sometimes its a playful quirkiness that can make for a bit of fun. Sometimes it feels quirky just for the sake of it, and this deadens the pace of the film at times. The tone of the movie is very challenging; a tightrope walk. July and her cast aren't always 100% successful in staying on the rope.

Yet the movie offers plenty of rewards for the patient viewer. When Melanie hits the scene, the carefully constructed strangeness of the central family is blown apart and the film is nearly completely unpredictable at this point. You have the chance to really DISCOVER what happens next, not just sit there and expect the events to unfold in a certain way. These characters are so odd it is almost impossible to guess what they will think, say or do next. And that almost complete uncertainty is its own reward. And the performances are stellar too. Jenkins and Winger are old pros and are a hoot to watch. Rodriquez (who brought so much optimistic energy to Jane The Virgin) explodes on the screen...she was a perfect casting choice. Bubbly and upbeat is SO different than what the others are, it is just fun to see how she causes ripples upon ripples. And Evan Rachel Wood is fascinating. Her voice and mannerisms are unique, and getting to watch her emotionally stunted character at least think about perhaps blossoming just a little is really the true joy of this film. The movie hinges on her ability to pull off the job of taking a very strange character and making her believable. She sticks the landing 99%; and the end of the movie is a quiet but powerful treat.

This is a challenging movie. Slow paced (especially the first 30 minutes). Weird. Characters we don't immediately recognize or empathize with. Sounds like a recipe for a poor evening of movie-watching. But in the end, I was oddly exhilarated. The payoff was more emotional than I expected; July planted the seeds of empathy and we didn't quite know it until suddenly they sprouted. A nice surprise!

What a great role for Rachel Evan Woods ... of course the supporting actors do their jobs. But it is sort of her role ... and her movie overall. I did not know what to expect and the family she is in, is quite the interesting oddity! And her performance ... just awesome! You can tell from the start.

And it is not the easiest job. She has to walk quite the fine line. Her character is not really likeable! But she is quirky and weird ... and while she (but her parents even more so) does things that could be described as despicable ... we know it is her situation that motivates her. For that, she still seems to have a moral compass ... of sorts. Again very weird and crazy character.

She will clash with a "newcomer", which we can predict ... and also were this will lead to ... still the drama is well played and well acted (no pun intended).

There's no getting away from it: Kajillionaire is an odd film. At first, it seems like a movie made for the sake of being weird, but as its story unfolds, you begin to see the method to Miranda July's madness, with an ultimately touching, bittersweet tale of personal independence making for a memorable watch.

First things first, if you're not party to a little bit of eccentricity and dry humour, you might find Kajillionaire rather inaccessible at first. Undeniably, the film struggles to find its feet in an eye-catching but admittedly dull opening act, as we follow the strange day-to-day exploits of a family of scam artists.

Evan Rachel Wood, Debra Winger and Richard Jenkins are fantastic in those roles, but there's very little to their characters early on, and it takes a while for Kajillionaire to really grab you with any real dramatic depth.

Fortunately, things take a turn for the better with the arrival of Gina Rodriguez, who brings a little bit of sense to an otherwise totally bizarre world. The film retains its offbeat sense of humour, but to have that grounded perspective with Rodriguez's excellent performance really helps you to find an in with this family, and the story begins to work off that really nicely.

Unfolding in thoroughly engaging fashion from then on, Kajillionaire deals with a range of interesting and sobering themes including poverty, neglect, abuse, all with a tinge of odd, dark humour to make it that little bit easier to stomach. Admittedly, the film's stranger side does occasionally undermine some of its more serious ideas, but without that charisma, it would likely have been a far less interesting watch.

Kajillionaire really comes good in its final act, however, where it begins to push the boat in terms of weirdness, but also in real, challenging drama. The run to the finish here features some of the movie's oddest moments, but also some of its most affecting and heart-wrenching ones, as we follow Evan Rachel Wood as she begins to discover the world for herself - away from her parents' unique worldview.

Along with Rodriguez, Wood is really fantastic and brings an impressive dramatic dynamic to a film that can occasionally feel a little emotionally opaque. Again, its themes aren't quite as hard-hitting because of its oddity, but there is real, affecting drama in the film's final stages, and that really caps it off in impressive fashion.

Overall, I liked Kajillionaire. It's not a perfect film, and perhaps doesn't manage to use its capacity for eccentricity to full effect, but there's still a worthy story to be heard here. With great performances, interesting themes and unique humour, it's a memorable, if not undeniably odd watch.