Suburbicon

I was postponing watching this film several times because of the low note here - currently at 5.5

However, I would give this film a rating 7 as I think it was interesting and entertaining from the beginning til the end. Beginning with two Juliennes was kinda funny. I think it was really clever to not know from the beginning what has happened at the dinner/night scene. I admit it got me curious and not many films make me think anything.

The whole black family thing ...well, I am from Europe, so we do not have those 'tensions' which also are showing in comments of people here - so I will not say anything particular about it - only that it did not serve a big purpose in the film in my opinion.

For me, the film is quite good.

1950s America is often mythologised as a period both boring and socially cohesive, before things became interesting and decisive in the following decade. And today, there seems to be a entire sub-genre of films interested less in telling the truth than in playing with the myth. 'Suburbicon' is one such movie, a satire of a view of the world that surely no-one takes at face value anymore. The script is by the Coen brothers, and as such, it's a typical black comedy, quite cleverly worked but without much of a heart. For example, racism is a theme, but the film doesn't really feel very angry about racism, more amused with the direct juxtaposition of the very real racism of the period with the idyllic fantasy of suburban life. There's nothing particularly wrong with George Clooney's direction; but no great sense that the film has anything in particular to say.

'SUBURBICON': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

The new crime-drama/comedy from director George Clooney, and written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Grant Heslov and Clooney (Clooney and Heslov also co-produced the film). It stars Matt Damon as a suburbanite, in a seemingly quiet suburb community, that has to suddenly deal with violent criminals, after his house is broken into by mobster thugs. The movie costars Noah Jupe, Julianne Moore, Glenn Fleshler and Oscar Isaac. It's gotten mixed to negative reviews from critics, and it also underperformed at the Box Office. I enjoyed parts of it, but I do agree that overall the film is a bit of a mess.

The story is set in a quiet small community, that is disrupted when an African American family moves in to their very conservative suburb. Young Nicky Lodge (Jupe) befriends one of his new neighbors, who's about the same age as him, but then he has to deal with criminal thugs breaking into his family's home. Nicky's mother (Moore) is sadly killed, and Nicky doesn't understand why his father (Damon) and aunt (also played by Moore) won't identify the culprits (when the police apprehend them). Things only get more complicated from there, and much more dangerous for Nicky.

The advertisements for this film are extremely misleading, and it's definitely not the movie that I thought I was going to see. Parts of it are well made, and very interesting, and it's also surprisingly dark (especially for a film starring Matt Damon, and directed by George Clooney). I think it would have been a lot better had the Coens directed it though (they're ridiculously better filmmakers than Clooney). As it is, the film tries to blend too many different genres, and social commentary on top of that, and none of it really works. It is a bizarrely interesting movie still (at times) though.

SPOILER: I'm all for unique and different when it comes to filmmaking, but when a unique film doesn't do anything to intrigue its audience, aside from a consistent tone and setting, then it's not really all that impressive in the end. Suburbicon is George Clooney's latest attempt at direction, and I feel pretty much the same about this film as I did about many of his other works. A tone, story, and time period is all set up, but the way each of his films play out have seemed to leave a lot to be desired in my opinion. That is once again the case with Suburbicon, being a little too confident in itself when it came to presenting a powerful story. Here is why I think you could probably skip this one in theatres, but the effort put into it may warrant a rental if you're looking for something new to watch.

Gardner's family is tested when a group of men invade his home, killing his wife and leaving only his son and sister-in-law alive. Falling for his wife's sister and becoming a complete psychotic and uncontrollable man, this film quickly spirals out of control into a farce of random occurrences. Throughout the first act of this film, it seems like it's going to be a satire that won't hold anything back in terms of wackiness, but that's very quickly thrown out the window, compensating with many subplots of murder and conspiracy. I found myself taken out of the film when the tone would shift this often, making for a very off-putting viewing experience.

Throughout the majority of this film, you're asked to accept the horrible things that the main characters are doing, or just connect with Gardner's young boy on an emotional level, but he's not quite present enough in my opinion. Not until the third act do you really fin yourself caring about some of the characters, which was too late for me. This movie tries far too hard to be clever, funny, and surprising, that it just comes off as forced more often than not. You will find yourself along for a ride of random events and you won't really know who to root for.

I may seem to be ripping this film apart for being un even, but for throughout all its flaws, there are actually quite a few great aspects, especially the sequence involving an appearance by Oscar Isaac. There is a lengthy scene when secrets are revealed and characters begin to evolve and Oscar Isaac elevated every moment of this portion of the film. Up until that point, there really weren't any characters to grasp onto, but the environment around them, along with the sets and the score, always helped to make the film feel more authentic than what its screenplay was presenting. This may sound confusing, but that's due to the fact that this is a very confusing watch, and I feel that many people will agree with me on that account.

From being written by Joel and Ethan Coen (who's recent track record hasn't really impressed me recently), to being competently directed by George Clooney, to having racial undertones to help give the film depth, to showcasing some great moments of comedy, Suburbicon just feels like a huge missed opportunity, due to the talent involved. Matt Damon and Julianne Moore deliver solid performances here and the score by Alexandre Desplat is definitely what sucked me into this movie, even throughout the moments that annoyed me. In the end, I feel as though the positives slightly outweigh the negatives, so I can generously give it a pass. This is about as average as you can get in terms of having a clever setting and premise, only to never fully deliver on either front. Suburbicon isn't quite worth seeing in theatres, but it may please hardcore fans of the Coen brother's past work.

This will be the first time I have ever written a review for IMDb. After watching the movie the other night, I had to check the scores on the site as I usually do. When I saw the score of a measly 4.8 out of 10 something compelled me to write this review.

From start to finish it was gripping and interesting. It has been a long time ago I saw such an original piece of art. I'm not a cinegraphic expert by any means, but I recognize a gem when I see one.

Go see it !