Windfall

As "Windfall" (2022 release; 92 min.) opens, a man is walking around a southern property. It quickly becomes apparent that the man is in fact robbing the property. Just as he is about to finish up, a couple arrives at the property. It's not long before the man is found out and he takes the couple hostage... At this point we are 10 min into the film.

Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from director Charlie McDowell ("The Discovery"). Here he brings a barebones hostage drama that seems appropriate for the times in which it was made: smack in the middle of the pandemic. Hence only 4 actors (the three mentioned earlier, plus the gardener in a limited appeareance), and one single location. At times this very much feels like a theater play. Once the story line is set, nothing much really happens (until the very end, that is) and instead we get to know the personalities. Is the robber really a bad guy? And what of the ultra-rich CEO? Is the hostage drama causing a rift in the marriage? All three lead performances are good, in particular Jesse Plemons as the CEO. Lily Collins (a/k/a Mrs. Charlie McDowell in real life) plays the role of the wife. Jason Segel )playing the robber) is also credited as the film's co-writer. The film's overall minimalist approach reminded me more than once of Steven Soderbergh's work. Bottom line: this movie is nothing earth-shattering but still worth checking out.

"Windfall" premiered on Netflix this weekend. If you are in the mood for a barebones hostage drama with a theater-like feeling to it and starring some solid acting performances, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Jason Segel breaks into the isolated luxury villa of tech billionaire Jesse Plemons and his wife, Lily Collins. They suddenly appear and Segel has to hold them at gunpoint and decide how he his going to get out of the mess he's got himself into.

Interesting chamber piece set entirely at the villa (very nice it is too) and therefore you can easily see it as a neat 3 act play performed on stage. Whilst it starts lightly enough with a degree of humour, the tables turn on Segel as Plemons starts to get increasingly angered at the situation, letting his true colours shine through. As the film progresses it becomes pretty clear what the direction of travel is going to be, although this doesn't alter the fact the film has a neat ending. All 3 leads do well, but Plemons keeps the electricity going with his performance as an increasingly unlikeable rich guy.

The most intriguing thing about Windfall is that it makes us want to know more about the trio of characters played by Plemons, Collins, and Segel by the time the credits roll. In the beginning, Windfall puts across a largely harmless hostage situation featuring these nameless characters, but as it progresses, we get to know there's more to it than what meets the eye. The film is coated in bits of wry humor, primarily thanks to Plemons' arrogant billionaire feat and his shunning of the world filled with freeloaders and nobodies. It then makes complete sense when you see Segel being credited as "Nobody."

The score by Danny Bensi & Saunder Jurriaans is a crucial piece of this puzzle, intensely punctuating almost every scene. Director Charlie McDowell treats us to a dark, twisted climax that not only makes the most sense, given all we know about the trio, but it also gives Lily Collins her shining moment! I understand that Windfall isn't as conventionally funny or thrilling as most of us would've wanted, but I'm glad the director chose the slow-burn route for this subject.

It was nothing special,unique,original or not clichéd.. Including,how it ended.

Average all around from casting,acting & cinematography.

Not worth a second viewing,for any reason!

This was a very hit and miss film for a lot I believe, some will love it and others will hate it. Unlucky for you lot I'm sat on the fence here. It has some really good positives, but it's equalled out by the negatives.

Positives: as the title says the actors absolutely carried this film. As I'll discuss a little later, the film lacks in depth and these actors really managed to sell their characters with the little they had, honestly brilliant performances from the 3. The cinematography throughout was immense as well, brilliant shots as it went on.

Okay what didn't I like: the biggest issue which most people will hate is the pacing of the film. It's really really slow. You could leave the room for 15 mins, come back and be at the exact same point. Ultimately I don't feel there was enough plot wise to make a film, so it was extremely slow.

The character depth was non existent. The actors did an amazing job of illustrating the character traits, but ultimately we know sod all about them so it's quite difficult to gain an emotional connection to any. Why is Jason Segal robbing this house? If he was doing it for his child or something we could picture him as a good guy even though he's doing a bad thing. But nah, plot gives us absolutely nothing. It's trying to add this element of mystery, but goes too far for me.

The ending. Again, I feel some might like and some won't. For me it's an okay ending, but very underwhelming. I understand the chain of events as it makes sense for said character, but it still was just really underwhelming and doesn't really solve much. They could have done so much more and instead they tried to do something really off the cuff as not a lot happens up until the end.

Ultimately I feel this film had good potential, but the poor pacing of the film really ruins it. You have here 3 amazing actors putting in a right shift, but they have so little to work with it the plot falls flat. I alluded earlier but they needed more, there simply wasn't enough here to get a film out of it.

Having said that I did somewhat enjoy it, mainly for the character performances and I was sat there for the whole film wondering what will happen and how will it end. So I guess the film maintains a mild tension. But I can't give above a 5/10 on this. It's maybe worth watching if you're bored, but I wouldn't recommend to my mates if I'm honest.