Tuesday, January 8, 2019

2018 - IN REVIEW: MOST OVERRATED


WIDOWS

While director Steve McQueen's latest film, “Widows”, made it onto my most anticipated list for 2018 , the final film ended up being something of a disappointment. My anticipation for “Widows” was based on McQueen's previous two films, “Shame” and “12 Years A Slave”, which I thought were both magnificent pieces of art, and both emotionally devastating (for totally different reasons). In fact “Shame” was my favourite film of 2012 (with “12 Years A Slave” coming in at number 5, two years later). I am always a fan when big name directors turn their hand at a genre film because the results are usually spectacular with their talent often elevating the material, which is what I was expecting to happen when Steve McQueen attacked the crime genre.

Right from the start of the film though, something just felt off with “Widows”. The film is actually based on a popular television mini-series that ran in the UK during the 80's. Seeing as that version ran over two nights, the story obviously had time to breathe which I am assuming helped in making the character's motivations more believable. I, personally, have not seen this incarnation of the story so cannot say if it is better than the film but I felt that in regards to the movie version they had trouble in justifying why these women would band together to finish off their dead husband's work in robbing a bank. One aspect of the film that I thought was really odd was the casting. Viola Davis appears to be a natural choice as the head of the female gang; she is tough as nails and takes no shit, however her performance is far too serious and it sucks all the fun out of the film. In fact, none of the actors ever shine in their roles with the exception of Elizabeth Debicki who I thought was fantastic and stole the film (and she is an actor I usually do not respond to).

Seeing as Steve McQueen is a socially conscious director, I have the feeling that he tried to put too much into the film and by doing so, ultimately watered down the narrative. There are two story lines in “Widows”, the main story of the girls and their attempts to pull off a robbery, and the political story line involving Colin Farrell's character campaigning for a position he no longer wants or believes in, but is doing so so as to not embarrass his family name. The two story lines are meant to come together seamlessly but they never gel at all and feel totally at odds with each other to the point that when elements from the different stories connect, it feels forced.

While I would never call “Widows” a bad film, I would also never call it a great or even necessarily a successful film. It has far too many issues to give it that label. Still it is competently made with some fine camera work, including the film's best moment where Farrell's character leaves a political rally in his car in the low end part of Chicago, and travels to his home in the upmarket area, only a few blocks away (all in one shot, taken from outside the car). It is such a great depiction of how little space there is between the haves and have-nots compared to the massive gulf in benefits. Anyway, it is an average film, and that is alright because not every film a director makes can be super successful, and I am fine with that. The reason why I have named this the most over-rated film of 2018 is because “Widows” has been blessed with such positive reviews praising its greatness from all angles, and making it onto many end of year lists. Now I know that everyone's opinions are their own, but I still cannot shake the feeling that if some no name director had made this exact same film, and not Steve McQueen, that any one would be talking about it. There is nothing in there special enough to warrant the praise it is getting, and while this may come across as a cynical view, I am sure people are rating it higher than it is worth because of the director's name and his reputation from his previous films. Therefore, I have no qualms in stating that I believe that “Widows” is the most over-rated film of 2018.

No comments:

Post a Comment