Widows might be a really good movie if it weren’t so busy being a movie. This film presents itself as a “realistic” version of Ocean’s 8 (i.e. all women heist with consequences). However, even the slightest bit of inspection finds the film lacking in realism, which more than negatively compensates for the smarm of Ocean’s 8.
To put it another way, just because there are frowny faces and death doesn’t make your crime caper any less silly than average, dig?
This latest Hollywood attempt at a feminist anthem focuses on a set of women married to criminal men. All the men die in the opening chase/shoot-out/Michael Bay-type explosion, leaving the film to focus on who is left: Veronica (Viola Davis), Linda (Michelle Rodriguez), and Alice (Elizabeth Debicki). The film killed off Veronica’s hubby, Liam Neeson, even before he had time to deliver the his annual standard impromptu lecture to the criminal underworld. (Don’t you fear, fans of name actors, Veronica’s lingering flashback-y heartbreak allows Liam to appear far more often in this film than he ought to). What’s important to know is that many career criminals are good family men who want to do right by their wives and children.
Meanwhile, there’s an election, which gives the film ample opportunity to bring men back into the screenplay. The alderman for Chicago’s 18th ward is coming down to a race between two assholes: Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell) and Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry). The only difference between these riffraff and the guys who died before the opening credits is these candidates are better at being criminals – or it would appear that way until Jamal decides that Liam Neeson still owes him $2M and the balance has to come from Veronica. Veronica lives pretty well, we think, but does she have $2M hanging around? Guess not. But what she does have is Liam’s detailed diary of “Heists for Dummies.” “Well, gosh, here’s a $5M job just waiting to happen. Why that will clear the two million and give me some pin money to boot! But who can I get to go in on this? … I know! The other Widows!”
If that sounds stupid, it is. It is not, however, presented as stupid. In fact, the film lets us believe these criminal novices are somehow capable of a big league heist without so much as a candy bar larceny on their collective rap sheets. I guess this is “skills by osmosis” where simply living with a professional thief will make you a professional thief as well. Call me skeptical. Oh, and Widows also has a plot twist so forced and wrong I was embarrassed by osmosis.
Now … if you can get around those things, Widows is actually a pretty good film. Davis, Rodriguez, and Debecki are all sympathetic heroines, each with a mildly different take on widow
survival. No matter how ridiculous the plot or overdramamtic the tone, Widows made it very easy to root for these wronged and newly single women. I wish I could look past the obvious plot flaws, because in retrospect I’d much rather the tone were lighter to reflect the fantastical nature of the action (as in Ocean’s 8).
I’d like to say this is a feminist film because the characters we mostly follow are all adult women creating their own realities. And yet they -to a person- are all reluctant plot-movers and completely defined by the men in the film and their lives. Hell, even the title, Widows, suggests women defined by men – if that’s about feminism, then I’m Cap’n Crunch. I’ll try to refrain from putting this film on the annual overrated list because I know there were some good intentions here, but Widows deserves strong honorable mention consideration.
Three women, assaulted by grief
All need economic relief
Why not try for crook?
Hey, here’s a book
That’s all it takes to be a thief
Rated R, 129 Minutes
Director: Steve McQueen
Writer: Gillian Flynn & Steve McQueen
Genre: Ocean’s 8, like, for real, sort of
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Crime drama junkies
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Realists
