Welcome to Suburbicon

Sometimes a complicated plot can sustain itself with multiple layers. Layers to a plot are often required to create a more balanced plot structure to play out over the course of a 2 hour run. Suburbicon happened to be one of those films. In the early going it felt simplistic with a minimal story about loss and grief and the weird happenings of a family after a horrible tragedy. We knew it was not going to stay this way and Suburbicon definitely started peeling back the layers when absolutely necessary.

I was impressed by the vision of George Clooney who was taking an old Coen Brothers script and turning into a modern tale of deceit and corruption. Many people are saying it was the wrong script for Clooney and he would have been better off leaving it to collect dust. This film was easily one of the most engaging films (the second half is much better) and definitely one of the films I exited the cinema excited to talk about.

It surely did have flaws. The first half was like a boring episode of any cop drama looking to fill the void with a filler episode. It did not really excel until the introduction of Oscar Isaac and then he became the best part of the film hands down. He is a talented actor and his limited screen time proved very useful to the films overall progression towards the big plot twist. Matt Damon almost felt underused for most of the film allowing both Isaac and Julianne Moore to step in and steal the spotlight on numerous occasions. Perhaps this was Clooney's intention to create a diverse world in which Damon was only a piece or maybe it just was not the best performance of Damons' great career, but whatever happened it helped the film distance itself from a flat leading portrayal and still managed to keep our focus until the end.

Of course Suburbicon will not go down as one of the years best or one of the years surprise hits but it does make room for a darker hint of humour to be evident to the audience who may or may not find it funny. Had the film possibly progressed a little faster it could have had a much tighter pace and definitely created a more visually appealing film. It definitely did not have the same appeal as other projects that the Coen Brothers have written and directed in the past including Fargo, Burn After Reading and the 2010 remake of True Grit. Perhaps that is because while the production of their screenplay was green lit it most definitely should have been the brothers at the helm of their own script to translate it properly to the big screen. Clooney is a wonderful artist in his own right but a Coen Brothers production has a signature stamp on it that Suburbicon just did not have.

Definitely up until this point, still, one of the weirdest and enjoyable flicks of 2017 it was merely lacking that one element to make it great and unfortunately that came from a lesser than usual performance from Matt Damon.

Acting – 7/10: Matt Damon perhaps was just not the right fit for the role but it definitely hurt the final product. Moore and Isaac were the standouts no doubt but in the case of Isaac it was just not enough screen time that hurt from an entertainment standpoint.

Visuals – 8/10: The recreation of 1950's Suburbia was cool and the cars are definitely nice to look at but the setting made no real difference to the main plotline with Damon and Moore. It is a film where the visual appeal serves up as just a reference point for the troubled times.

Writing – 8/10: I rarely am displeased with a Coen Brothers production. I had a huge Burn After Reading poster on my wall most of my high school years but this film definitely lacked their signature style as they were not in the directors chairs. Still a solid script with some cool moments and ideas in it.

Overall Score – 7.5/10: Still a recommended movie if you like off-the-wall weird films but just not a film that rises above mediocrity and it really is a shame. I hope the next Coen Brothers related production is back to the way it should be: Joel and Ethan with full creative control.