‘Tone-Deaf’ Movie Review

Tone-Deaf is the latest horror/comedy from Richard Bates Jr. It tells the story of a woman named Olive (Amanda Crew) who, after a nasty breakup, decides to have a little getaway to the rural South. She rents an old, rustic manor from a bitter, surly middle-aged man (Robert Patrick) who has some serious gripes about her generation of young adults. He also just so happens to be a psycho killer.

I really enjoyed Bates’ previous two films, Suburban Gothic and Trash Fire. Of those two, Tone-Deaf more closely resembles Suburban Gothic, featuring a broader, sometimes raunchy, type of comedy. Tone-Deaf is... okay. It’s an adequate diversion. Its strengths outweigh its weaknesses, in my opinion, and it is (usually) pretty fun, but it doesn’t quite pass for good. It’s not the kind of movie with superb highs and frustrating lows, it’s just generally passable.

One of the film’s biggest strengths is its cast. Robert Patrick is outstanding, as he usually is. He’s really able just let loose in this role, and he’s clearly having a good time. Amanda Crew also does a great job. Her character has to be somewhat ditzy at times, but very emotional at others, and she nails both. There’s also some cameos from Ray Wise, Ray Santiago, and Nelson Franklin. The latter two are largely comedic characters, but Wise’s is a slightly heavier role. He plays Olive’s late father in some flashbacks (and a very gut-wrenching hallucination scene), and he brings a surprising amount of weight to an otherwise incredibly silly movie. I don’t often see him in purely dramatic roles, so this was a very interesting change of pace for him.

A large portion of the film is commenting on the hostile generational divide in today’s climate. This is not so much a major part of the main plot; more of an important character trait for our two leads. Olive is a millennial, and Harvey (Patrick’s character) is a baby boomer. While Olive is aloof and sometimes oblivious, Harvey is cynical and mean-spirited. I liked the way Olive’s generation was satirized for comedic effect, while Harvey’s was satirized for more sinister effect. It was a good illustration of the millennial vs. boomer dynamic, and I appreciated that aspect of the film. This satire is hardly subtle, in fact it’s sometimes told directly to the audience in a brief fourth-wall break, but it does portray it accurately.

The biggest problem is that the film has trouble focusing. It’s not particularly cohesive, and the tone is a little all over the place. It lurches from character to character, and some characters get forgotten entirely. Granted, the characters who are abandoned are not that important or memorable, but you are left wondering why they were included in the first place. There are also a few rather nonsensical dream sequences that don’t seem to play into the film proper at all (at least, from what I could tell). I’m all for abstract weirdness, but it didn’t really seem to make any sense.

Tone-Deaf is enjoyable enough, but it also isn’t nearly as good as it could have been. The narrative is all over the place, and the plot doesn’t really flow the way it should. Still, it’s got some funny gags, welcome satire, and yet another fantastic performance from a scenery-chewing Robert Patrick. It may be a bit sloppy, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had.

SCORE: 3.5/5