Widows
Starring: Viola Davis, Collin Farrell, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez
Directed by: Steve McQueen
Rated: R
One heist could change everything.
When four thieves die in an armed robbery attempt, their widows are confronted with the shocking aftermath of the situation. They are left with grief, anger and, worst of all, danger as they are in debt to other criminals. Veronica, Linda, Alice, and Belle are four widows who have never met, but they will soon band together to plan a heist to repay the debts their husbands left behind.
I’ve been looking forward to seeing Widows for several reasons. The film is directed by Steve McQueen who has many impressive films, most notably 12 Years A Slave (which led to a Best Picture win in 2015.) Beyond Widows direction, it’s written by McQueen and Gillian Flynn. Anytime I see a project with Gillian Flynn (author of Gone Girl and Sharp Objects) attached, it’s instantly intriguing. Throw in the film’s star-studded cast and this is a recipe for a brilliant film, right?
Maybe not.
Widows attempts to balance many themes in its screenplay: racial inequality, sexism, classism, grief, domestic violence, and dirty politics. Unfortunately, because there are so many themes tackled, the social subtext feels heavy handed on some of these issues and others don’t feel explored enough. The screenplay hits another stumbling block when trying to weave together each character’s storyline. This is a true ensemble piece, but there are times when some plot lines don’t feel cohesive to the core story. The main crux of the film is following 4 women as they attempt to pull off a heist. However, there’s another story arc that follows two different politicians (Collin Farrell and Bryan Tyree Henry) running for office. Eventually, that weaves in to the main plot, but there are several messy scenes surrounding that plot line that feel majorly disconnected from the story. A lot of this script felt like it needed to go through a few more rewrites in order to be more cohesive before the film was made.
This is a unique film in a directorial sense. It is not what it looks like from the previews. If you’re expecting an action film, that’s not what you’ll be watching. It’s a slow burn crime-drama. Steve McQueen excels at building tension between the characters. Throughout the film, I had no idea who I could trust. At any moment, I felt like things could go south. While the sense of tension is palpable, some aspects don’t work out as well. There are times when I found some of McQueen’s directorial choices highly questionable. One scene with Michelle Rodriguez’s character is just plain bizarre. It completely took me out of the movie and had some audience members laughing (in a moment that was supposed to be dramatic.) McQueen’s editing team did him no favors either. Several scenes in this movie cut at random moments when we need to know more. The first act of Widows is an editing nightmare. It’s like watching a bunch of random sequences spliced together.
Thankfully, the cast of Widows elevates the material. I can’t talk about every actor in the film due to spoilers, but I can talk about the main cast.
Viola Davis brings her A-game as Veronica Rawlins, the leader of the group. Veronica’s husband, Harry (Liam Neeson), was a well known thief, but she always turned a blind eye towards his shady business dealings. After the death of her husband, she is surrounded by tragedy. With little time to process her grief, she hatches up a plan to pull off a heist that Harry was planning.
Elizabeth Debicki is a standout as Alice Gunner. She finds herself stuck in miserable circumstances and wants a way out. All of her scenes with Viola Davis are very impressive.
Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Ervos turn in good performances as Linda and Bell. However, I really wish there was more background on both of their characters. Considering they are both pivotal members of the heist, we need some characterization that never really happened. Despite that, both actresses worked with what they had.
On paper, this looks like it could be a perfect film. It’s got a great director, two strong screenwriters, an all-star cast, and an intriguing plot. Unfortunately, the ideas just don’t translate well to the big screen. Widows aims to be too many films at one time. It’s a heist, a political drama, a social statement piece and a thriller. Unfortunately, while attempting to tackle that many genres the film loses its sense of cohesion and narrative structure.
My Rating: 5/10