Suburbicon Review

Suburbicon

Starring: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar Issac

Director: George Clooney

Welcome to Suburbicon! The idyllic town everyone is flocking to live in according to the ad that opens the film. That will soon be disrupted as the all-white community is shocked to find their new neighbors, The Mayers, are a black family. To protest the town’s integration, they band together to force the Mayers out of town. They fail to see something more sinister happening with another family in their own back yard.

Gardner (Matt Damon), his wife Margaret (Julianne Moore), her sister Rose (also Moore), and son Nicky are being held hostage by some bad men. After Maragaret dies because of the altercation, Gardner, Rose, and Nicky look to move on. Things aren’t what they seem and soon Nicky discovers the secrets his family holds.

It’s weird that just a few weeks ago I was lamenting about the quality of The Snowman, considering the talent involved. Suburbicon falls into the same category and is a misfire from pretty much all involved.

There is one aspect of the movie that is very off-putting. That is the story of the Mayers. Rather than making them actualized characters, Clooney decided to use them as a plot device to make a very heavy handed point. Because of this, their story feels completely disconnected from the main story resulting in a messy and disjointed tone.

With the exception of the son and the Mayers, there is absolutely no one likeable in the film. Matt Damon, who is horribly miscast, gets more and more despicable as the film goes on. Julianne Moore, who does fine in the role and leaves unscathed, is equally unlikable when her character constantly stands by Matt Damons’ actions. Oscar Issac steals the show. His character is also pretty despicable but crackles with an energy that is lacking from the rest of the movie. It’s a shame he wasn’t in the film longer. I also have no idea who the main character is in the movie and maybe some of the aforementioned issues with unlikeable characters could have been resolved had Nicky been the main character. Unfortunately he’s not.

I put a lot of blame on Clooney. While he is working from a script by the Coen Brothers, there is a good reason they stopped working on it twenty years ago. They couldn’t crack the story so they moved on. Clooney should have as well. Audiences already have, judging by the its reception and box office. Things don’t seem to be looking better for Matt Damon either with Downsizing looking like another flop.

D-