Suburbicon (2017)

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  TheMovieDiorama

  4 / 10

  Suburbicon is densely packed housing various underdeveloped themes. A screenplay written by the Coen Brothers, a talented Clooney as director, a cast of well established actors and an environment that exhumes potential. All I've got to say on the matter is...what the heck happened!? There is so much going on, both on and off screen, that even Clooney doesn't know what he is doing anymore. It's so confused, entangling itself in unnecessary themes that are irrelevant to the actual story. Urgh...damn. A suburban family are struck with tragedy when the wife is murdered at the dinner table, and so a murder investigation ensues. Simultaneously though, a black family move into what is a predominantly white neighbourhood and must deal with the racial abuse that follows. Also, social satire runs concurrently as Clooney attempts to depict the perfect lifestyle of 1950s American families. So we have a murder mystery, racial commentary and social satire. Suffice to say, none of these themes intertwine successfully and rapidly segregated the screenplay into separate underdeveloped stories. The investigation is the more engrossing aspect, but even that feels predictably derivative. You don't need to be a detective to unravel the mystery, I solved it far too quickly. This therefore results in the "unexpected twist" to be underwhelming. The social and racial commentaries amount to nothing. Seriously, you could remove them from the film and it would not affect the primary plot. Unnecessary. The script occasionally balances satirical comedy with drama, but the dramatic sequences are diminished rapidly with the traditional overpowering Coen humour. The acting was fine, nothing outstanding. Isaac however steals the entire film with his short yet sophisticated appearance. Oh, the score was distracting to say the least. Look, Clooney did well to replicate 1950s suburbia (love those product placements), but this is a misfire. An unfocused mess. It's not terrible, just squandered potential given the talent involved. "Welcome to Suburbicon"...now please show me the exit. Thank you.

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