Widows - Movie Review

Several films were released this week, but Widows was at the top of my list for the new releases. The timing worked out better to see Instant Family first. But my wife and I were able to squeeze in an afternoon matinee of Widows earlier today. The movie was about what I expected. A girl power movie with a hodgepodge of social justice nonsense scattered throughout. The action elements were worthwhile, but the messaging was a bit confused.

Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson) is a Chicago gangster. He is calculated. But his entire crew is killed following a heist involving a local drug cartel led by the Manning brothers (Jamal, played by Brian Tyree Henry and Jatemme, played by Daniel Kaluuya). The Manning's money, two million dollars worth, is destroyed in the explosion that kills Rawling's crew. The Manning brothers hold Rawling's wife, Veronica (Viola Davis), responsible for repayment. Veronica is turned on to a five million dollar heist her husband was planning, and enlists the aid of the widows of her husband's former crew. Together, Veronica, Linda (Michelle Rodriguez), Alice (Elizabeth Debicki) and newcomer Belle (Cynthia Erivo) join forces to steal five million dollars to repay their debt are start new lives.

Director Steve McQueen and Gillian Flynn created this screenplay based on an old television series by Lynda La Plante. The story has interesting characters and great action. However, McQueen seems to get caught up in the social justice aspects, creating elements that don't help the story. It felt, at times, like a detached laundry list of social justice woes being aired, rather than a singular story. The dialogue was a bit hung up on issues like race at times. That would be fine if it felt contextual or natural. Instead, it came across as forced. It's too bad, because the premise of the story is great. The "girl power" elements of this film stood on their own merit without getting distracted by all the other noise that McQueen and Flynn seemed to get lost in. The story has a nice twist, elevating it above you average action film. Had they stayed more on point, this film would have been better.

Widows benefits from strong casting. Oscar winner Viola Davis is a veteran as the lead in this film. But the talent pool is deep. She is joined by veterans and fellow Oscar nominees/winners Robert Duvall, Liam Neeson and Daniel Kaluuya. The cast includes Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki and Colin Farrell. There is no shortage of talent in this film. The casting worked for me. I think I liked Kaluuya best, in his role as a cartel enforcer (and brother of an alderman candidate). His ruthlessness was credible. The cast elevated the story.

Widows has a decent amount of violence, to include a fairly brutal scene involving a man in a wheelchair. The violence seems the primary contributing factor for the R rating applied by the MPAA. However, the film also has some nudity and adult themes, to include prostitution. The film also has alcohol use and strong language, which are much less a factor in the rating. The film isn't excessively violent or sexual, but enough so that I would suggest teens as a starting point for who I would allow to see this film. Possibly mid-teens. The film has a run time of two hours, nine minutes.

Widows started with a decent premise. The writing went off course at times, making statements that ended with a fairly bleak view of humanity. Basically, everyone in this film has issues. There is a lot of bad side of humanity infused into the characters, with little in the way of redeeming qualities. It has a dark quality to it. The strong female roles with strong female cast members would have easily stood on their own merit. Instead, I felt the story became diluted with the diversions that seemed a kitchen sink of non-contextual distractions. In spite of that, the film managed to hold my attention for more than two hours, with only a few stretches that felt bogged down. I would recommend this film. 7.5/10.

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