Worth: $12.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Margot Robbie, Finn Cole, Travis Fimmel, Kerry Condon
Intro:
...impressive directing, stunning cinematography and strong acting by superstar Robbie and cast, can’t outrun thinly drawn characters...
Margot Robbie’s star power shines in this gritty 1930s drama, but not enough to overshadow script shortfalls and a getaway car loaded with dusty clichés.
We open on a tiny Texas town ravaged by the great depression and dust storms. Times are tough, or so we’re told. Eugene Evans (Finn Cole) has teenage angst big time. His backstory is familiar. Abandoned by dad with only a postcard promise of reuniting in Mexico. Eugene’s mother (Kerry Condon) is remarried to a sheriff’s deputy (Travis Fimmel) who runs the household like a prison warden. No doubt why Eugene finds sweet escape in his pulp detective magazines. Until real-life drama shows up.
Eugene’s half sister (Lola Kirke) narrates the film, which nods at the works of filmmaker Terrence Malick. The pacing crawls until Eugene finds bank robber and murder suspect Allison Wells (Robbie) hiding in the family’s barn with a bullet in her leg. She’s been on the lam from a heist gone wrong that left five people dead and a $10,0000 bounty on her head. Eugene buys Allison’s innocent act and ultimately an implausible romance ensues. From here, there’s an obvious path to the closing credits. We’re left to wonder if Eugene paid for his crimes or found his long-lost father. How much do we care is the larger question?
This is the second film for twenty-something Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, a Sundance award-winner for his first feature, As You Are. Applause for the way Miles projects Eugene’s fleeting fantasies through imaginative Bolex 16mm effects. The camera work from Lyle Vincent is also superb. He beautifully captures a bygone era with plenty of glimmering golden hour shots and tight angles that make rooms feel like the walls are closing in — an interesting juxtaposition to the wide-open landscape.
Overall, impressive directing, stunning cinematography and strong acting by superstar Robbie and cast, can’t outrun thinly drawn characters penned by screenwriter Nicolaas Zwart (Riverdale). But maybe watching Robbie bewitch the camera (again) might be just enough to feel rewarded for your time and attention.
