Ocean's 8 is the perfect example of a C-grade movie: I neither hated it, nor loved it. It exists in a strange cinematic purgatory. It is over-long, never really capitalizes on its stellar cast of characters, and lacks the visual verve of the original films. It is clear, however, that everyone is having a lot of fun, and some of that spirit helps save the film from absolute disaster.
Widows, then, is everything that Ocean's 8 aspired to be, but fell short of. It is a heist film; it sports a who's-who Hollywood slate of A-list actors; it is stylish and confidently constructed.
It is Steve McQueen's first feature since his jaw-dropping 2013 drama, 12 Years a Slave. I wanted to see this movie in theaters, but time got away from me. It recently popped up on Amazon, so I bought it and fired it up.
I. What is It?
Widows is a 2018 film written by Gillian Flynn and Steve McQueen, and directed by Steve McQueen. It is the story of a group of women whose husbands die on a daring robbery. When the gangster (Brian Tyree Henry) they robbed comes calling, the widows will be forced to answer for their husbands debt. Veronica (Viola Davis) finds the plans for her dead husband's next job for a score of five million dollars, and recruits the widows to carry it out.II. It's About a Heist, But It's Also About So Much More
Yes, there is a daring robbery in this movie. Yes, the titular widows plan meticulously for it. Yes, there are the twists and turns that happen in every good heist movie. But the heist is just the backdrop that McQueen and Flynn use to explore a handful of other things.
This is a movie about economic inequality. The film's Chicago setting highlights the highs and lows experienced in America within a handful of city blocks from one another. The characters are gangsters and thieves and parents and politicians. Everyone has an agenda, and no one has time for sentiment or romanticism.
This is a movie about gender roles and sexism. The widows are underestimated time and again because they are women, and, instead of railing against that sexism, the women play into it and use it as a strength against a world that views them as inferior. This is a movie that explores what a woman becomes when she loses her husband.
This is a movie about love and loss and grief. It's about how our worlds are shattered, and how we gather those broken pieces back together again, with bloodied hands, and try to regain agency and friendships and compassion. The loss of a child; the loss of a business; the loss of an abusive partner; the film lets all of these stories swirl around together and bump off of one another.
Flynn and McQueen's script keeps all of these plots balanced and provides a movie bursting at the seams with ideas and character growth, without ever becoming mired in plot machinations or labyrinthine details. It's a long movie, don't get me wrong, but I found that it earned its length by filling its run time with compelling characters and stories.
This is a movie about economic inequality. The film's Chicago setting highlights the highs and lows experienced in America within a handful of city blocks from one another. The characters are gangsters and thieves and parents and politicians. Everyone has an agenda, and no one has time for sentiment or romanticism.
This is a movie about gender roles and sexism. The widows are underestimated time and again because they are women, and, instead of railing against that sexism, the women play into it and use it as a strength against a world that views them as inferior. This is a movie that explores what a woman becomes when she loses her husband.
This is a movie about love and loss and grief. It's about how our worlds are shattered, and how we gather those broken pieces back together again, with bloodied hands, and try to regain agency and friendships and compassion. The loss of a child; the loss of a business; the loss of an abusive partner; the film lets all of these stories swirl around together and bump off of one another.
Flynn and McQueen's script keeps all of these plots balanced and provides a movie bursting at the seams with ideas and character growth, without ever becoming mired in plot machinations or labyrinthine details. It's a long movie, don't get me wrong, but I found that it earned its length by filling its run time with compelling characters and stories.
III. Everyone is on Their A-Game
Viola Davis is a boss. That has never been in doubt. She has consistently turned in good work wherever she gets an opportunity, and Widows is no different. Her turn as Veronica is a woman on-edge: she is desperately keeping it all together, and many of those around her confuse her detachment as general bitchiness. Davis' power can be seen in a simple moment, after her husband, Harry, has died, in her bathroom right before his funeral, where she lets out a bestial roar, and then puts her mask back on, straightens her blouse, and gets back to business. She cannot afford to fall apart. It's fascinating.
Elizabeth Debicki gets the best arc as Alice. She starts the movie as an agency-less woman unmoored from her own sense of reality. She toughens herself up, forces herself into her new life, and begins to grab back her own sense of self. Alice strolls away from a gunshow, having conned someone into buying her the requisite firepower for the job, chomping on a hot dog with a new sense of attitude. It's actually a really empowering moment, and Debicki soars in the part.
Daniel Kaluuya is a stone cold killer as the brother of Brian Tyree Henry's Manning. Both men are vicious, but Kaluuya's Jatemme appears to derive pleasure from inflicting pain and torture. Portraying the Manning brothers is a change of pace for both men, and I am glad to see that they are being given opportunities to stretch their muscles as actors.
Liam Neeson is doing some of the best work of his career as Harry, and the character has precious little screen time. He lingers in the background, a ghost that casts a pall over the proceedings. Harry Rawlings is a character that proves that an actor can grab a part by the horns and do great work, even without long-winded monologues.
Even Jon Bernthal, who gets maybe a minute or two of screen time, sinks his teeth into a believable portrait of toxic masculine abuse.
Robert Duvall plays Tom Mulligan, and is an absolute piece of human shit. His savagery poisons every interaction he has on screen. Mulligan is something different than I have ever seen Duvall tackle, and he takes to it with aplomb. Equally impressive is Colin Farrell, who plays Jack Mulligan, Tom's son. He is a slick politician who is trying to hold onto power, but also define his own life by his own rules, away from the shadow of his father.
All of these characters are holding onto something: their power, their legacy, their agency. Flynn and McQueen have crafted a film filled with grey people fighting and scratching to take care of their own interests. The film is chock full of compelling performances and straight-A work.
Widows dispenses with the sexiness of the heist, and roots itself in the danger of it. McQueen and Flynn demand the characters think around their own weaknesses in interesting and clever ways. How does a normal person plan a robbery? While the robbery in the finale never quite reaches Hollywood excess, it drips with tension and a sense of danger. You never really worry that Danny Ocean is going to get shot. But McQueen makes you worry about all of the widows: robbing someone is a dangerous proposition, and it never feels like a game.
Flynn works in some twists and turns, and I would be a fool to spoil them here, but the film earns each twist and never twists for its own sake.
Elizabeth Debicki gets the best arc as Alice. She starts the movie as an agency-less woman unmoored from her own sense of reality. She toughens herself up, forces herself into her new life, and begins to grab back her own sense of self. Alice strolls away from a gunshow, having conned someone into buying her the requisite firepower for the job, chomping on a hot dog with a new sense of attitude. It's actually a really empowering moment, and Debicki soars in the part.
Daniel Kaluuya is a stone cold killer as the brother of Brian Tyree Henry's Manning. Both men are vicious, but Kaluuya's Jatemme appears to derive pleasure from inflicting pain and torture. Portraying the Manning brothers is a change of pace for both men, and I am glad to see that they are being given opportunities to stretch their muscles as actors.
Liam Neeson is doing some of the best work of his career as Harry, and the character has precious little screen time. He lingers in the background, a ghost that casts a pall over the proceedings. Harry Rawlings is a character that proves that an actor can grab a part by the horns and do great work, even without long-winded monologues.
Even Jon Bernthal, who gets maybe a minute or two of screen time, sinks his teeth into a believable portrait of toxic masculine abuse.
Robert Duvall plays Tom Mulligan, and is an absolute piece of human shit. His savagery poisons every interaction he has on screen. Mulligan is something different than I have ever seen Duvall tackle, and he takes to it with aplomb. Equally impressive is Colin Farrell, who plays Jack Mulligan, Tom's son. He is a slick politician who is trying to hold onto power, but also define his own life by his own rules, away from the shadow of his father.
All of these characters are holding onto something: their power, their legacy, their agency. Flynn and McQueen have crafted a film filled with grey people fighting and scratching to take care of their own interests. The film is chock full of compelling performances and straight-A work.
IV. Real Cleverness
Heist movies require a clever plan. It's part of what makes the criminality of the robbery permissable. A cleverly executed, multi-layered heist garners respect from the audience. If you just watched some asshole knockoff a 7-11, chances are you'd be less than entertained. But watching the plan unfurl like a blossoming flower is fun, and engaging, and challenges the viewer to try and stay one step ahead of the criminals.Widows dispenses with the sexiness of the heist, and roots itself in the danger of it. McQueen and Flynn demand the characters think around their own weaknesses in interesting and clever ways. How does a normal person plan a robbery? While the robbery in the finale never quite reaches Hollywood excess, it drips with tension and a sense of danger. You never really worry that Danny Ocean is going to get shot. But McQueen makes you worry about all of the widows: robbing someone is a dangerous proposition, and it never feels like a game.
Flynn works in some twists and turns, and I would be a fool to spoil them here, but the film earns each twist and never twists for its own sake.
V. Meanders in the Middle
At just over two hours long, Widows is not necessarily a time-sponge, but it does feel like it loses some of its own steam in the middle. I felt that some of the side plots could have been clipped or collapses or expedited. There is a leaner, meaner cut of this movie that is probably 15 minutes shorter.VI. Pretty Without Pretension
Sean Bobbett's photography is gorgeous, without beating you over the head with precision. His camera swings and pans and moves in ways that many movies lack. Bobbett breaths a dynamic energy into the proceedings, even in the quieter moments.
Sean Bobbett's photography is gorgeous, without beating you over the head with precision. His camera swings and pans and moves in ways that many movies lack. Bobbett breaths a dynamic energy into the proceedings, even in the quieter moments.
VII. The Violence We See, and the Violence We Don't
This movie is rated R. It does not lack for brutality. What is special, however, is McQueen's deployment of that violence. There are scenes where we HEAR the violence happening off screen; there are even instances of violence that are only ever suggested. Those bits of violence become unbearably ugly because the viewer is left to imagine them. It's a slick piece of storytelling, and McQueen proves himself a master at it. McQueen chooses to show you, or not show you a given piece of violence to maximize the emotional effect. Kudos, also, to Hans Zimmer's heartpounding score for the emotional assist.
This movie is rated R. It does not lack for brutality. What is special, however, is McQueen's deployment of that violence. There are scenes where we HEAR the violence happening off screen; there are even instances of violence that are only ever suggested. Those bits of violence become unbearably ugly because the viewer is left to imagine them. It's a slick piece of storytelling, and McQueen proves himself a master at it. McQueen chooses to show you, or not show you a given piece of violence to maximize the emotional effect. Kudos, also, to Hans Zimmer's heartpounding score for the emotional assist.
VIII. Should You Watch It?
Miscellany
- This is the first feature Steve McQueen has directed that does not feature Michael Fassbender in the cast.- The movie is based on a British television show of the same name from 1983.
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