TIFF 2017 Suburbicon

TIFF 2017: Suburbicon Review

Special Presentations

From the guys who brought you the delightfully goofy O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Burn After Reading, comes one of the angriest movies you will ever see.

George Clooney (along with writing/ producing partner Grant Heslov) took an old Coen brother script that had been lying around, which included elements like home invasion, adultery and racial tension in a 1950s Norman Rockwell-inspired suburb, and tried to make his version of Fargo. There’s a reason the Coen brothers never made this film, which was written before their best work. What’s missing is a Marge Gunderson, as none of the characters, except perhaps for the six year old boy who is repeatedly traumatized, have any depth or redeemable qualities.

Marketed as somewhat of a dark comedy, Suburbicon is so bleak that the rare moments of humour just don’t work. Not even a fantastic cast which includes Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, and Oscar Isaac can make this feel right.

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Perhaps Suburbicon will age like some of the better Coen brother films which came off as intentionally off putting at first but improve substantially with subsequent viewings, but at this point that seems unlikely.



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