IT’S a crime caper with women at the helm, like Ocean 8. Director Steve McQueen (of 12 Years A Slave and Hunger fame) uses flashbacks to tell the tale of hardcore criminal Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson) who, with his crew, gets all entangled with the cops in their latest heist.
With quick cuts, we get to see his hot-fire passion for wife Veronica (Viola Davis); and the other women linked to the gang — a mum-entrepreneur Linda (Michelle Rodriguez);a fragile Alice (Elizabeth Debicki), who has a controlling mamasan (Jacki Weaver); and young mum and babysitter Amanda (Carrie Coon).
Before you can blink thrice, all the women become widows. Then, Veronica is visited by a local gangster, Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry), who tells her that Harry’s final job was to steal some millions, and she has to repay him or else.
His henchman is a really cool psychopathic brother Jatemme (Daniel Kaluuya of Get Out fame). He portrays a guy who is a hardened gangsta, with no respect for grief or fame or the white man’s traditional power and control of the society they live.
Anyway, lo and behold, the grieving widow finds Harry’s notebook with details on past and future jobs. The next job he had planned was supposed to get him US$5 million (about RM21 million).
Hmmm, now you ask, why would this widow, who lives comfortably, do this criminal activity? She could have just sold the notebook to someone, if she really needed the money.
I think it’s about how corruption easily slips into everybody — when it’s everywhere, in the whole city system.
Take the corrupt politician, Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell) whose daddy (Robert Duvall) is happily racist, and the family is blithely trundling along with business despite a corruption scandal.
Maybe Veronica felt betrayed by the men around her, when she decides to meet with the other widows and do the heist of their lives. Everyone has their own plans for the money.
The tale is based on the 1980s British miniseries of the same name, and transplanting it to America works just as well.
Kudos to editor Joe Walker (12 Years A Slave) for all that flashbacks to tell the story, and still keeping audiences in the groove with all the subplots.
Of course, Davis gives a sterling performance as the grieving but angry Veronica. It’s not histrionics for this actress, but depth of character. One look is all she needs to make you feel her emotion.
The movie is also helped by the talented cast. I mean, Neeson and Duvall, come on, how can you think the acting would be lacklustre?
However, Widows has a little too much dialogue on what’s wrong with our society that it loses a connection with the audience. For me, there wasn’t enough grit on screen to thrill me about this “girls rule the world” caper.
Not even when Veronica’s husband, Harry, is revealed as not really having died with his gang. Worse, he might have had an affair with one of the other widows, and a kid to boot!
Not even when Jatemme manages to get away with the widows’ robbery money, and there is a car chase which sees his gruesome death against a concrete pillar.
It’s not that I, an Asian, cannot relate to Chicago as I merely replaced the city with, say, Kuala Lumpur. We have the same problems of corruption, greed, envy, gender bias, race, as everywhere else in the world. It’s not an ordinary heist movie, which would have been fun if dated, but with all that commentary it necessitates focus.
What impresses is that Davis finally has arrived, on the cinematic stage. She is fierce.
However, all ends well for the women, like nothing bad happened, except that they are now living without the financial help of men. A paradoxical twist, isn’t it? If anything, you will be impressed by how a bunch of housewives can get to be such good robbers!
For fans of Neeson and Farrell, you may not like their not-so-meaty role. If you are not yet a fan of Davis, then I suggest lots of popcorn to go with this movie.
WIDOWS
Directed by Steve McQueen
Starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Carrie Coon, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Cynthia Erivo
Duration 128 minutes
Rating PG18