A film starring, above all, Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez and Elizabeth Debicki. The latter is excellent. As for the other two, we were already familiar with their talents.
‘Widows’, being a Steve McQueen production, undoubtedly promised – at least on the surface – a personal, carefully crafted work, the kind for which the filmmaker is renowned!
So, whilst it certainly has its merits, one must nevertheless acknowledge that this ‘feminist’ thriller is no more transcendent or original than any self-respecting classic crime film…
I would have loved Clint Eastwood to have directed this feature film.
Through these four actresses, however, Steve McQueen has managed to create a somewhat slow-paced, dark and oppressive atmosphere that suits the film well, though it takes its time to build up.
This is undoubtedly where the problem lies: the story of this loot to be recovered drags on a little too long, lacking any real pace or stakes, and without any genuine palpable tension, which means the viewer finds it very difficult to engage and ends up getting a bit bored, rather than experiencing what is unfolding before their eyes with any real intensity. The film takes its time to unfold the story; the plot is revealed in flashes through these flashbacks to help the viewer make sense of the narrative. A group of widows take up the mantle of their bandit husbands, who died in a heist that went wrong. The ladies are stylish and pull out all the stops to make a fresh start from scratch. Political intrigues intertwine, with all the cameras fixed on the journey; it feels like an American satire, according to the women, and one expects twists and turns to follow.
We were entitled to expect something more thrilling, more profound, more gripping – in short, a film quite different from this one, which is, all things considered, rather conventional in style, except perhaps for the heroines, who are quite well portrayed in their respective roles, particularly Viola Davis, who is rather convincing and understated, but the quartet as a whole isn’t enough to carry the film and keep us engaged right to the end!
All the more so as the original plot, in its initial concept, would at least have deserved a slightly more dignified treatment given what it promised and led us to hope for…
A bit of a shame – here’s hoping for a bit more inspiration next time, as if this feature film were merely a pause or a breather in the filmmaker’s career!
Right then! I’ll start again and try to write a slightly more enthusiastic review!
What a start, my friends! In the space of a few minutes, we find ourselves caught up in the crossfire as the van carrying four fleeing criminals comes under fire. Four criminals, yes, but also four husbands/partners whose criminal lives have drained the intimacy they shared with their wives/partners, as we are briefly shown in these fleeting moments of their couples’ lives amidst the shootout that will clearly prove fatal to them. A passionate kiss exchanged between Veronica (Viola Davis) and her husband (Liam Neeson), the bruises on the childlike face of Alice (Elizabeth Debicki, impressive), or even Linda’s (Michelle Rodriguez) financial dependence on her husband to keep her business afloat… It takes Steve McQueen just a few scenes to bring to the screen the years these women have sacrificed – whether by choice or not – whilst living in the shadow of their men. Even though death tears their men away from them, their influence endures and crystallises, notably through the threat posed by a political candidate whose campaign funds were, in fact, the target of the four criminals’ final heist. In order to repay this posthumous debt and also secure their future, these women – who could not be more different – will join forces under Veronica’s leadership and carry out the heist that will allow them to turn the page on their former lives once and for all.
It’s worth noting that if you’re watching this film for Liam Neeson, you might as well give it a miss: he’s only on screen for about ten minutes!
The plot and the twists and turns are less important than the relationships between the women, their stories, and the political backdrop, as already mentioned.
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