Widows

What got me to watch the film was its decent cast, but I feel like I was tricked. Given how boring it was, the running time was downright murderous. I’m not sure if there was a deeper message. My only takeaway from the film is that it was another act of brown nosing to the creators of racial quotas, so two black women, one responsible Hispanic mother and a Polish blonde meet to embark on a life of crime. Especially the character of Veronica seemed rather weird, at times almost schizophrenic. Her transitions from a righteous widow to a "cool" badass were really hard to believe. The script was very predictable, and I actually didn't enjoy any of it. (05/05/2019)

The ambitious 12 Years a Slave didn't appeal to me too much, but Widows is a different matter altogether. I haven't seen so many characters in one (new) film in a while that are so well written and acted and that aren't wasted, and it's a downright joy to watch them. And when their story is interesting, thrilling, well shot and has something to surprise you with (and it does), there's nothing to worry about. (02/04/2019)

The collaboration between McQueen and Zimmer promised a gripping experience full of tension and a mature touch. While I did experience these feelings a few times during the film, I wouldn't label it as fully successful. The cast is outstanding, no doubt about that. Viola Davis, in particular, doesn’t need to prove anything anymore, but she still delivered a top-notch, profoundly HUMAN performance. This aspect is often lacking in films. The father-son duo of Farrell and Duvall also shone, but their storyline could have used more screen time; I wouldn’t have minded at all. Moreover, Daniel Kaluuya steals a few moments for himself, sending chills down my spine. The idea of a heist carried out by widows initially appealed to me, but the film’s execution of this original and clever concept didn’t impress me as much. There’s also a lack of deep understanding of the main female characters since the film doesn’t delve into their relationships much, which is a disappointment. However, I admit that by the end, I was as tense as could be. Add Zimmer’s thunderous score and the chilling actions of everyone involved, and you get a positive outcome. It’s worthy of four stars, but it has its shortcomings, preventing it from soaring higher. A shame. I give it 70%. (02/07/2019)

My favorite author of the books for Gone Girl and Sharp Objects has teamed up with the director of 12 Years a Slave to knead together a sort of female variation on the heist movie. It actually turned out pretty well, but I can't help feeling that more could have been mined from the material. Anyway, I have to appreciate the attempt at originality, at least in the sense that the main characters did not choose their fate and were basically pushed to it by external circumstances. The whole story thus becomes much more fateful and all the attempts at social resonance seem quite credible. And it might as well have been called A Frightening Legacy. (01/26/2020)

Steve McQueen is a solid craftsman and his dramatic opening chase scene is fiercely authentic and almost chillingly realistic, but Widows won’t be a big hit, and not even the charisma of Viola Davis and Hans Zimmer’s rehash of his Synchrotone from Black Hawk Down will help. The monotonous atmospheric synths are often reminiscent of Michael Mann's heist gem, or The Dark Knight, but everything else is terribly far from that. The film can be raw and dramatic, but it's marred by a not-so-cleverly handled and mostly unnecessary twist like a 90s B-movie that actually sends it down the drain, and most of the seriousness is gone by that point. There is no probe into the underbelly of Chicago, nor is there an ode to female combativeness and determination. It’s just another ordinary crime drama, this time with women who want to be taken seriously playing the main roles. (12/03/2018)