Widows Review
Steve McQueen comes back to the directing chair after his award winning 12 Years A Slave with a powerful film about strong, and hurt, women coming together for their first and final heist. Viola Davis loses her husband in a heist gone wrong, after finding out what her late husband had left behind she decides to contact the other widows who lost their husbands in that same heist so that they can support themselves from the debt and terrible living situations that they were left with.
In the midst of these grieving women a crime boss turned "politician" is up against Colin Farrell for the new election, and everything is at stake. More so than the actual heist this movie puts a lot of emphasis on this election. Jamal, the not so ex-crime boss that's still in the game, is planning to expand his reign by playing with the big boys and getting a better influence over their home precinct. Farrell is from a very well known family with his father, played by Robert Duvall, being a prominent figure head over the political scene and is expected to win easily.
Widows is written by Gone Girl scribe Gillian Flynn. Her style of writing intricate storylines with characters that are interwoven into a bigger conspiracy meshes well with McQueen's directing style and heavy themes relating to racial politics and giving light toward the underrepresented. This creates a good balance between the widows losing their husbands and finally taking up the heist with the ongoing political unrest in their community with the politicians that have a surprising amount of influence over everyone's lives.
One aspect about these characters that is supremely refreshing is how human they are. They are afflicted with troubles, trauma, and problems and are more often than not leads these women in over their heads when dealing with these situations. Viola Davis' character has to pay Jamal two million dollars because her late husband stole from him, Michelle Rodriguez is now a single mother who recently lost her job and may be pushed out of her extended family and lose her kids, and Elizabeth Debicki is a victim of abuse from her husband and mother. Each woman, with Cynthia Erivo added later, has a concrete and different reason for doing the heist, and each one, with the exception of badass Viola Davis, is not a hundred percent committed in doing this crime until it was time. These characters are broken, yet real, and deal with very relatable situations for a lot of people while trying to break their mold and strive for a better life.
What may also surprise some viewers who are expecting a stereotypical heist film is that this is far from a standard heist blockbuster. Oh no, this is a Steve McQueen heist so it'll have a very rigorous first half where everything is being set up plot and character wise and end up later focusing on each character's progression than say gathering the intel, getting the pre-heist dry runs, and even the actual heist itself. Once everything goes down it's quick, intense, and leaves before you can say "what just happened." And in that style Widows stands above and far from the rest of modern heist films by laying down a phenomenally solid character foundation and emotional bridge for the entire film rather than focusing on the details and lead up of the third act heist.
Unfortunately, Widows doesn't stick the landing as strong as it sets everything up. Because the action in this movie is quicker it does feel unsatisfying as a heist film even though the character and themes that McQueen is working with more than makes up for that. However, even once the heist is done the places where the film leaves these characters are also partly underwhelming. Some of them make sense like Debicki's character where she's living her life with new friends and has a confidence about her that wasn't there in the beginning, but others didn't have that same satisfying ending such as Viola Davis' character and Cynthia Erivo. It's understandable why their characters ended up there and how it makes sense that even though it's a positive ending it's not a happy ending, but cinematically it didn't have that relief you experience at the end of a character arc that you get in blockbusters even though I am sure that's exactly what the film was going against. The ending is a struggle and a love-hate relationship that'll need another viewing or two for me to mull over.
Other than that, this film was a power house where everyone was acting their A-game and giving performances that could very well lead to awards. Daniel Kaluuya, whom plays Jamal's brother and enforcer, is such a terrific bad guy. His performance is chilling and creepy. A real psychopath who'll play with his victims before ending them. His character is a great force overhanging the first half of this movie, but once the women start taking the heist seriously he disappears and doesn't come back until the end of the movie for a somewhat underwhelming exit.
This is not the heist film you were expecting, but the one that we deserved without knowing. McQueen and Flynn craft this very topical world with fleshed out tragic and rich characters all in order to showcase a fantastic film that is led by a band of kick-ass women. The themes and topics that get into the nitty-gritty of the United States with non-white Americans is powerful, and the strengths of the film, while those expecting kabooms and one liners will walk away disappointed. It may not be perfect, but it sure is close to it and one that has to be seen.
8/10
