A new, lively farce by the Coen brothers, but with a moralistic and edifying touch possibly courtesy of the other screenplay co-authors. The original idea of Joel and Ethan dates back to the Eighties, and this helps quite a bit. An enjoyable and sufficiently sharp film, especially from a political perspective.
The most evident message for today's America is also superficial, as it posits a contrast between the city's black people, opposed without reason, and a white, Pentecostal family that commits the worst atrocities without ever cracking that veil of saccharine hypocrisy well embodied by Julianne Moore's exaggerated smiles.
If we are to nitpick, the story is quite predictable, and slow in the first part, but as it unfolds, it takes on those typically Coenian perverse mechanisms that ensure moments of surreal entertainment. The grotesque vision is less effective than one might expect, especially in the first half, due to dialogues that aim to be absurd but don't always succeed, occasionally slipping into pure drama.
With the development of the action and violence, the Coenian key of interpretation emerges more clearly; indeed, it's in dealing with killings and bloody affairs with caustic lightness that the film is more sharply branded with the prestigious signature of the brothers. But even when the action languishes, the farce of everyday life, where even absurd inconsistencies are welcomed to preserve quiet living, where "everything is as it seems," but that's fine, well, this vision too has its slow but penetrating corrosive charge.
Concerning the xenophobic issue, I find the disinterest of the protagonists towards the theme more interesting than the moral dichotomy between whites and blacks. That's a bit simplistic and generic; instead, I like that the family at the center of the events, despite having chaos and protests right next to their home, seems entirely unperturbed. And that's the most sensible thing said on the political level: the blame is not only on the racists but also and above all on ordinary citizens, who don't pay attention to serious issues unfolding before their eyes every day. Just as guilty are the journalists who ride the xenophobic wave with absurd questions, receiving equally ridiculous answers.
Conceptually successful halfway, the film works excellently in its more strictly artistic and technical aspects. The actors are good, responding perfectly to their characters’ traits, as in the best Coen tradition. Clooney's direction is solid, functional, and at times noticeable for the sensibility of the shots. But on the other hand, I believe it's Clooney who added the less cynical component of the film: Uncle Mitch, the friendship between Nicky and Andy Mayers, the final opening to possible integration. For heaven's sake, all aspects are legitimate and indeed necessary to give hope to America, but they hybridize the Coenian stylistic and conceptual signature. An enjoyable middle ground between grotesque cynicism and a more uplifting vision of tomorrow.
6.5/10
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