Review of Better Living Through Chemistry (2014) by Mike S — 14 Mar 2015
An attempt at being a really quirky dark comedy, but the comedy is lacking and the tone of the film is a bit of a mess.
Sam Rockwell (Doug) drives the film and gives it his best. Rockwell is always great, and it's not like this film didn't have a good cast.
The problem is that it feels a bit like Double Indemnity in areas, but doesn't quite go that way, and the characters motivations are muted.
The over bearing father in law doesn't cause enough annoyance for the Doug or the audience and whilst Monaghan is a bitchy, overbearing wife, she fails to give the audience enough reason to dislike her enough (the way Annette Bening did in American Beauty). Ray Liotta is great, however, he is so barely in the film, and comes in so late, that it doesn't give him enough time to have an impact.
And Olivia Wilde is fine in the role of the mistress/teacher/female fatal, however, he motivations are not well explored and the plot to kill her husband is messy and undeveloped and eventually leads nowhere.
Not enough fun, not enough tension, not enough Liotta.
This review of Better Living Through Chemistry (2014) was written by Mike S on 14 Mar 2015.
Better Living Through Chemistry has generally received mixed reviews.
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