Review of Suburbicon (2017) by Rebecca31 — 29 Nov 2017

Now here's a prime example of a movie trailer spoiling its own movie. Every scene that might contain a tiny bit of comedy has been shoved into the trailer in a desperate attempt to try find an audience for Suburbicon. So if like me your curiosity gets the better of you not only will you be able to predict absolutely everything before it happens but you'll be able to do it all while not laughing.

A home invasion and a murder in the lovely, tranquil town of Suburbicon. Starring Matt Damon doing his best to give an angry and slightly psychotic performance which ends up looking like he doesn't even want to be in the movie. Also starring Julianne Moore doing her super smiley unnerving performance, again and Oscar Isaac, who by a long shot is the best thing in Suburbicon. Such a short moment and he makes every second count. For a black comedy to work it needs to find the balance between humour and a dark story. Well Suburbicon sure found the darkness alright but it's so far away from funny as it can possibly get. Every time a character says their apparent funny line they almost pause after it as if waiting for you to laugh. Waiting for a laugh that never happens. It never once found the balance, instead you're left watching scene after scene where you know exactly how it will play out because you've already seen enough of it beforehand and provided you haven't fallen asleep you can figure out the rest for yourself.

If Suburbicon had lost all the attempts at comedy and just restricted itself to a dark thriller we might have gotten a better movie. As a whole it does not piece itself together, the tone is all over the place so the end result is a mess that just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Directed by George Clooney with a Coen Brothers script, sorry guys this one just doesn't work. Not recommended unless you really have nothing else to watch.