I Didn't Get It (Suburbicon Review)
Kat and Ryley watched and reviewed and were very confused by George Clooney's "Suburbicon." There were plenty of one-star reviews to go around here.
Review Overview: It feels like two movies sloppily stitched together. The film's social commentary gets the backseat to the hijinks of the crime/comedy portion.
The two stories presented could have been fantastic on their own. Together it feels so disjointed and messy.
The performances by Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac are outstanding, especially the scene between the two of them.
Overall, the film feels overzealous and half-written.
Kat: 2/10
Ryley: 2/10
Both: [00:00:00] Hello,
Kat: and welcome to
Both: Easy Bake Takes
Ryley: the podcast
Kat: where we read you the one star reviews of your favorite movies and more. I'm Kat
Ryley: and I'm Ryley.
Kat: And to continue actors directing, we have cute little directed by George Clooney written by the Coen brothers movie called Suburbicon, which came out in 2017 and is rated R and is classified as a crime comedy and is only an hour and 45 minutes long, 28% critic score and 26% audience score on Rotten tomatoes for this movie, just to paint a picture of what we're about to get into. Suburbicon is set in 1959 in an all white neighborhood called Suburbicon. That is shaken by the arrival of the Mayers, the only black family to move in to Suburbicon. The film focuses on Gardner Lodge, who is a mild mannered family man who lives in suburbicon with his paraplegic wife, Rose and their son, Nicky. One night when Rose's identical [00:01:00] sister, Margaret is staying over two robbers named Sloan and Louis break into their house and tie the whole family up, knock them out with chloroform. Rose is given too much, which causes her organs to fail and she ends up dying. So we're at her funeral now, Margaret moves in after the funeral to help take care of Nicky and soon begins to slowly transform herself to look like Rose because they're identical, but she dyes her hair to look like her and starts having sex with Gardner. The Lodge family is called to the police station to identify the robbers, both Gardner and Margaret say that none of those are the right guys. Like that's not them. And Nicky recognizes them and tries to talk to his dad about it. And he's like, no, no, no, no. It's not them. Sloan and Louis show up at Gardner's job. And they're mad at him because he brought his kid and they start demanding the money that he's owed from Rose's life insurance policy that they got and Gardner refuses to pay and they threatened to kill Nicky and Margaret. Tensions start mounting between the residents of [00:02:00] Suburbicon and the Mayers family. Then a charismatic insurance agent named Bud Cooper arrives at the largest doorstep while Gardner is not home and begins to question Margaret, and he initially says, he's coming in to just clear things up and red flags on the life insurance claim that Gardner made on Rose, but eventually admits to Margaret that he suspects her and Gardner of murdering Rose to collect the policy. At which point Margaret kicks him out of the house. That night, a protest breaks out at the Mayers home that turns into a riot and Bud Cooper returns to Gardner's home to talk to him. And he tells Gardner that he knows the nature of his and Margaret's insurance fraud plan and attempts to blackmail them into giving him all of the money in exchange for his silence. Margaret puts lye in his coffee. Gardner bashes his head with a fire poker and puts him in the trunk of his car and he leaves to hide the body, but he's trailed by Sloan, one of the robbers. Margaret attempts to kill Nicky by poisoning him with a milk and sandwich. Like after she catches him, calling his uncle Mitch, Nicky refuses to leave his room. Louis [00:03:00] enters, and strangles Margaret to death. And then he heads upstairs to try and murder Nicky. Nicky hides under the bed and Mitch arrives just in time to kill Louis, but he also gets stabbed and he gives Nicky his gun and hides him in the closet. And then after disposing of Cooper's body, Gardner is taunted by Sloan who is suddenly hit and killed by a fire truck on its way to the Meyers home because of the rioters. Gardner returns home and discovers that Margaret, Mitch and Louis are dead and finds Nicky in a closet. And then he offers Nicky a choice between going along with this plan and running away, or he's going to kill him. He tells Nicky that he's not allowed to hang out with Andy who is the Mayers family's son. Gardner, while this conversation is happening, is eating the sandwich and drinking the milk that was intended for Nicky. And then the next morning, Gardner dies, Nicky calmly goes outside and starts playing baseball with Andy Mayers. As this happens, Mr. And Mrs. Mayers and some members of the community helps them clean up the mess that was left on their lawn after the riot. And that's the end of the movie.
Ryley: Sure [00:04:00] is.
Kat: It sure is so this movie was directed by George Clooney, also known as Amal Clooney's husband, her little husband made a movie.
Ryley: Her cute little husband made a movie.
Kat: But this was written by Joel and Ethan coen. And also parts of it were written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov. And grant has love also wrote Monuments Men.
Ryley: Oh, start to make sense now. Where uh. Where it went wrong.
Kat: So the score was by Alexandre Desplat. Who did, if you remember, the music for the shape of water, the cinematography was by Robert Elswit, who did the cinematography for There Will Be Blood and Nightcrawler, which those are good movies.
Ryley: Yeah. Very pretty movies too.
Kat: The cast includes Matt Damon playing Gardner, Julianne Moore, playing Rose and Margaret, Jack Conley playing Hightower, which is the cop. Oscar Isaac playing Bud Cooper, Tony Espinoza playing Andy Mayers Karimah Westbrook playing Mrs. Mayers, Leithe Burke playing Mr. Mayers Steve Monroe playing the mailman, Noah Jupe playing Nicky. He's also in A [00:05:00] Quiet Place. And James Handy playing Mayor Billings. Then some trivia, according to executive producer, Joel Silver, Joel and Ethan coen originally wrote the script for Suburbicon in 1986 soon after releasing their film Blood Simple. In 2005, it was reported that George Clooney would star in and direct the film while the Coen brothers were going to produce it. 10 years later, the film was made combining. Two previously unrelated scripts, one true crime film by the coens and the other, a historical drama by Clooney and Grant Heslov based on the real life story of the Mayers family, the only black family in an all white Levitt town, Pennsylvania neighborhood who faced racially charged harassment and violence from other residents. Um, so they just combined these two script. They combined to like the Matt Damon part and the Mayers family part and just said, yes.
Ryley: That is why that's why it's so messy.
Kat: mm-hmm mm-hmm which we'll come back to.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Woody Harson was also supposed to be in this movie, but couldn't because of scheduling conflicts and then [00:06:00] Josh Brolin was cast, but he was completely cut from the final cut of the.
Ryley: What did he play? What did he do?
Kat: I, it didn't say. I know that happens sometimes or they just completely cut somebody's part out of a movie that's so hard, but that must be heartbreaking.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: To get to the premier and be like, I'm not in it.
Ryley: I wasn't in it.
Kat: This was a box office bomb. It had 12 million earnings against a 25 million budget and it was the lowest opening weekend gross of any paramount film released in over 2000 films. Surprisingly, there were only like three factual errors to this movie and they were all based around how the, like the point remote was used on the TV.
Ryley: Oh,
Kat: The little laser remote pointed it at the wrong corners for the wrong functions. Cuz like one corners to turn it off. One corners to change the channel.
Ryley: Oh
Kat: One corners to-
Ryley: They just did the wrong corner. I was memorized by watching that. I was like, cuz I didn't know it was that far. I didn't know. Like they call it the clicker or something.
Kat: Yeah. It was the first ever TV remote.
Ryley: That's crazy. I didn't know. It looked like that.
Kat: Mm-hmm and that was the [00:07:00] whole time I was watching that. It was literally like, you're just shooting your TV with it.
Ryley: Like a little flashlight almost.
Kat: Yeah. Literally it, it like, yeah, it's it works kind of like a flashlight. You have to beam it in specific corners to do different functions. But yeah, those, those, that was the only factual error thing, which was surprising for a movie that's set in the fifties, you know,
Ryley: mm-hmm
Kat: What are your thoughts and opinions on this movie?
Ryley: Watching it and knowing the Coen brothers wrote, wrote a good chunk of this makes sense, cuz it kind of reads like a Coen brothers movie, but it's so messy because it's kind of really hard to understand what the meaning like I get it like suburbia is very like toxic and has the undergrowth of violence, you know? Absolutely. I totally agree with it, but it's like that message kind of got lost a little cause I feel like I missed something. I feel like
Kat: I, I, I get what you mean and it, like you said, it's, it's a very messy movie.
Ryley: Mm-hmm
Kat: and I think that's, that definitely contributes to feeling like there's something that should have been there that wasn't
Ryley: mm-hmm
Kat: it doesn't seem like the two story lines were
Ryley: [00:08:00] no, they're like it's
Kat: they were trying to make like a parallel there, but it didn't,
Ryley: it didn't work. And I was the, the whole time I'm like, I don't really know, like I get it like suburbia is racist and, and awful. And I totally understand that, but like what,
Kat: What else?
Ryley: What, like, Why these two and it's like, you know, the Mayers family that could have been their own movie, like, and like you said, they made a script and just put 'em together. And to me that's like, okay, they did that, but they didn't like put it together, you know?
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: They didn't, it's not cohesive. It's like, I just don't understand where the connection between the Mayers family and the lodge family, and what's going on there.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I just-
Kat: Even Colin brother's part. It was a little more cohesive, but still like there was stuff missing from the lodge family portion of it. I think that Gardner would win the award for worst dad.
Ryley: Mm-hmm
Kat: Nothing was set up for him to even be an okay dad, never seemed fatherly throughout the entire thing.
Ryley: The [00:09:00] first time we see him ever is when the incidents happening when the, um,
Kat: yeah. When the robbers come.
Ryley: Exactly. So we see him. It's just, I don't know. It's just kind of this, movie's just kind of weird.
Kat: It is. It is. It seems it's very, for lack of a better way of saying it half baked.
Ryley: Yeah. It's not like this movie was, it has an interesting concept. All of it.
Kat: Oh, of course.
Ryley: Like you said, half baked. It's just not, it's just, it lacks in so many areas. It doesn't make. Also, I'm a little confused by the ending. So uncle Mitch comes in, saves the kid. He picks up the phone that Nicky called him from. Julianne Moore's character pulled it from the socket.
Kat: Yeah. She like cut the,
Ryley: yeah, she cut it or something and he picks it up and he goes, hello. And I guess it doesn't work, cuz like no one shows up the police don't show up.
Kat: No, it doesn't work. No.
Ryley: Okay.
Kat: It doesn't work. And I think he dies shortly after cuz he's like dying.
Ryley: That makes sense. Cuz I thought it was working. I thought that the police were gonna come. I hated the ending. [00:10:00] There's body's all around. You gotta call the cops kid. Someone's gotta take those out.
Kat: Oh yeah. What? You can't just go outside and play baseball.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Like at least there's literally like TV cameras. Just be like, um, somebody excuse me, my whole family's dead in there.
Ryley: And like, that's the whole thing too, is the ending. The ending just throws me off too. Cause I don't really understand cuz it ends with the two boys playing I'm like, but like what does that mean? Like I like,
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I don't understand it. So we went through all of. And I don't.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: Like I feel like there's something to be meant by it and I'm just like, I missed it.
Kat: Also something I wrote down. Like, it's one of the few things I wrote down. How did he not taste? She took a whole bottle of like sleeping pills or something I'm assuming.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: And just, he was. Like you didn't taste that at all?
Ryley: He would've tasted it. He would TA it would've tasted like I've heard people say it tasted like a, I wanna say tart or sour or something like that.
Kat: It'll taste off. It'll at least be chalky. I think that's another part of it. Just being half baked, the ending, it just [00:11:00] didn't seem like, felt like all the stakes were lost by the time he was eating the sandwich.
Ryley: Mm-hmm .
Kat: If that makes sense. Cuz I'm just sitting there waiting for him to die.
Ryley: Mm-hmm
Kat: cause I'm like, oh, he ate the sandwich.
Ryley: Yeah, exactly. As soon as soon as I saw him sitting and the sandwiches front of him, I'm like, okay, I know where this is going. Is there gonna be like a last he's trying to get the kid scene that he he's gonna die.
Kat: Like a chase or something, you know. I feel like it would've been a more Coen brother ending to have like a little running around the house and he's just slowly dying, chasing after him.
Ryley: Mhmm.
Kat: That would've been something at least, but it finished and I was like, nothing about that was good.
Ryley: I wanted to like it, like I was sitting through it. I was like, this, it it's got something,
Kat: So many talented people like.
Ryley: Yeah, no one did bad in this movie in the context of like, they all did good with what they had.
Kat: I'm just gonna say Noah Jupe and Tony Espinoza the kids,
Ryley: mm-hmm
Kat: They both did great. Like they,
Ryley: Oh yeah they were fantastic.
Kat: Their part of the movie was amazing. Like the kids were great.
Ryley: Mhmm. I didn't know [00:12:00] Julianne Moore. I was really confused by this Julianne Moore playing two cage. I was so confused. I was so thrown off. One I thought there were two separate actresses at first. I'm like, oh, but I get it cuz people say they always look alike. And then I realize it's just Julianne Moore. I didn't know who the other actress was.
Kat: There is a critic, I left this part out of her review, but she was talking about how she often confuses actors. If like, you know, they have a similar letter in their last name or like they kind of look similar. So she was like, she was convinced that it was two different actresses.
Ryley: Yes. The same, same, yeah.
Kat: But yeah, it's just, they're just both Julianne Moore, but I will say the way that they did it, it looked, it looks absolutely seamless like-
Ryley: Thought it was two separate actresses. Absolutely.
Kat: Parent trap level seamless.
Ryley: Yes but what I was gonna say with that is like, I didn't know. So Julianne Moore, blonde Rose, I didn't know she was the mother of Nicky until after her funeral.
Kat: Yeah. Cuz Margaret seemed more motherly.
Ryley: So I was really confused. They didn't establish that well, at the beginning.
Kat: Margaret's like you were trapped [00:13:00] in that marriage or whatever to Gardner. And it's like, wow. Like why? Like what Mar what was wrong with Rose?
Ryley: Well, I'm, I'm assuming this is what I assumed she had got in that car wreck. And she was in the wheelchair.
Kat: I assumed that the car wreck was his first attempt to get rid of her.
Ryley: See, they never they never get into that. They re they only, yeah, that's the thing briskly mention the car wreck.
Kat: Cause he was like, no one died, no one died. And she was like, yep, everything turned out fine.
Ryley: Yeah, exactly. And it, and she says it in such a way of like, she almost knows.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: Onto something, but they don't play into that at all.
Kat: No.
Ryley: And it's like that would've been interesting if we got a, sorry anything from Rose, cuz Rose was really just a, I think Rose literally has only two, five lines.
Kat: Yeah, she's in the first five minutes of the movie.
Ryley: First five minutes and we get nothing about Rose.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: Nothing about her being Nicky's mom. We hardly get any information about the car wreck, but I assume trapped in that marriage. I, I assume because like, you know, she's in a wheelchair and that's what I assumed. I didn't [00:14:00] know though.
Kat: Seeming like maybe he was trying to kill her on purpose with the car accident. Cuz she was the only one that was permanently injured.
Ryley: They don't clarify. And I'm not trying to sound ableist by saying like, oh he.
Kat: No, no, no.
Ryley: Her being in a wheelchair. But like, if you think about it back in the 1950s, women were literally seeing one sexual and two, uh, you have to take care of the house and if you can't do either.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: Why are you around kind of thing?
Kat: Exactly. Yeah, no, I get, I get what you mean.
Ryley: Okay. I wish I went more into it, actually.
Both: See that that's something that I think would've added to that storyline, at least.
Ryley: Mm-hmm. Anything about Rose. Anything.
Kat: Throw me a flashback, like, come on.
Ryley: Yeah, no kidding.
Kat: I had watched this movie before.
Ryley: Did you like it the first time you watched it or no? You-
Kat: No!
Ryley: You said it was nothing about it was, was good.
Kat: No, nothing, nothing about nothing redeeming about it.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: Like once it ended, I was like, that was it?
Ryley: Mm-hmm .
Kat: Is there anything else you wanna add or you wanna wait till we get into the critics more?
Ryley: No, we'll get into the critics.
Kat: So the critical reviews, the first one I have is [00:15:00] from ready, steady, cut, and was written by Alix Turner in 2017, who gave it a three outta five. And I'm just gonna say right now, some of the, even the fresh ones were not positive.
Ryley: Oh wow.
Kat: They were like slightly, slightly positive, but.
Ryley: Slightly.
Kat: Just as much critique as the negative ones.
Ryley: Wow.
Kat: So Turner believes that it's a struggle to pin down the genre of this film. They say, quote, "the coen brothers have scripted a handful of films for other directors, which worked out well. So I don't think collaboration per se is the problem. I'm fairly sure it was the writing. Apparently Clooney and Heslov reworked a coen brothers screenplay: damn shame about the result," end quote. And then they talk about how the film tries to talk about race and also mentions that this part of the storyline was not included in the trailer for the movie, but they don't believe that this was the right medium for a racism message. And references that it was done better in movies like Hidden Figures and Get Out.
Ryley: Mm.
Kat: The racism subplot was so separated that they question its inclusion in the movie.
Ryley: [00:16:00] Right. Okay. That's the thing like, absolutely. Yeah. Like I just.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: And then they say, quote, "that's another thing: was it really the 1950s? I kept expecting some revelation to show that it was set in present day."
Ryley: Oh.
Kat: "but people had elected to live in a city with 1950s style and facilities as part of getting away from the real world; or it was so stylized because of some Truman Show style explanation," end quote.
Ryley: Hmm.
Kat: They also say that the tone of the film meanders between tents and farcical, and then it veers into tragic all of a sudden.
Ryley: Like two separate movies are put into one. It feels like you're you, you're going back and forth. You're like, what's how are these two different stories going on? We know they're both existing at the same time, but they're not included with each other.
Kat: The only connection between the two families is the boys.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: And that is it. Turner also does praise the performances of Oscar Isaac, and Karimah Westbrook. Turner ends this review with quote, "Suburbicon was entertaining though, and grabbed me just enough that I kept expecting those issues to be [00:17:00] resolved. I feel like it was taking me towards some satisfying conclusion, but I'm sorry to say it did not," end quote.
Ryley: Yeah, that's a great way to say it. Cuz I feel this movie was so messy. I'm at a loss of words of how to describe how it was messy and that makes a lot of sense. It felt- you felt like it was gonna go go towards something. You thought it was gonna all come together at the end, at least. It doesn't. And it just leaves you going what?
Kat: Exactly. The next review is from caution spoiler written by Sarah Cartland in 2017 and she gave the movie a two and a half out of five. And says, Fifties period details are fun, but tonally, the movie is all over the place. And says that she was kept on her toes at times, but not as much by the actual like thriller elements.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: She also praises the performances of Noah Jupe and Oscar Isaac, and then says that the two tones of the com- comedic antics at the Lodges and the threatening racism outside the Mayers house just don't work together. And then says that the Mayers are barely seen and their story is put in the background, describing that the [00:18:00] film portrays them as quote," the dignified, but almost invisible black family," end quote.
Ryley: Yeah. Cuz they are really like, they're going through like really, really awful, horrible, horrible things. And they're just the side characters and we just kind of periodically keep checking in on them and it keeps getting worse and it's awful, but again, still not the main focus of the movie. And it's just always like, but why? And the whole time I was like, I don't, I don't understand. I don't, I don't.
Kat: Yeah, I would. Say that's fair.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: That you're confused by it. They also mentioned that the character of uncle Mitch is very engaging and he's larger than life, but just not included enough for them.
Ryley: Again, 10 minutes, maybe 10 minutes on screen.
Kat: Yeah. They end this review with quote, "without the Mayers, partly told story. And the misfiring comic weirdness the goings on at the lodges would be an entertaining 1950s, mellow drama updated for the age of irony. From the brightly colored fixtures and fittings to the jarring music, which appears at times of peril. Instead, this is an uncomfortable [00:19:00] watch where all the seams are visible despite its classy cast," end quote.
Ryley: Very good way to put it.
Kat: But we'll move on to the next one from fresh fiction written by James Cole Clay in 2017, who gave this a B minus. And they say, quote, "Clooney's film is a lot of things, but outright terrible it is not. Despite its roundabout way of making a point on racial ethics, the film is dipped into a half baked murder mystery that's oddly daring and quite possibly incompetent, although the material works in a chin stroking kind of way." So it just makes you go. Hm?
Ryley: It did, but not in a good way.
Kat: No. They called it half baked and incompetent.
Ryley: But they're trying to be positive about it. And it's like, no, I mean, I'm sorry, like I'm not scratching my chin because I'm thinking, oh, this is cl this is too clever for my brain. I'm like, no, there's nothing to, to, to analyze or put together here. I don't understand. I'm confused because it's bad filmmaking.
Kat: Yeah. Well, they say that the film is unfocused, but that makes it a fascinating [00:20:00] filmmaking exercise.
Ryley: No.
Kat: Um, and it felt like it hold on it. They say it felt like it was made on a dare or that they had too much confidence in their reach for relevant social commentary. So it seems like if you were to take, if you were to give this kind of script, this disjointed messy script to like a film student and as an exercise to be like, how would you make this work?
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: I could see that or like dissecting what's wrong with it is a good filmmaking exercise. Maybe.
Ryley: I, I get that like, absolutely. And I think there's enough substance in this movie to absolutely do that and make it cohesive and to actually have like an actual message. But the movie didn't do that. So therefore you can't give this movie a high rating when it didn't do.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: But you're saying someone else could do, is that what they're saying?
Kat: I, what I'm getting from the fascinating filmmaking exercise part of it is like, you could take this movie into a film class and be like, let's break down what they did wrong and how we could fix it, if we were to make this movie over.
Ryley: That's not a compliment though. [00:21:00] That shouldn't be a compliment.
Kat: No. And I think, I think it feels like this person was afraid to outright shit on this movie.
Ryley: Just say it's bad.
Kat: But they, they also said that Matt Damon is his best when he is playing stupid.
Ryley: So the opposite of Good Will Hunting?
Kat: Good Will Hunting, he's hiding the fact that he's smart. So I guess he is playing dumb.
Ryley: I think that is, I think that's a kind of a backhanded compliment.
Kat: It is.
Ryley: You're a really good when you play stupid.
Kat: You're really good at pretending to be dumb. But also's-
Ryley: Oh that's funny.
Kat: And then they said that Oscar Isaac is the only perfect one in his role. And his scenes that were opposite Julianne Moore just shows you everything that this movie could have been like. And then quote, "personally, I feel a bit hypocritical giving Clooney's film on pass on elements that would pan another film. It's that Clooney mystique that allows the film to be charming in a pseudo intellectual kind of way."
Ryley: Again. So backhand. Such a backhanded compliment. I [00:22:00] don't.
Kat: Yeah, these are, this is not, this is not a nice review.
Ryley: No they're being, they're being mean.
Kat: They gave it a B minus.
Ryley: But I that's the part that's throwing me off. It's like, are they, are they being, do they think they're being genuine? Are they being snarky? I don't know, because to me, this sounds just straight up rude.
Kat: I, I feel like they're trying to be nice, but it's, they, it can, it's like hard to write.
Ryley: It's really hard for them.
Kat: Without sounding snarky. Yeah.
Ryley: That is funny.
Kat: The last quote I have for this one is quote, "here we have a comedic," in quotes, "jab at blind privilege of the upper middle class, and its Clooney's most ambitious work since 2005's Good Night, Good Luck. While the film doesn't amount to the sum of its parts, Suburbicon always has the gears turning even if the outcome does leave its big names behind the eight ball," end quote.
Ryley: This movie did have the potential like I, and I think it did in some ways how- how suburbia can really be just this [00:23:00] racist. And also like, you know, the, the riots have been at the Mayers house and they've done nothing wrong. Meanwhile, the people living right behind them are literally murderers and scamming and just awful, awful people. It just feels like the whole Mayers family thing is just kind of thrown in there just to, just to add, add something more than what's happening with-
Kat: Add social commentary.
Ryley: Yeah, yeah. A little bit, but it's disappointing because like they did, but they didn't can't half ask that either you do or you don't, you know?
Kat: Yeah. I see what you're saying with, oh, it's like, literally, like on the other side of the street, there's a white family who actually has done something wrong and should, and would warrant people rioting outside of their house for the actions that they've done. And like that is like the pseudo commentary on white privilege.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: But it's never really like harped on.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: You don't get that message right away from watching the movie.
Ryley: That's the thing. It's just two different things are [00:24:00] happening. It's almost like you're watching two different movies at the same time.
Kat: Oh yeah. Okay. So this last review I have is, this is from the movie blog and was written by Emmanuel Noisette in 2017, who gave it a five and a half out of 10, and titled this review, "Suburbicon could have been the white version of Get Out."
Ryley: Oh.
Kat: And they start with quote, I think my absolute favorite part of this film was the first 10 minutes. We're given a touch of racial satire that may remind people of the same vibe from the movie Get Out. The characters in the movie quickly begin to set the dark, comedic tones that continues until the films end," end quote. And then says that the bond between the children is a positive aspect of the film and is probably the one thing of the film that comes off as authentic as possible. And then says that Matt Damon delivers a performance, a solid performance, but his favorite performance was Oscar Isaac saying, quote, "he seemed to be one of the few actors in this film that really got into his character and had fun with it."
Ryley: True.
Kat: And then said that the movie was [00:25:00] random. And that the direction felt really disjointed. Once you got to the second half of the movie, and also at that point of the movie, the second half, it feels like it takes a very, very predictable turn. Says, quote, "the direction and the writing just seemed to mix like oil and water." And talks about how there's constantly failed jokes about religion, like the St. Patrick, those jokes didn't land ever.
Ryley: Were there jokes?
Kat: Exactly.
Ryley: Okay. Yeah. Cause I'm staying here and going, like, were they jokes or were they just?
Kat: I don't even know. You know, it's like, yeah, I. Whatever.
Ryley: Yeah, I don't, yeah.
Kat: But they'll they also say that the movie attempts some sort of racial connection to tell the story, but fails to communicate any message of white privilege. And that quote, "the racism that is displayed in this film is taken to such an extreme. It completely misses the mark of drawing any relevance to anything contemporary," end quote. And says that the whole film was a missed opportunity to like, it was a missed opportunity to be more intriguing. And ended the review with quote, "Suburbicon could [00:26:00] have been a funny socially conscious film. Regrettably, it's just not that deep. It's a pretty random film that probably lives up to the expectations of the Coen brothers, Fargo, hail Caesar, et cetera. If you're a fan of their work, then maybe you'll enjoy this movie more than I did. I can't say that I disliked Suburbicon. However, I left the theater not feeling any type of way about. I think that if a film leaves you indifferent, then that's an immediate red flag. Watch at your own risk," end quote.
Ryley: Did not affect me. It just left me confused, nothing about that movie made us an actual real statement. So therefore, I didn't know what its message was and there it's just random.
Kat: This movie makes me understand those reviews where people are like, I wasted two hours of my life.
Ryley: Right.
Kat: Do you have anything to say else to say about the critic reviews?
Ryley: Uh, no. No, cuz I, I, I feel like this last one just really just summed it all up.
Kat: It really did. Yeah.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: Did you feel like [00:27:00] the writing and the directing didn't really mix well?
Ryley: It felt like a Coen brothers movie, but didn't, didn't execute like a coen brothers movie. Like I'm not, I'm not gonna put all the blame on George Clooney.
Kat: I think his writing on this, the other half of the script might have been at fault.
Ryley: I think so, too, but I don't know. I just, just poorly executed.
Kat: Had you heard of this movie before?
Ryley: Mm-hmm I had never heard of it before. I thought this was like an older movie too. I did not think this was 2017. I do not remember this coming out. I did not hear about it until like last week when you told me to watch it.
Kat: So it used to be on Netflix. I watched the trailer for it and like that other person said the racism storyline is not included in the trailer. It's literally just all the hijinks of the lodge family. And that part where, um, Matt Damon's like biking away on his kid's bike.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: And like, it just seems like it's just this goofy crime, dark comedy.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: The trailer's very misleading. It seems like it's fully just a Coen brothers movie kind of [00:28:00] thing. And when you watch it, you're like, oh, it's like half a Coen brothers movie. It's kind of like From Dusk Til Dawn how the first half is a.
Ryley: Yes. A Quentin Tarantino film and the other half is, what's his name?
Kat: Robert Rodriguez.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Yeah. It's kind of like that thing where it's.
Ryley: It's different vibes.
Kat: Where that one, it was literally like halfway point, now it's a Robert Rodriguez movie. This one's like just blended together two different visions.
Ryley: And it was like that what that one critic said, you see the seams, you literally see the seams of between these different movies being made and put together.
Kat: Yeah, exactly. It feels like you're flipping back and forth from two different movies.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: While you're watching it.
Ryley: Absolutely.
Kat: Yeah. Okay. So we'll move on to the audience reviews. And I'll just say there have been movies where it was like, it was like Iron Giant, it was so hard to find a negative review.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: It was hard to find a, a good positive review of this movie.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: So this first one is a 10 out of 10 from [00:29:00] IMDB from 2019 titled, "brilliant." And it says, "Hitchcockian with a touch of John Waters. Well acted, well directed, well filmed." I think it-.
Ryley: No no.
Kat: No, no. That's just a, that's just a horror film slash thriller director and a campy like satire director, you could have just said it's a, it's a thrillery, campy satire. And I would've been like, yes, I see you. But John Waters and Hitchcock? No.
Ryley: That person person just took two, two things and just threw them in this review. I was like, no. I'm sorry, that's not accurate.
Kat: That's exactly what it is. It's not John Waters campy. I am so sorry.
Ryley: I, I don't, I don't understand like, okay, thriller part, maybe? I do not understand where they're getting John Waters. It wasn't, it, it, I mean, no, I don't understand.
Kat: No, absolutely not.
Ryley: This movies really not that funny. I'm gonna say it. Like I was not laughing through this movie.
Kat: No. No, like they said those failed religion jokes. You didn't even notice were jokes.
Ryley: I didn't [00:30:00] even know they were jokes. I thought it was just,
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: Weird dialogue.
Kat: Yeah, but we'll move on to the first one out of 10. This is from IMDB. It's titled "bad, really bad" from 2017. "Shocking with all the big names attached to this film, George Clooney, Julianne Moore, Matt Damon, etc. etc., It could be such a bomb. After dropping $50 to see it with the family, we all agreed 20 minutes into the film it wasn't worth our time. I tried to get a refund, but the theater manager just laughed. We had a similar experience with Matt Damon's Great Wall movie and lasted about 30 minutes before succumbing to boredom. I honestly can't imagine people in Hollywood screening this and thinking it was ready for release. It almost seems like they just attached a bunch of big names to this stinker just to fill seats. White collar crime at its finest."
Ryley: Not defending this movie. And like, they, they have some points. But only giving this, not this movie, only giving a movie, just any movie about 20 minutes to get into. Dude. And you all agree to [00:31:00] leave and then you try to get, this is some Karen shit. I'm sorry. That's a little.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: That's a little embarrassing. It's an hour 45 minute- 45 minute movie. You give it 20 minutes. No.
Kat: I gave it 45 before I was before I was like, okay, no.
Ryley: Yeah. Like they didn't even get to like halfway through the movie. And like, I'm not saying this movie, I'm not trying to defend this movie. I'm not saying they were wrong for disliking this movie and like the last bit yeah, they were making some points, but come on, you can't walk in a movie and be like, mm, I don't like this first 20 minutes. No, you've gotta stay and watch. I don't like people who make reviews, who have only seen part of the. Because you don't know.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: You don't know where it goes.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I'm not saying this movie goes anywhere, but in general, as a, as a, this is my principle, you gotta watch at at least majority of the movie to like it or to, or to judge it, not like it to judge it. You gotta see it through that's.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: That's some Karen should I'm sorry.
Kat: Yeah. This next review is from Letterboxd. It's a two star review from August of 2020. "Clooney makes the [00:32:00] silliest little films. Showing a little white boy, a little black boy share baseball and bugs over their fence is not commentary on segregation, as much as some people would like to think it is. Noah Jupe was lovely. And it was cool seeing that flashlight remote thing. The fifties were crazy."
Ryley: Oh my God. They were right. That flashlight remote thing was crazy. I was like really mesmerized by that. I was like, is that really how it was like? It's pretty crazy. Yeah.
Kat: Yeah, that isn't.
Ryley: Okay. So the ending, okay. I get it now when they're playing catch and there's that fence dividing them.
Kat: Yeah. He's on just on the other side of the fence, you know, it's.
Ryley: Right.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I get that. But like there's dead bodies in his house. his, his parents are in there.
Kat: His whole entire, his literal entire family is dead in that house. He's just throwin a baseball over the fence.
Ryley: There's like two different things going on at, towards the end. It's like, I don't, I don't under, I Goddamn.
Kat: I didn't love that they just flipped it. And all of a sudden the people in the neighborhood are [00:33:00] being nice and helping them clean up.
Ryley: Yeah. All of a sudden there's like, like a glimmer of hope random.
Kat: I didn't want it to be shittier for them, but like.
Ryley: I don't know, like it just like, oh, there's some nice people.
Kat: It undercuts your little message. Yeah.
Ryley: That's the whole thing. Like I don't, I mean, I've said I don't get it a hundred times within this episode. I just.
Kat: Yeah, that should be the title. I just don't. I don't get it.
Ryley: Yeah. I don't, I don't get it. I don't, I don't think they got it whoever made this movie.
Kat: This next one is a two out of 10 from IMDB titled, "Wait, what?" From 2017. "Suburbicon is weird. Like really weird. And not in a good way. Like drinking coffee out of a beer can, that's also spiked with orange juice. And man, is it trying its darnest to make something unique and intentional. Unfortunately, I don't know if I've ever seen a movie swing so hard and end up whiffing even harder. Suburbicon is not just weird; it's also just plain bad. To describe it would be an act of futility. It's sort of about a family dealing with death. It's sort of about [00:34:00] racism. It's sort of a mafia comedy. It's sort of a satire of the American dream. It's sort of a familial thriller. It has some great production design, and Oscar Isaac is a blast in his short screen time. Otherwise, it's one of the most obnoxious critiques of the dark suburban underbelly I've ever seen. I have no idea how someone is supposed to plug into this movie. Predictable when trying to be sneaky, dull when trying to be exciting, awkward when trying to be funny; it gives us no character to latch onto, no story to intrigue us, no humor to overcome its darkness, and no clarity or focus to its themes. Honestly, Mr. Clooney, what is this movie? Is it a quirky comedy? Is it a dark thriller? Is it a corny message on love, or a cynical study of American justice? Whatever it is, I'll tell you what it, isn't: a movie worth watching."
Ryley: I agreed with everything they said. This is a very, very accurate, uh, opinion about this movie. They said everything I've been wanting to say.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: And it's like, they listed like all the thing, like it, they wanted to be everything [00:35:00] about all those like genres they were listing. And it just ended up being so messy because they were trying to fit all those different genres and tones into the movie. And wow they that perfect review of this, actually, this is a great commentary on this film that I completely 100% agree with.
Kat: Oh, yeah. I like, I love when people address the filmmaker directly too.
Ryley: Mm-hmm Mr Clooney.
Kat: You tell me what you thought this was.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: This next one is a one star review from 2017 that says, from Letterboxd. That says, "it's important to reflect on your life sometimes and count your blessings. For instance, today I'm incredibly grateful that this movie is only 104 minutes."
Ryley: I can only imagine if this movie was closer to two hours. I, oh.
Kat: I wouldn't have picked it.
Ryley: I- I prob. I'd probably be yelling through this thing if we had to watch it. And it was, if it was at two hours or over two hours, I'd be probably like very, very way, way more angry than.
Kat: Very much so. This is [00:36:00] a one star review from 2018 on Letterboxd. That just says "stop."
Ryley: Yep. I take it back. This is the most accurate . This is the most accurate. Just, oh.
Kat: This next one is a one out of 10 from 2020 on IMDB titled, "this could be the worst film of the year." "This could be the worst film of the year. The writing was all Coen brothers but the execution was terrible. I am pretty sure if the Coen brothers were to direct this film, it would've turned out a lot better." I think they'd have to rewrite a little bit.
Ryley: Rewrite a little bit. Uh, I, I, don't just, I mean, just really just, just make the two storylines cohesive, put a message, say something.
Kat: This next one is a one star review from January, 2022 on Letterboxd. "George Clooney and is goddamn period pieces. He can't help it can he? It's still utterly boring, but also his weirdest most unexpected and by that most interesting question one. Obviously it's very [00:37:00] coonish, but really third to fourth rate quality, most irritating thing, being the intertwining of the actual fraud story, which essence by itself is already hard to grasp, and the tense sixties racism backdrop, that being a backdrop is quite insulting to use."
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: "It surely is done out of good intentions, but if your mood is happy go lucky Coen-lite satire, then you probably shouldn't use heavy artillery as your historical anchor point. Maybe someone should have told Clooney and the Coens?"
Ryley: Very true. That is very, very true.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: Cause it is, they're just kind of used as, the Mayers family's just kind of used as this, they're, they're not even like part of the main, like I said, they're not part of the main storyline. They're, they're just part of this like little other thing going on. And it's just like, that is, and it ends up not meaning anything for the rest of the movie. It's just like, I mean, like this person said it's, it's insulting, you know, just to use them.
Kat: Oh yeah.
Ryley: It was almost like a prop for the movie, you know?
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: Oh, I did wanna say [00:38:00] earlier. So let's say George cloy didn't do anything like creative directly or writing for the movie for this movie. Who do you think he would've played? If he were this movie, if he didn't direct, if he didn't write, but you know, we love him as an actor. He's great.
Kat: I think initially he was supposed to be Gardner.
Ryley: The dad?
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: He would've played a good like Oscar Isaac's character. I think he would've done really, really well with that character.
Kat: You know? I agree. I think, I think he would've too.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: This next review is a one out of 10 from IMDB titled "bad" exclamation point from 2020.
Ryley: Bad! Like you was scolding someone.
Kat: Bad Clooney. "Very bad movie I regret watching this. The plot of the movie is bad as wel,. The beginning is just poor and I just don't wanna start with," with, "ending of the movie. Acting was good and outstanding performance of the boy, but story of the movie is just disappointing. Didn't like it at all. And if you're going to watch it, please save your precious time and try to look something else and you can [00:39:00] thank me later. Usually I don't do this, but this is the worst movie ever made and I just feel like I need to do this." And it's the emoji of a fist and it's punching a film camera.
Ryley: I didn't even know that existed until now. That's hilarious.
Kat: You just wanna punch this movie and I get it. I get it.
Ryley: Yeah. Yeah. I get that. Very true.
Kat: I just thought it was funny that they they were like, I wanna do this to it.
Ryley: I thought it was a fish. I don't know why I thought it was a fish.
Kat: I see that I see it. The fist.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: But yeah, I, I get that. Just wanna go eh punch it.
Ryley: Honestly. Yeah.
Kat: This next one is from July of 2022 from Letterboxd and it is one star. "I couldn't care less about this poor excuse for a movie, but Oscar Isaac ate his 12 minutes of screen time and left no crumbs."
Ryley: Mm-hmm. Absolutely.
Kat: And their profile picture is Oscar Isaac.
Ryley: Oh, they're a big fan.
Kat: One out of 10 IMDB, March 20, 22, titled" just the worst.""I have added this to Blair Witch, Frankenweenie as just one of the dumbest movies I have seen. Predictable. [00:40:00] Acting made to just suck. The director must have shot each scene and right before filming said, make it campy and act like you just don't care, and action." I do hate the Blair witch.
Ryley: I like the Blair witch. So. I don't know what this person's talking about.
Kat: It's another movie that I'm like, why are you trying to make me upset? Nothing fucking happens in the Blair Witch.
Ryley: I like that movie. It's the, that's the point. That's the point.
Kat: Nothing happens.
Ryley: It's tension supposed to scary you.
Kat: You don't even see the Blair witch.
Ryley: That- they didn't have the budget.
Kat: They were literally filming on the cheapest video camera they could find.
Ryley: I love it. I think that's great. And it made fucking millions. It's awesome. I think that's pretty cool. Anyway, I'm not gonna get to the Blair witch? Because.
Kat: I'm just gonna say out of found footage, movies I would honestly rather watch any paranormal activity movie over the Blair witch.
Ryley: Well, I'm gonna tell you something right now. If it weren't for Blair witch, paranormal movies probably wouldn't exist.
Kat: I don't give a shit.
Ryley: Because the Blair witch
Kat: I don't give a shit
Ryley: started it.
Kat: I don't give a shit. You could say all you want. It's like saying the OH Citizen Kane did so much for film. Does it [00:41:00] mean I like it.
Ryley: I
Kat: Doesn't mean
Ryley: love the Blair witch.
Kat: I like it. Doesn't mean
Ryley: I love the Blair Witch.
Kat: I like it.
Ryley: I love it. You know, you can have your opinions. I'm not saying you're right though. uh.
Kat: I can't wait till the day that we do the Blair Witch.
Ryley: Oh, it's coming up. It's coming up. It's coming up this October, probably.
Kat: Mm-hmm.
Ryley: Or September. I don't know. I don't know if I wanna start earlier or not.
Kat: I'm feeling I, I need, I need fall to start, you know, maybe will we'll kick it off.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: Be ready, bitch.
Ryley: Okay. What was the review reading again?
Kat: They added this movie along with Frankenweenie to like one of the dumbest movies they've ever seen.
Ryley: I'm I'm sure.
Kat: I agree.
Ryley: Yeah. I mean, it's dumb. I just got mad when they, they got, they made at, uh, Blair witch. Have you seen Frankenweenie?
Kat: I've never seen it, but I know it's not- people just didn't really like it that much.
Ryley: I didn't see it, but I know like, Frankenweenie's like, what is it? It goes, uh.
Kat: Yeah, Jack Skellington.
Ryley: Jack Skellington's little dog to.
Kat: And then,
Both: Corpse Bride.
Ryley: [00:42:00] Frankenweenie.
Kat: And then this. Yeah.
Ryley: Same. Yeah, the dogs are all. Yeah.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: I wait. Okay. I like the part where they're like, make it campy act like you don't care and action.
This kinda, yeah. I don't know. Is this maybe that camp? Well, I guess.
Kat: It's failed camp.
Ryley: For 1950s. Yeah. Cause I, I just didn't get that. Yeah. I just, I just think that's how the fifties were, but, you know, I guess they were it's a little stylized or.
Kat: Okay. So this next one is a half star review from Letterboxd from 2018. "That gossip from a while ago about how Clooney was gifting his best friends a million bucks makes much more sense after one watch this and comes to the conclusion this is a man that doesn't have friends, but professional enablers."
Ryley: Well that's mean. I'm, I'm sure they like, I'm sure they're all friends. That's so mean. You're just, you're not even talking about the movie. You're just being like George Clooney doesn't have actual friends.
Kat: I think that they're saying this movie's proof that he doesn't have friends. He just pays people to do professional projects with him.
Ryley: I know but that's so [00:43:00] mean. I think he has friends. I think, I think they all just thought they would make money. I think it's a bunch of friends who are getting millions of dollars to make movies together, which is, you know, fun and cool, but.
Kat: You don't think they read the, they read the script and were like, I'll do it for you, George. I.
Ryley: I mean, yeah. I think that in a way shows more that he does have friends cuz they probably read it and were like, oh.
Kat: I think Mr. Clooney has friends.
Ryley: I do think Clooney has friends. I think that's really mean that this person says he does it. Cause you could talk bad about this, be all you want, but don't, don't go for him. Don't don't don't be mean. I don't think he deserves that.
Kat: Yeah. Okay. I see what you're saying, but I just thought it was funny.
It is very funny.
But the last review I have is a five star review from 2021 on Letterboxd that says, "Suburbicon a name derived from sublime and urbicon. Now I don't know what urbicon means, but if you look in the dictionary next to sublime, [00:44:00] you'll see this movie. A clever, unique piece of storytelling with a great cast. And definitely not the worst thing you've ever seen Sassy remember when we watched those Tommy Wisau Joker reels, you're gonna tell me that was better than this. Like I get, we love him, but come on, man. From a critical point of view, you can't deny this movie isn't better. And don't get me started on comparing to no country for old men. You're going to tell me that movie was better than this. There's no way. They just made the damn thing so Javier Bardem could use the cool gas bolt to open doors and screen test Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin side by side for a men in black three. Overall pretty good movie."
Ryley: Okay. At first, this is the most deranged review we've ever read. Cause at first it's like, so if you look in the dictionary for sublime and then it goes into this fucking crazy Zodiac killer written poem review.
Kat: Saying. Saying that this movie was better than no country for old men.
Ryley: I what's their problem with old country for old men. I.
Kat: Do they [00:45:00] not like Javier Bardem or Tommy Lee Jones?
Ryley: I guess not.
Kat: Or Josh Brolin?
Ryley: God, this was so crazy. Oh my gosh.
Kat: Like I said, could not find a lot of good reviews for this.
Ryley: They don't even talk, they don't really, they hardly talk about the Suburbicon, they just go into how much they hate no country for old men. Oh my God. That's so funny. That's insane.
Kat: And they're talking to their friend for the most of it. Said, Sassie you remember when we watched those Tommy Wisau joker reels?
Ryley: Oh my God. Uh, it seems like this looks like, um.
Kat: Oh my God, it's a picture of him. Wait, it's a picture of Matt Damon as their pro- profile picture.
Ryley: That's so. It reads like, you know how you can do voice texts and you can talk and text. This is what that is. They were first trying to write the review, forgot they were writing the review, went to go text sassy, but never got
Kat: Didn't switch over.
Ryley: It's just the review. So it's just their text messages of them going on a rant about no country for men. That's funny.
Kat: Yeah.
Ryley: Oh my God. Um, that's a 10 outta 10 review. I love that.
Kat: Yes. [00:46:00] Yes.
Ryley: That's funny. I don't know if I agree with anything they had to say, but.
Kat: I do think it's better than something from Tommy Wisau, but I don't agree that it's better than No Country for Old Men.
Ryley: I don't know what the problem with no country for old men is or Javier Bardem or Tommy Lee Jones. That's so funny.
Kat: Or Men in Black three.
Ryley: Yeah. Yeah. that is funny.
Kat: What would you rate this movie out of 10, if you had to?
Ryley: Uh, my heart is telling me, I don't know, probably like a three out of 10.
Kat: I was gonna say two outta 10.
Ryley: Yeah, because there's just, it's so messy. Non cohesive. It's all over the place. Could, it could have been good.
Kat: Mm-hmm
Ryley: but it just wasn't.
Kat: I, yeah, I think I'm gonna stick with two out of 10 and I'm gonna say that one point is for the potential.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: And the other point is for like Julianne Moore Oscar, Isaac, Noah Jupe.
Ryley: Yeah.
Kat: It, is the extra point for the Coen brothers or?
Ryley: [00:47:00] No? Cause I don't, I don't think they helped much with the fucking movie.
Kat: No.
Ryley: One, one points for the potential, one points for Oscar Isaac. The last point is this one be nice to George Clooney and he does have friends.
Kat: Yeah, one point for, yes, he does have friends.
Ryley: One stars for George Clooney.
Kat: If he doesn't have any friends, he at least has a star.
Ryley: Mm-hmm.
Kat: And he didn't pay for that one.
Ryley: No
Kat: Yeah. Anything else you wanna say? Or should we just?
Ryley: No, I, I feel like we've talked to death about this movie.
Kat: All right. Well, if you have any comments or suggestions for movies that we should watch, or any critiques on us or any just general complaints, you can reach us on our Instagram at easy bake takes, and you can also follow along with what future episodes we're gonna do and whatnot. We also sometimes post clips of our episodes on TikTok also at easy, big takes. And if you feel like it feel free to leave us a rating or a review on wherever you listen to your podcast and give us a follow [00:48:00] if you liked us, it really does help us out. But thank you so much for listening. My name's Kat
Ryley: and I'm Ryley.
Kat: This has been Easy Bake Takes. Easy watching out there.
Ryley: Bye
Kat: bye.