"On The Rocks" -- Movie Review

 

This week at the Virtual 58th New York Film Festival, I streamed the comedy, “On The Rocks”, written and directed by Sofia Coppola and starring Bill Murray.

Synopsis

Is Laura’s husband having an affair?  No worries!  Her father Felix is here to play detective with her.

Story

With her 40th birthday soon approaching,  Laura (Rashida Jones) is starting to suspect that her husband of a decade, Dean (Marlon Wayans), is cheating on her.  He is frequently out of town on business trips accompanied by people from his office.  At a corporate function, she meets one of his co-workers – Fiona (Jessica Henwick), a beautiful young woman who Laura soon learns accompanies Dean on all of his business trips.  Immediately upon meeting Fiona, Laura is convinced that Dean is having an affair with her. 

Distraught over her marriage potentially being over, Laura can’t even continue writing her book.  Just when she feels she’s at the end of her rope, her gadabout playboy father Felix (Murray) returns into her life.  Despite conflicted feelings, Laura welcomes Felix back and confides in him about her concerns.  Based on everything she tells Felix, he suspects her worst fears are true – and he would know since Laura’s parents divorced long ago because Felix was having an affair.  Felix decides he’ll save the day and assists Laura in tailing Dean while he’s in town so they can catch him in the act.

When Dean goes on a business trip and misses Laura’s birthday, she informs Felix, who nevertheless tries to help her celebrate.  Suddenly, Dean has to go on a trip to Mexico (with Fiona, of course); once Felix learns of this, he arranges to go to Mexico with Laura so they can keep tabs on Dean.  But when things don’t work out as planned, Laura confronts Felix and returns home by herself.  She and Dean have a talk where she informs him that she has suspected him of cheating on her with Fiona.  Will this be the end of their marriage or can they work things out?       

Review

“On The Rocks” is pleasant, entertaining and amusing – thematically and somewhat tonally, it is sometimes reminiscent of an old Woody Allen film (“Manhattan Murder Mystery” is the one that comes immediately to mind).  But it’s not really all that funny.  Even Bill Murray seems to have occasionally taken it down a notch or two – although he does have his moments where you see the happy-go-lucky character at which he excels.  Arguably, Jenny Slate – who has a small role as one of Laura’s friends – is funnier than Murray.  Although it can be a fun movie, don't expect a raucous laugh riot. 

One of the major issues with the film is the fact that at the outset, you never quite believe that Dean is actually cheating on Laura.  This is important because without sharing Laura’s suspicions, the audience is left to just go along for the ride and hope that Murray can somehow manage to salvage things by being his typical crazy self.  If this was an acting choice by Murray, it didn’t serve the movie well; on the other hand, if this was direction from Coppola, then she’s guilty of sabotaging her own motion picture. 

When you’re in the mood for a light movie that’s not too demanding, “On The Rocks” would be a fine choice.  Just be sure to manage your expectations.  Forty-somethings might be able to relate to the angst of marriage-career-parenthood overwhelming you and arousing your deepest insecurities.  Another aspect that the film touches on is the struggle of an adult offspring trying to reconcile with a parent, especially when there are many unresolved issues from the past.  It’s just that with a cast as good as this, there is a continual yearning for something better.