“Widows”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a New York Times Screentimes screening of the new crime drama, “Widows” starring Viola Davis and Michelle Rodriguez and directed by Steve McQueen. 

Synopsis

When a trio of women console each other after their husbands die in the course of a heist, will their plan to make an even bigger score succeed or get them arrested?

Story

Harry (Liam Neeson) didn’t exactly live an honorable life, so it probably makes sense that his death wasn’t very honorable either.  While robbing campaign donations from the headquarters of Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry), a candidate for Alderman of Chicago’s 18th Ward, Harry and his gang perish when their van blows up – which also burned all of their loot.  Furious, Manning sends some thugs after Veronica (Davis), Harry’s widow, to recover the money.  But when Veronica tells him that she doesn’t have it, she receives threats – she must come up with the money some way. 

During her period of both mourning and panic, Veronica finds a notebook that contains a detailed plan of the next robbery Harry was scheming.  Realizing that the theft could net more than enough to pay back Manning, she decides that she can’t do this by herself.  As a result, Veronica enlists the aid of Linda (Rodriguez) and Alice (Elizabeth Debicki)  the other women whose husbands died as members of Harry’s gang.  Convinced that they could make enough money from this escapade to ensure them a lifetime of security, Linda and Alice join forces with Veronica. 

But things are not going to be quite as easy as they may have seemed at first.  Veronica discovers that they’re going to steal the money from Manning’s opponent, Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell), who is favored to win because his father (Robert Duvall) was the long-time Alderman of that district before his retirement.  Given the extraordinary level of security around Mulligan’s compound, this won’t be an easy task – especially when you consider the fact that these women are inexperienced at this.  Can they successfully pull off the job or will they be caught in the act?

Review

While seeking to empower women, one question must be asked about “Widows”:  Are women really empowered when they choose to break the law? In the case of this story, the crimes are burglary and murder (there is also prostitution, but perhaps that can be overlooked given the nature of the other offenses).  Based on the ending of the movie, we are given to understand that these characters have both sought and attained some form of redemption for themselves. If that’s true, then one might be left to inquire, “Yes, but at what cost?”. Clearly, their morals and ethics have been further compromised, compared to where each character started at the beginning of this film. 

There are some technical aspects of “Widows” that are difficult to justify.  Structurally speaking, the story doesn’t really start until about three quarters of an hour through; by “start”, what is meant here is that the women don’t agree to the heist until about 45 minutes into the movie, so it’s a bit slow to start.  Also, there’s the matter of a character arc. Do these women really have one? It seems that by the end, they are all back to where they started, so it’s more of a circle than an arc. What might have been more interesting is if they were so seduced by their involvement in crime that they became interested in pulling off another job (which also would’ve suggested a sequel).   

Following the screening was an interview with director Steve McQueen.  McQueen said that what fascinated him about the story was the idea of how each woman would negotiate their own personal domestic situation.  Additionally, he liked the concept of there being multiple narratives: the heist itself, the political/election aspect and the emotional journey each woman was taken through as they deal with their grief from the loss of their partner.  This also led to multiple strands of movement, pacing and speed, with each strand being interwoven with the others. As far as the characters are concerned, he says that he tried to make a movie where the audience would see someone like themselves on screen.