Suburbicon (2017)

Directed by: George Clooney | 105 minutes | crime, drama, thriller | Actors: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Noah Jupe, Glenn Fleshler, Alex Hassell, Gary Basaraba, Jack Conley

George Clooney is a committed man. When he’s not on a movie set, he likes to champion a good cause. He is an advocate for equal rights for gays, he stands on the barricades of political conflicts in third world countries and he is one of the first prominent figures to lend a helping hand when a (natural) disaster has occurred somewhere. He likes to use his talent, money and influence in Hollywood to expose wrongs in the world. He was involved on several fronts in the making of the documentaries ‘Darfur Now’ and ‘Sand and Sorrow’ (both from 2007). A philanthropist and activist like Clooney picks up on current issues whenever possible. For ‘Suburbicon’ (2017), his sixth film as a director, Clooney took advantage of the #BlackLivesMatter movement to make a statement. He was inspired by true events about a black family that moved into a house in the late 1950s in a until then completely white suburb, and got into a fight with the local postman. A fight that got completely out of hand. Normally right up to the talented Clooney’s hand. However, he makes the mistake of weaving the race issue into an old Coen Brothers script; both storylines don’t connect at all, while that must have been the intention.

‘Suburbicon’ opens with a kind of VVV advertising film in which the model district of the same name is praised as a ‘melting pot’ for people of all walks of life. “Come all to live in this perfect suburb, where everything is spotless and wonderful.” How far that ideal is from the truth soon becomes clear when the black Mayers family moves into the neighbourhood. While the postman (Steve Monroe) first makes his rounds whistling and smiling from ear to ear, his true nature turns out to be less cordial as soon as he meets the new neighbor (Karimah Westbrook). Then we meet Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon), an apparently rock-solid businessman who lives right behind the Mayers with his wheelchair-bound wife Rose (Julianne Moore) and son Nicky (Noah Jupe). It turns out that Gardner and his sister-in-law Margaret (again Julianne Moore), Rose’s twin sister with whom he is having an affair, have hatched a nefarious plan: they have hired two rather silly tough guys (Glenn Fleshler and Alex Hassell) to help Rose out of the way. to clear. This way they can take the money from her life insurance and they can do whatever they want. Their plan seems to work, but they haven’t taken into account that little Nicky might start asking questions. In addition, there is a corrupt insurance man (Oscar Isaac) who smells danger and puts them on the brink. For Gardner and Margaret, there’s only one thing to do: get this Cooper out of the way…

Ethan and Joel Coen reportedly wrote the foundation for ‘Suburbicon’ in the mid-1980s. It could well have been a precursor to their hit film ‘Fargo’ (1996), because there are plenty of parallels between the two stories. Already in 2005, George Clooney linked his name to the filming of the script, but it took more than a decade before filming could actually start. Together with his best friend Grant Heslov, Clooney juggled the story of the black family and the mailman in the script of the Coen Brothers and ‘Suburbicon’ was a fact. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t turn out the way Clooney would like. The relationship between the two plot components is as skewed as anything; the Mayers don’t even get a quarter of the attention the Lodges get and the tone of both storylines is too different. Clooney juggles social satire, social criticism and an assassination plot, then drops all the balls. The story around Gardner Lodge ultimately comes out better, because more attention and care has been given to the elaboration – logical of course, because an almost complete script was available – and it certainly exudes that recognizable Coen atmosphere. In addition, this storyline with Damon, Moore and Isaac has three strong actors to fall back on.

Clooney should have made two separate films, because the plot around the Mayers deserves more attention. Now it looks messy and disjointed. You know Clooney had the best intentions in “knitting in” these new storylines, but why does he always have to add a politically correct edge to his movies? There’s nothing wrong with a quirky, jet-black neo-noir without an idealistic message for once.