Rent A Big Bold Beautiful Journey on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Seth Reiss
Directed by: Kogonada
Starring: Colin Farrell, Margot Robbie, Jennifer Grant, Hamish Linklater, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Kevin Kline, Jodie Turner-Smith
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
Two strangers meet at a mutual friend's wedding and have the chance to relive important moments from their pasts, illuminating the path that led them to the present and gaining the opportunity to change their futures.
Verdict
I get the conceit. This is a preternatural first date that consists of monumental moments from their lives to bring them closer, but I kept waiting for this to connect the pieces. I hoped for a scene that makes it mean something. They see each other's best and worst moments which becomes a shortcut to infatuation. The ending stumbles and falls completely flat. It's not interesting, it doesn't add to this story, and it should be an exclamation point to this film. Instead, it's just an ending; a generic, predictable
way to conclude a movie that plods through the run time.
Skip it.
Review
David (Colin Farrell) is headed to a wedding but his car is booted. He happens to see a car rental flyer on the adjacent wall and ends up renting a car from a very odd place.
David meets Sarah (Margot Robbie) at the wedding, and she happens to be from the same town. They have a nice conversation but nothing more, parting ways. On his way back, David's GPS asks him if he wants to go on "a big bold beautiful journey." He responds that he does. Somehow David and Sarah are drawn or led to each other. They end up on a road trip together, finding free standing doors that impossibly lead to memories, yet they aren't concerned or bewildered. These doors are a time portal. It defies all logic and sense, yet their reaction is so subdued.
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| Colin Farrell, Margot Robbie play David, Sarah |
It's an interesting premise, but the movie asks us to blindly accept the concept. David and Sarah embrace the premise without question and thus so do we. Two strangers get to see each others formative moments. I could probably accept the premise if this ends well, and the movie somehow pulls it altogether. Unfortunately that doesn't happen.
I don't know how to parse this concept. David warps back to a high school play in which he starred. People in the memory see him as fifteen despite being an adult. They see Sarah as an adult. Where's the line? Then she begins participating in the play from the crowd. It's not time travel, it's just a memory that David's viewing retrospectively.
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| Colin Farrell, Margot Robbie play David, Sarah |
Through a similar door Sarah visits the scene where her mom dies in the hospital. David sees his dad worried in the hospital when David was a new born. Then there's a round table with David, Sarah, and their previous partners where they're breaking up. They explain their faults, eventually explaining why they keep breaking up with people. She's afraid of being hurt, and he gets bored after infatuation wears off.
At the close of their strange journey David confesses he's in love with Sarah. I wondered how that was possible. While they've shared intimate moments, this seems like David falling into the same patterns. He's in love with infatuation. Sarah tells him as much, stating they're doomed to repeat their habits. She'll self-sabotage, and he'll get tired of her. David states he's changed. He's past the chase and she won't cheat. She doesn't buy it. She seems right. They part ways.
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| Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell play Sarah, David |
In one more journey David gets to play the part of his dad, comforting himself after his high school crush rejected him. Sarah sees her mom one last time, getting to hang out. That's a lead in to a happily ever after conclusion, but it's incredibly unfulfilling. I wanted the conclusion to tie this together somehow, lending a deeper meaning to all we've seen. I'd rather the movie have ended after they parted ways.
The movie does play with colors, using primary colors as the palette. Initially David wears blue and Sarah red. By the end David wears red and Sarah blue, indicating how their dispositions have changed. I'd care more if I liked the movie.
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