Suburbicon

(spoiler free)

‘Suburbicon’ is the latest directorial effort from George Clooney, his first since 2014’s ‘The Monuments Men’. The story follows a family from the peaceful and thriving community of Suburbicon after they are the target of a home invasion. The town is also rocked by the arrival of a new family, who are made to feel less than welcome by the established residents. So with this interesting premise and an all star cast could Clooney deliver from the directors chair?

Well the film certainly looks the part with the late 50s setting being brought to life wonderfully by the set and costume design. Furthermore this also contributed to the idealistic lifestyle that the community of Suburbicon so desperately wants to uphold. The main cast for the movie are all thoroughly entertaining to watch. Matt Damon is a good leading man, who plays his layered role very well. However, it’s his on screen son, Noah Jupe, who for a while actually feels like the lead. He has a tremendous amount to do in this film and whilst it’s apparent that he still has room to improve his work here is worthy of great praise. Julianne Moore is always a joy to watch and her performance here is no different. She gets to be rather playful in this role and the film is all the better for it. Although you might expect these more well known names of the cast to stand out it’s actually Oscar Isaac’s supporting role which is the highlight of the entire film. He makes the most of his short screen time bringing humour and pace to the narrative where it had been potentially lacking before. Isaac’s work here only continues to confirm why he’s one of the most exciting actors working today.

The narrative itself is where the film will run into problems for some audience members. There are two very distinct plots running alongside each other and I can understand how some viewers might not think they go together all that well. However, I found both of the storylines engaging to watch and took no issue with them sharing the screen. I thought the racism storyline regarding the new family was an excellent way to showcase how skewed and hypocritical the vision that the residents of Suburbicon held really was. It offers vital context to this supposedly idealist setting.  In addition the events taking place in this storyline allow the main narrative to progress on several occasions. I thought the main plot was constructed really cleverly offering a fun and twisted crime thriller which intertwined well with this secondary plot. The Coen Brothers are credited as two of the writers here with their influence obviously shining through in one of their most fun screenplays for some time.

So whilst ‘Suburbicon’ might not quite come together for all audience members it’s still worth a watch for the performances alone. If you can accept the narrative(s) you should be able to have a good time here, after all I still think that they are both told well and contribute positively to each other. Ultimately I found that the big named talent assembled for ‘Suburbicon’ resulted in a wholly entertaining crime mystery which offered shocks, drama and laughs – I’d recommend stopping by for a visit!

Written by Hamish Calvert

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Rating  – 8/10

Question: Which actor who also directs do you think has the best body of work?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)

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