Review: Widows

fifty2ndstreet
Nov 26, 2018
3 min read

“An interesting heist movie without an interesting heist”

Widows is kinda sold through the trailer as a tougher version of Ocean’s 8, but the film is nothing of the sort. Director Steve McQueen, who in 2013 directed the Best Picture Oscar winning film 12 Years a Slave, brings a remake of a 1980s British TV miniseries to the big screen. That might seem an odd thing to do, but don’t forget House of Cards was a remake of a 1980s British TV miniseries too.

The miniseries ran for two six-part series’ in 1983 and 1985. The film has had an update and a change of setting, but retains much of the original miniseries plot, including a few twists and turns. However, if you think that having that story condensed down into one feature film will cause this to feel rushed or lacking in detail, that is certainly not the case.

Whilst the trailers give the film a more girl power action vibe, the film is really more of a hard boiled drama about corruption and dirty politics. Some people will find this film a little hard to get through, as the film doesn’t aspire to entertain you, rather, show you the dark side of politics in a poor city and how criminals run the show, both on the streets and in the political offices. Maintaining control is important and subjugating the people on the bottom is just good business.

The film hasn’t got a lot to offer in the humour department, although the immature high school girls sitting behind us thought plenty of things early on were funny, but the film soon beat that out of them. There’s no bubbly banter between our female characters, and each is tough and uncompromising. These girls might be our heroes in this story, however, they are not without their flaws, fully aware that they lived their lives off the criminal activities of their husbands.

Viola Davis stars as Veronica, the wife of career criminal Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson). When Rawlings and his crew are killed in a job-gone-wrong, Veronica is left to defend herself against the criminals who come after her for the money Harry stole from them. She decides to pull a heist of her own and enlists the help of the wives of the other members of Harry’s team. Veronica is tough and doesn’t show a lot of sympathy for the other wives, basically dragging them into the situation. However, she isn’t all bad, and the girls slowly turn into at least a functioning team, even if they’re never really in it together.

The heist itself is unremarkable and fairly straight forward. But that’s not what this film is about. The characters and performances from them are the real focus here. Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki and Cynthia Erivo, fill out the team and each girl brings something different. Collin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Brian Tyree Henry and Daniel Kaluuya provide a variety of unpleasant male characters clinging to power, with Kaluuya particularly effective.

This film to me felt more like a 1970s film, than a 2018 one. There is little music in the film, despite being scored by the great Han Zimmer, and the way the film pieces scenes together felt in some ways, like The French Connection. The 129 minute run time feels closer to 140 minutes and the film lingers with you for a while after you leave the cinema. regardless of how you felt about it.

There is violence in the film and its blunt and too the point. There is no ‘gangster style’ in this movie. This movie presents the violence and the character interactions in a no frills, matter-of-fact kind of way. The conclusion of the film is understated and doesn’t tie everything up perfectly, almost surprising you when the credits roll.

Widows felt more to me like a 1970s film and won’t be in cinemas for too long, so if Robin Hood, The Nutcracker or Fantastic Beasts aren’t for you, than Widows might just be the type of film you need instead.