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 Suburbicon 

Rate this film:
A 11%  11%  [ 1 ]
B 67%  67%  [ 6 ]
C 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
D 22%  22%  [ 2 ]
F 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 9

 Suburbicon 
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Wallflower
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Post Suburbicon
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Suburbicon is a peaceful, idyllic suburban community with affordable homes and manicured lawns... the perfect place to raise a family, and in the summer of 1959, the Lodge family is doing just that. But the tranquil surface masks a disturbing reality, as husband and father Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) must navigate the town's dark underbelly of betrayal, deceit, and violence. This is a tale of very flawed people making very bad choices. This is Suburbicon.


Fri Oct 27, 2017 2:20 pm
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Extraordinary
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Post Re: Suburbicon
Was kinda surprised with how the story went, which made the film much more interesting than I thought it'd be. It's not terrible but it's not great either. The race subplot felt totally random and didn't really enhance the main story.


Sat Oct 28, 2017 1:18 pm
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Post Re: Suburbicon
Minority report: I highly enjoyed this, even loved several parts of it. I admit, the subplot regarding the African American family being ostracized and terrorized is a miscalculation. It renders painful imagery extraneous and ornamental—I am not sure the father even has a line of dialogue—and its peripheral inclusion registers as a well-meant, but odd and ultimately unproductive Trump-era reflex by George Clooney.

BUT I found the core film, the story of murder, insurance fraud, and a child in peril, riveting and gorgeously shot. The advertising hides one of my favorite components: the fact Julianne Moore and particularly Matt Damon play venal, self-absorbed, and cruel characters. They are nothing short of fairy-tale menaces transplanted to late-'50s American suburbia. The promotional campaign tries to frame the Damon character as a normal, in-over-his-head father figure defending his family against destructive criminal elements, but the reality is much thornier, scarier, and more tantalizing

B+

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Sat Nov 04, 2017 11:52 am
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Post Re: Suburbicon
I haven’t seen the film yet, but I’m interested in this subplot from an editing standpoint. Apparently Clooney added this subplot on to the original Coen’s script. The film played in Toronto and it fell flat. So flat that apparently Paramount and Clooney held a pow-wow with critics wondering what the hell happened. Apparently they were blindsided (tone-deaf) by the response. So blindsided that they kind of stepped back, agreed, and let the movie come out and sputter into oblivion.

If that’s the case, did Clooney intertwine the stories too much where they couldn’t just chop out those sections and just stick to Damon? Maybe they were afraid of the backlash that would’ve caused or maybe Clooney is too proud/made the movie he wanted to make. But based on what I’ve heard, it just seems completely unnecessary and that the point Clooney wanted to make still would’ve been made if he had just adapted the Coen version. And would the film even be feature length without that subplot?

Also, this premiered right after Charlottesville. Is it a case of simply being the wrong movie at the wrong time, or would’ve it been considered tone deaf regardless of when Paramount decided to release it? Would this be “a better movie” say in March of 2018?

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Sat Nov 04, 2017 1:01 pm
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Post Re: Suburbicon
Surburbicon is an offbeat fevered fifties reverie that I found rather mesmerizing. Its jumble of a story progression kept me off balance in an oddly satisfying way. *B*


Wed Nov 08, 2017 5:24 pm
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Defeats all expectations
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Post Re: Suburbicon
I suspect the reasons why critics did not like it much are:

1) the film's pacing feels off and is faster than most quirky Coens-esque crime comedies
2) most characters are underdeveloped (but well-acted).

But I enjoyed this straightforward murder-scheme-gone-wrong dark comedy. The flow is very clean and smooth. It does not try to be sophisticated. One can overlook a few plot holes because of the fast pacing. The eerie score can be a little too heavy-handed for this though.


Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:12 pm
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Post Re: Suburbicon
Jmart wrote:
I haven’t seen the film yet, but I’m interested in this subplot from an editing standpoint. Apparently Clooney added this subplot on to the original Coen’s script. The film played in Toronto and it fell flat. So flat that apparently Paramount and Clooney held a pow-wow with critics wondering what the hell happened. Apparently they were blindsided (tone-deaf) by the response. So blindsided that they kind of stepped back, agreed, and let the movie come out and sputter into oblivion.

If that’s the case, did Clooney intertwine the stories too much where they couldn’t just chop out those sections and just stick to Damon? Maybe they were afraid of the backlash that would’ve caused or maybe Clooney is too proud/made the movie he wanted to make. But based on what I’ve heard, it just seems completely unnecessary and that the point Clooney wanted to make still would’ve been made if he had just adapted the Coen version. And would the film even be feature length without that subplot?

Also, this premiered right after Charlottesville. Is it a case of simply being the wrong movie at the wrong time, or would’ve it been considered tone deaf regardless of when Paramount decided to release it? Would this be “a better movie” say in March of 2018?

The two prongs (Damon/murder/caper/Fargo vibes and race-relations drama) only intersect a few times and briefly. For example, Oscar Isaacs' claims investigator briefly mentions the protestors in the neighborhood. And Julianne Moore's character is an employee in the grocery store where the African American mom is told every item costs $20. Damon's character's son plays catch with the black family's son. These intersections are so small, they are almost jarring. It truly is as if two films are playing side by side, only slightly interested in the existence of one another. For me, though, again, the suburbia-noir side is excellent and compensates for the other side's questionable taste and value.

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Fri Nov 10, 2017 5:42 pm
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Defeats all expectations
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Post Re: Suburbicon
The "new black neighbors" side plot existed only to highlight and contrast how messed up the family/neighborhood is. It was justifiably not given the same weight and time presence as the main plot. I believe the filmmakers did not intend this to be a serious film with a thoughtful message, but only something to make a laugh about people's hypocrisy and immorality.

69/100 (B)


Fri Nov 10, 2017 10:21 pm
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Post Re: Suburbicon
I really enjoyed this. I can understand why it didn't get great reviews, but this is still a highly engaging and well made film IMO. It also helps that I stayed far away from any spoilers on this one as well which made the turns of Matt Damon and Julianne Moore a lot more surprising for me. I wasn't expecting them to play such sinister characters, but I must give them credit for effectively pulling it off, because I definitely despised them both. Sure, the racial subplot was kind of pointless and at times it seems like it doesn't know what kind of movie it wants to be, but at least I was never bored and I actually cared quite a bit for the kid.

B+


Fri Feb 09, 2018 11:50 pm
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Post 
Suburbicon

I wish I had watched this sooner, but Clooney has never really impressed me as a director (and most of the time, besides the fantastic The Ides of March, he has outright disappointed me), so I was not so eager to watch it. But Clooney has knocked this idea out of the park. A greatly written, perfectly executed Coens movie (yeah, it was written by them but Clooney also directed it as if he was the long lost third brother!). Fantastic characters, a sinister plot, an escalating parallel, and those "coincidences" that make a film like this so well sewn up. Oscar Isaac is great! Really turns the charm and smugness up to eleven. Great to watch for such a brief role. And little Noah Jupe really impressed me here. Much more so than in Wonder. The cinematography and the whole physical production is gorgeous and very much what idyllic 50s American suburbia was (or what I believe it to be), and the acting is great all around. Testament to a rich script.

A-


Fri Feb 16, 2018 2:42 am
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Wallflower
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Post Re: Suburbicon
I enjoyed it. Not a great movie but certainly not bad.

7/10 (B-)


Sun Feb 25, 2018 6:00 pm
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Post Re: Suburbicon
I found this movie incredibly strange and I'm not really sure if I enjoyed it or not. The best performance in the movie is honestly from Noah Jupe, who once again proves that he's in the upper echelon of young talent out there right now. There are some interesting aspects to it and it's technically well-made, but I don't think what it's trying to say or accomplish really worked at all. C


Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:04 am
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Post Re: Suburbicon
This movie made me hate Alexandre Desplat. My god what an overbearing score.

As for the film, the new black neighbors subplot adds absolutely nothing, and the main plot I think would’ve been handled much better by the Coens. These characters are detestable and I wanted everyone of them to die, just like in Fargo. But unlike Fargo, the characters aren’t interesting. They have no character. When Matt Damon keeled over, I just kind of shrugged. This movie’s idea of interesting is casting Julianne Moore as twin sisters.

I’m not sure how much Clooney and Heslov changed the script aside from the black neighbors, but there’s a reason the Coens thought this wasn’t interesting enough to make into a movie. And Clooney and Heslov sure as hell didn’t save it.

D

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Wed Jul 25, 2018 10:31 pm
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Post Re: Suburbicon
This is a good movie, but while the Coen brothers script feels very Coen-y, it doesn't end up to be among their better works. Julianne Moore is perhaps the best part about the film, together with it's late 50's setting brought to the screen in vivid colors and with a charming feel. But I wasn't impressed by Damon and the story of his domestic situation, as well as the racial integration issues in the background is just not very compelling. It's literally an overkill to have almost everyone die at the end and it seems to highlight the weakness of the plot that it just didn't know how to end it better. It's capably steered by Clooney, but this needed more of a spark to be something memorable.

B


Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:37 am
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