Wall Street Journal
Suburbicon is not only unfunny, a bad sign for a black comedy, but deep-dyed dislikable.
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Suburbicon
George Clooney directs this 1950s-set noir, co-written by himself and the Coen brothers. Stars Matt Damon, Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis).
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 (Damon) must navigate the town’s dark underbelly of betrayal, deceit, and violence.
2017Rating: MA15+, Strong themes and violence105 minsUSA
ComedyCrimeMysteryFestival & Independent
- Director:
- George Clooney ('The Monuments Men', 'The Ides of March', 'Leatherheads')
- Writer:
- George ClooneyEthan CoenJoel CoenGrant Heslov
- Cast:
- Matt DamonJulianne MooreOscar IsaacGlenn FleshlerNoah JupeLauren BurnsMegan FergusonJack Conley
Suburbicon / Reviews
Paste
A movie that flits between genres and ideas without ever settling on one coherent, guiding principle.
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A.V. Club
Two incompatible movies - one archly cynical, the other painfully sincere - wedged uncomfortably together.
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New York Post
A surprisingly tone-deaf combination of two wildly different stories that simply don't work in concert.
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Vox
It makes a run at cleverness, trying to be a dark screwball commentary on America's race problem. But instead it's just a spectacular flop.
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Independent
Both wildly entertaining in its own macabre, violent fashion and also very perceptive about racism and hypocrisy in middle-class white America.
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Vulture
I frankly don't know why Suburbicon happened. I do know that pulpy black comedy combined with a straight-ahead story of racism translates into sanctimonious pulp.
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Variety
It’s a movie that reels the audience in and keeps it hooked: with smart little kicks of surprise.
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Time Out
Director George Clooney raids a leftover script by the Coen brothers that lacks the snap of their more vicious crime comedies.
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The Telegraph
It’s a hectic, sour and muddled film – a flailing counterfeit of satire that keeps slipping on its own banana skin supply, and never remotely gets to grips with what it thinks it’s sending up.
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The Guardian
Suburbicon is too lightweight and mannered; it lacks proper fury. Watching it is like having your trouser-leg savaged by an energetic small dog.
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Hollywood Reporter
Just too obvious in its satirical depiction of the dubious morality and social inequality behind the squeaky-clean façade of postwar American life, though it's watchable enough...
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FilmInk
...despite evoking the period through great design work, the film just doesn't live up to the sum of its parts.
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