Friday, April 26

Featured Features: Widows

Full of opinions, but free of spoilers.

I have been waiting for this movie since I saw the very first trailer because it shows powerful women kicking butt and taking names. Widows is a movie jammed packed with strong women, crime, and sabotage, seriously what more do you want from a film?

One thing I appreciated about this film is that it got to the main point of the film pretty quickly. We find out why these women are teaming up pretty early on, it takes you straight to the catalyst that drives the plot which I thoroughly enjoy. One thing that may come to a surprise to those who have yet to see this film, and it definitely was a surprise to me, is the lack of action. There honestly wasn’t a lot of action and far less than I was expecting. The trailers had me coming into the movie expecting to see a full-out action film and it’s not one. Granted, there is action and there are parts in the film that made me audibly gasp, but it wasn’t jammed packed with it. It didn’t make me dislike it or anything, but I was expecting more. The feeling I got during the climax of the plot was what I was expecting to have more of. I wasn’t expecting a twist like the movie gave us. I truly didn’t see it coming and I don’t think it leads you to believe one may be coming, at least not one like that. Though there may not be a ton of action there is quite a bit of violence in it, but I didn’t feel like any of it was unjustifiable or unneeded.

The cast consist of many familiar faces you more than likely recognize. Viola Davis stars as our leading lady, Veronica. Along side Viola we have Liam Neeson, Jon Bernthal, Michelle Rodriguez, Robert Duvall, Collin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Cynthia Erivo and many more. With a powerhouse of a cast like this one, you really can’t go wrong. Everyone pretty much killed it and delivered. Viola Davis, in lack of a better phrase, slayed. She was so incredibly satisfying in this role. She played a grieving wife beautifully and a woman who needed to go on a dangerous mission with fire. This movie is gaining some attention and not for the action or even the plot, but for the casting. In the opening scene we see Viola Davis and Liam Neeson laying in comfy bed and, well, making out, heavily (not a spoiler, because we see these two in a scene as a couple in some trailers). The chemistry between these two is immediately established as an extremely loving and fiery one. Viola Davis explains this relationship as an industry shaking one, “For me, this is something you’ll not see this year, last year, the year before that. That is, a dark-skinned woman of color, at 53-years-old, kissing Liam Neeson. Not just kissing a white man. Liam Neeson, a hunk. And kissing him sexually, romantically. He’s not my slave owner. I’m not a prostitute — so he’s not my john. And it’s not meant to make a political statement. It’s just meant to be.” (Anderson, 2018). Brian Tyree Henry and Daniel Kaluuya were great in their roles and I completely believed them, but I was also expecting them to be amazing to begin with.

This movie is the perfect formula for a good film: strong and powerful women, action, twists, and amazing acting. This is a fun movie showing how human beings can take control of the situations they’ve been put in and come out on top. I really recommend you go see this. What I don’t recommend is taking the youngsters with you to go see it. Leave them home, folks.

Let’s chat! What are your opinions about the movie? What upcoming release should I check out? Email me at ocrutchf@aum.edu.

Hey, my name is Olivia Crutchfield! I’m not a movie expert but I just so happen to live with one, and our love for movies takes us to the movie theaters every single week to see new releases. So, be on the lookout for a review from me almost every week.

If you consider yourself a movie expert or you just really love them like me and want to listen to three guys giving their opinion on movies, all the while being hilarious, you may want to check out the podcast Best Pictures anywhere you get your podcasts.