On the Rocks ♔ ♕ ♚ ♛Though a predictable ending from the get-go, Writer & Director, Sophia Coppola, delivers another pedigreed and thought-provoking, relationship intense, dramedy.
At the start of the film, the voice over is that of (Felix) Bill Murray expressing to his daughter: “Don’t give yourself to any boys until you get married. Then, you’re still mine.”
Felix’s daughter, Laura (Rashida Jones) is the quintessential yummy mommy, tending to her children in Manhattan; their play groups, their dance recitals, and so on…or in other words “the wheels on the bus go round-and -round.” Laura’s life is simply consumed as the person who schedules everything, while her husband, Dean (Marlon Wayans) is all over the map. Literally. He’s in LA for business, late night dinners, then in Mexico. He’s ‘supposedly’ busy running his start-up company that now has 5,000 new followers just today. His team is “Crushing it!”
All legs and British accent, Fiona is the hot woman at the office who makes up Dean’s team. Felix (Murray) is certain his daughter Laura’s husband Dean is sleeping with Fiona. And so it goes…the looming question that plots the film. Are all men dogs just like Laura’s father Felix once was?
The dramedy is made more amusing by Felix/Murray’s droll sense of humor as only Bill Murray can deliver. Remember Lost in Translation (2003)?… the very vehicle that made Scarlett Johansson a star? It’s that Bill Murray. Older, tired, albeit possibly wiser, though we aren’t so sure…
There are his theories on evolution, how to whistle, how to investigate affairs. He’s on it. Afterall his son-in-law, Dean, is a man and it’s by nature and natural to impregnate other women. Felix also believes he can’t really hear females. Selective listening.
Nevertheless, whisking back to JFK from Paris Felix arrives in a black sedan. He and his daughter Laura become spies on Dean. Father and daughter, daughter and father – two lost souls; life reminiscent of when her father cheated on her own mother. Yes, Felix was always a player. He refuses to believe that monogamous men exist. He also seems to believe he understands women better than women apparently understand women. And whether Felix is right or not, remains to be seen, but what this little gem of a film teaches us is that older folks in the film (grandmothers, fathers, friends) are jaded by love. Whereas the younger generation sort of rolls with it having hope that true love is intact. We also learn that fathers who went MIA have a longing for their little girls and perhaps too, will stop at nothing to win their adult affections. Of course, one can’t help but wonder if the sweet simple tale so meticulously delivered isn’t based on Sophia Coppola’s own young life with her father, Francis Ford Coppola.
The character of Laura is spectacularly portrayed by Rashida Jones simply because she’s not hot to look at. At times haggard from the life of kids, she’s common in appearance which makes us feel this could be anyone at any time. We’ve all been there…questioning relationships and responsibilities.
For anyone in a busy world with kids and careers, this subtle smart film makes us reflect on the issue of trust. Can love sustain? But it also begs the questions can old habits be broken too, especially where family is concerned? Does her father only see what he wants to see? Because what we see in this flawless little film is that we saw the ending coming all along.
Four tiaras