Suburbicon (George Clooney, 2017)

It may have been co-written by the Coens, and Clooney has proved on several occasions that he can direct, so why is this such a mess? Part of the problem lies in the fact that it doesn't know what it's meant to be. It starts as a satire in Pleasantville fashion of stifling 1950s American suburbia, and then tries to work in a serious racist theme as a black family moves into the WASP stronghold, and is met with unbridled hostility. Finally, it evolves into a full-on Grand Guignol crime film, as Matt Damon's weaselly family father attempts to get out of paying the crooks who he had kill his wife so that he could hitch up with her twin sister, both played by Julianne Moore. Nothing gels, and it may be directly due to the film effectively having been in planning for thirty years, or the fact that there are four writers. But you expect Clooney, Grant Heslov and the Coens to be experienced enough to work around that, so the only conclusion that can be drawn is that they all had a very off-day at the office.

4/10