Rent Widows (2018)

Watching paint dry is more thrilling - Widows review by Alphaville

Don’t be fooled by the trailer, which shows nearly all the brief action and adds an atmospheric score that the movie sorely needs but sadly lacks. Widows is thrill-less, virtually score-less, prosaic film-making, bogged down plotwise in politics and religion and visually in still shots of actorly conversations. Thrilling? If only. It’s a completely cold watch, with no characters of any interest and no visuals of any interest. It’s a film that needs a real director at the helm, not a faux-art Turner-prize wannabe filmmaker like Steve McQueen.

PS US critics loved this film while trashing the much superior Replicas, an indie sci-fi film I saw on the following night and a cinematic masterpiece by comparison. If cinema is to outlast the inroads of such as Netflix, they need to get their act together.

Waste of 15 minutes of my life - Widows review by PB

Would have given zero, but 1 star lowest. Don't normally write reviews but this film had nothing for me, turned off at 15 minutes in. Slow wandering

Gave up watching - Widows review by CR

Just couldn’t get into this. Tried for half an hour and then abandoned it, something I’ve not done before. I usually persevere expecting a film to get better or at least watch it because I’ve paid for it but not this time. 

Much better than I thought! - Widows review by HM

Not your usual heist movie; a tangled plot gives plenty to be interested in. The characters stand alone well and do not merely prop up the plot. Fine performances all round. Criminals' wives are pressured into getting their hands on money to stave off a gangsters' desire to get his money back stolen by their husbands. Exiting, action, plot; the lot. Deffo worth a viewing.

Dont bother - Widows review by MP

Based on a novel, but does not come up to standard as a film. Characters were flimsy and the script loose. Violence too gratuitous.

Very disappointing. Does not deserve the high rating.

An enormously uneven & really mixed film, filled with some stunning performances - Widows review by TB

After the Oscar-winning & incredible 12 Years A Slave, Steve McQueen then did exactly what you'd expect an artist of his calibre & previous work to do: go in a completely different direction to his last film & make an action/thriller film based on an 80's British TV series, but moving the action to America. Frustratingly though, this produces both inspired & also turgid/rubbish results.

The film opens with a spectacular heist, which very quickly goes very badly wrong. The gang are cornered, then desperately flee in their getaway van to the safe house, some of them sustaining serious injuries. However, they are then exposed and slaughtered in a hail of bullets by the police, leaving their broken widows to grieve them. Then, after being threatened by the man their husband's robbed, forced to become criminals themselves and target the next person on their deceased partner's list to pay back the debt.

These opening scenes are the best in the entire movie & McQueen's ability to be able to marshall this type of action really is impressive. Going from a scene of intimacy between the gang leader & his wife to being thrust straight into the action in the back of the van as the cops chase after the thieves really starts the film in a great way. However, it never again manages to hit those heights. The strangest thing for me about Widows was that when it worked, it was amazing. But so much of this film didn't fit together: characters at times were terribly written & scenes just didn't work. Plus certain actors just completely outshone everyone else because of their gravitas.

For example, the shining star by a country mile was Viola Davis. In every single thing she has been in, she has been amazing & elevated the drama. Whether it's Suicide Squad or Fences, she is perfect. And in this film, she is given a massive & expansive role as the widow of the lead gang member. But she also wipes the floor with many of the other actors/characters. They just can't keep up with her. And it is exactly the same with Daniel Kaluuya. He is introduced in a scene which suddenly descends into shocking & brutal violence, making us extremely uncomfortable with his unpredictability. But then in other scenes he is wasted & his actions just don't work within the film's narrative.

So, despite me wanting to like this film, coming after 12 Years and especially Shame, it is never any more than a 3 star film filled with as many faults as it is flashes of brilliance.

I want to delete this - Widows review by Denno

Well I decided to delete this review but it doesn’t look like you can which is a bit weird. I’m sure also my last review didn’t need to be 100 characters