WIDOWS: Steve McQueen Heist Movie Review - A Quick One

Movie Night Autopsy

“Widows,” the new installment from director Steve McQueen, plays itself off like the heist movie cinema fans deserve instead of “Ocean’s 8.” In reality, it is something deeper than another genre flick. That both helps and hurts the film.

The opening scene juxtaposes the criminals’ everyday family lives with their final excapade. Peaceful scenes of loved ones embracing are interrupted by gunshots and explosions. We get a glimpse of how both the criminals and their wives, or soon to be criminals, deal with their relationships.

The chase ends abruptly with a barrage of firepower swiftly provided by the Chicago Police department, blowing the criminal crew to smithereens.

This captivating end to the men’s story launches us to the beginning of the women’s story. It’s a clever idea on McQueens part; having the opening scene of this movie seem like the final scene of another.

It’s sensible, yet revealing; it shows the danger this world manifest while giving insight into the main characters lives. This creates several different narratives all dealing with the same aftermath.

It turns out the fellas rip off the wrong gangster turned politician played paper boi himself, Brian Tyree Henry. He leaves the refund bill with the main widow, the incredibly talented Viola Davis. She enlists the help of the other remaining widows for one last job to pay back the debt.

After the film demands your attention, it holds it for a while with a deep roster of fantastic actors stacking their skills against each other.

Of course Viola Davis is amazing. She owns the film. Seriously, it’s Viola Davis. We all know this. But everyone else just kills it. Liam Neeson owns the few scenes he is in. Watching Colin Farrell go toe-to-toe with Robert Duvall is impressive. Elizabeth Debicki goes from beaten up trophy wife to stone cold gangster by the time the credits role.

McQueen is smart enough to only move the camera when he needs to. A few long takes exist, mostly to represent the emotional point of the scene, not for visual aesthetic. Although, it does look damn good.

The movie is an emotional drama posing as a heist film. Which is fine for the most part. However, the pacing does lag towards the end of the second act. We’ve been watching these people deal with their emotional rollercoaster for so long, you want it to get back to the caper.

Then again that’s not the point of the movie. It doesn’t glamorize the heist because the movie is not about the heist. It’s not sexy. The cinematography looks bleak because the lives of the main characters are bleak. This isn’t about some gentleman thief pulling off one last play with a ragtag crew. The ladies are doing this to survive.

It properly represents the shake up that comes with a dramatic life change, which is something every character in the movie goes through. What better way to represent dramatic life change than having to turn into a criminal?

Overall it is captivating and fair to the genre without overdoing it.

I give this movie 2.8 out of 5 fake Chicago accents.

I’m Chad with a Quick One, brought to you by Movie Night Autopsy.