A messy look back at 2020
Film critic Jason Evans has made it his mission to tell you about movies in less time than it takes to put on a mask. His reviews are exactly 100 words long (99 doesn’t tell you enough and 101 is just excessive). Here is his 100-word review of Ari Aster’s Eddington.
The Premise: Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau is
Afraid) takes us back to the summer of 2020 when we were all dealing with mask
mandates, social distancing, and nationwide protests over the killing of George
Floyd. The film takes place in the smallish Arizona city of Eddington and
revolves around the local sheriff, Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), and mayor, Ted
Garcia (Pedro Pascal). Sheriff Joe doesn’t like wearing his mask and feels like
he does not get the respect he deserves. Mayor Ted is mostly focused on getting
approval for a big tech company to build a new data center in the city. When
Joe impulsively declares he wants to run for mayor, it sharpens the rivalry between
these two… a move that will eventually lead to deadly consequences. The film
also stars Luke Grimes and Michael Ward as Sheriff deputies as well as Emma
Stone and Austin Butler in smaller supporting roles.
The 100-words: I hoped Aster might give us some compelling
perspective and insight into the crazy summer of 2020, but Eddington is such a
mess the audience just sits there dumbfounded. I somewhat enjoyed the first
half, which felt like a slow burn of frustration and paranoia, but the back half
descends into a confusing jumble of violence and madness that feels like a completely
different film. The performances are strong but Aster just doesn’t have a sense
of the purpose these characters serve… other than create chaos in each other’s
lives. Eddington has potential, but falls far short of it.
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