On the Rocks
Published October 25, 2020
Film info
- Title On the Rocks
- Director Sofia Coppola
- Year 2020
- Run time 1hr 37m
- Genres Drama, Comedy
- Tagline A sparkling comic adventure across the city
Laura thinks she's happily hitched, but when her husband Dean starts logging late hours at the office with a new co-worker, Laura begins to fear the worst. She turns to the one man she suspects may have insight: her charming, impulsive father Felix, who insists they investigate the situation. As the two begin prowling New York at night, careening from uptown parties to downtown hotspots, they discover at the heart of their journey lies their own relationship.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 2:38 | Bit of bonus stand up comedy within a film. |
| 6:09 | Her life is exhausting. |
| 7:43 | The writing is the hard part. |
| 11:09 | She did that fistbump like it was a bad thing. We fistbump all the time. |
| 16:46 | The idea of a Roomba is so much better than the reality. |
| 19:33 | Yay, I can’t whistle very well either. |
| 24:17 | “Raise your hand if that sounds fishy.” |
| 29:57 | Breaking Bad was too graphic even for Mr C let alone two young kids. |
| 31:31 | He’s like a walking Wikipedia. |
| 36:52 | “He’s got four kids, they’re all still alive.” What more do you want from a babysitter? |
| 44:41 | “How’s the thing?” Yep, can’t call it writing. |
| 47:28 | It’s a bright red car! |
| 52:43 | His idea of incognito is not great. |
| 55:04 | How can he possibly know everyone in New York? Madness! |
| 1:00:48 | “What if we find out that Dean’s just… busy?” |
| 1:03:55 | Walking backwards so they don’t know you’re leaving is genius. |
| 1:15:34 | Now she’s gone spying in a bright yellow dress. |
| 1:23:13 | Tricky when ‘can I have a word outside’ involves a lift ride together. |
Thoughts
It’s always going to be difficult following the wonder that is Lost in Translation, and it probably didn’t help that we only watched that movie quite recently. Even Sofia Coppola said she left off teaming up with Bill Murray again for fear of not being able to follow in their own footsteps.
And they couldn’t. It’s not a patch on that film. It is an okay film in and of itself, Rashida is great and I liked the dynamic between her and Bill. But I didn’t enjoy the portrayal of her life - too exhausting to start with, and a husband that doesn’t appreciate her. Why didn’t they just talk to each other? It seemed quite far-fetched to travel all that way to try and spy on him at the end.
Beautifully made and with two good leads, but not really a very good story for them to work with.
Rating: 2 / 5