Synopsis:
As a 1950s suburban community self-destructs, a home invasion has sinister consequences for one seemingly normal family.
Review:
Suburbicon is a quirky thriller, directed by George Clooney, and written by the Coen Brothers, and starring Matt Damon and Julianne Moore. It’s an odd little movie, one in which the trailers made it look to be a different kind of movie. But, most things written by the Coens have a little oddity to them. George Clooney doesn’t have a long list of movies from the other end of the lens, but he has made a few good ones, and Suburbicon doesn’t break that trend. It might not have been what I expected, but it was still great movie. Even for the type of movie it is, it still manages to be unique, with moments of comedy, as well as dark happenings as well.
In a way, it’s a little hard to follow the narrative. It’s not overly complex, but the direction it takes feels a little surreal.The movie opens with a dark little home invasion, and as the story unfolds, things just get weirder. This movie takes place in the 50s, and apparently the entire town of Suburbicon is drenched in racism. As a black family moves into the neighborhood, they are tormented, turned away from shopping at local businesses, etc.. If that type of thing makes you uncomfortable, just know that the people taking part in the racism aren’t exactly portrayed as the good guys. The opening scene won’t give you a good sense as to what is going on, but as time passes it becomes much more obvious. This isn’t a movie that pulls a last minute stinging plot twist, or anything like that. Before you reach the third act you will have a pretty good idea of what’s going on. It’s a weird little movie, but I found it to be fantastic.
Paramount’s Blu-ray release of the film is more than adequate. Things like video and audio quality are very rarely an issue with new release film. The video transfer is perfect, and crystal in clarity. The 1080p AVC encoded transfer is presented in 2.40:1. The audio quality is perfect as well. There isn’t a lot of background noise or reasons beyond quality to watch the film on a surround system, but the audio quality is top notch. As far as extras go, there’s not a lot of stuff here, but there are a few little featurettes, and a commentary track featuring George Clooney and Grant Heslov. I had hoped for some sort of interview footage with the Coens, but I’m not going to complain. New movies are not often loaded to the brim with extras, so I’m happy anything was included at all. Paramount’s Blu-ray release of Suburbicon is highly recommended. You can purchase a copy for yourself here.
- Commentary by George Clooney and Grant Heslov
- Welcome to Suburbicon
- The Unusual Suspects: Casting
- Scoring Suburbicon
