A young mother reconnects with her larger-than-life playboy father on an adventure through New York.
Sofia Coppola has firmly established herself as one of the few contemporary auteurs. A new film by Coppola is an event. What’s remarkable is that, unlike her peers — say, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Jonze, even Lynne Ramsay — her sensibility is so minimalist/understated. The flourishes aren’t extravagant (“Marie Antionette” and “The Beguiled” being minor exceptions); there’s less emphasis on individual moments than enveloping you in a mood, a lingering feeling, an acknowledgment of something both existential and ephemeral touched upon. Her films — both cerebral and light as cotton candy, nonchalantly tasteful, eloquent to the nth degree, buoyed by her love of the French band Phoenix — delve into the space between the lines and fill it with gravitas. She continuously nails the cultural zeitgeist, and it’s the little quirks, poignant asides, well-timed lines of dialogue, and an aesthetic that’s both chic, elegant, and punk rock that has earned her a rabid fan base.
A perfect, albeit brief, antidote to the anxiety of current times, “On the Rocks” marks Sofia Coppola’s best film since “Lost in Translation.” It doesn’t quite live up to that masterpiece, but then again, nothing could replicate “LIT”’s assault of magical moments — one of the rare cases (see also: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) where the cast and crew seemed to morph and live and breathe together through a collective, beautiful dream that they happened to visualize. Nor is it “Lost”’s spiritual successor, though its certainly propelled by a similar sense of intimacy and sadness. “On the Rocks” is a matured Coppola, sketching life in all its absurdity and nuance, an exhalation of breath to “Lost”’s inhalation. I’d listen to Coppola’s cinematic breathing all day.
“On the Rocks” follows Laura (Rashida Jones), a writer who suspects that her husband, Dean (Marlon Wayans) is cheating on her. They’ve grown distant. He spends less and less time at home, leaving her with the routine housewife duties, most revolving around raising their two children. The appearance of her father, Felix (Bill Murray), further fuel her suspicions (obscure her clarity?), as he takes her bar-hopping through New York’s coolest bars — and then on a trip to Mexico. Sporting a classy-but-exorbitant taste in drinks, clothes, cars and, yes, women, Felix talks about the primal differences between sexes, expresses decrepit beliefs and crude behavior — but he’s also an erudite, charming in his old-school ways, and highly likable (a combination that literally no one but Murray could pull off). Is he being protective of his daughter, hanging on to a semblance of youth, alleviating his own loneliness, or fulfilling a deeply-rooted need for self-affirmation — in other words, being selfish? Will Laura continue to be susceptible to her father’s influence, or finally, admit the truth to herself?
Oh, “On the Rocks,” how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love the way Coppola calibrates/fine-tunes every single moment of the film without drawing attention to these tiny embellishments, evident in wardrobe choices, musical cues, subtleties in the performances, lightning — literally, every aspect of production, made to seem fluid but clearly mulled over. Jones gives her career-best performance, her rapport with Murray an absolute pleasure to behold. Through these two great actors, Coppola speaks volumes about the generational differences and the ongoing paradigm shift, without ever preaching or throwing the word “woke” around like she’s on Hulu.
The ending may seem like a bit of a cop-out, as we are led to believe one thing, just for everything to be seemingly resolved in a “happily-ever-after” fashion. (Minor spoiler alert: Dean, who has been portrayed as more and more of a douchebag, suddenly becomes the paragon of nobility.) But it’s more complex than that. The film is about how we get so fixated on something, we fail to see the bigger picture (watch it the second time, and Dean seems a lot less of a douche); how easily swayed we are in those moments of fragility, especially by those that shaped us. “You used to be fun,” Felix tells Laura. “Fun” may have a different connotation for her than it does for him. Luckily, Coppola’s idea of “fun” matches mine perfectly.
“On the Rocks” is an Apple Original Films and A24 release.
Opens in Select Theaters in Dallas on Friday, October 2nd and on Apple TV+ Friday, October 23rd
