Suburbicon, written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, George Clooney and directed by the latter - Eight out of 10

Suburbicon, written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, George Clooney and directed by the latter

Eight out of 10

Critics and audiences have not been thrilled by this motion picture, in spite of the cast, writers and all the other premises.

I found it very good, if not marvelous.

There are quite a few gruesome scenes and the public might have been influenced by those, but then Fargo, True Grit, No Country for Old Men, Blood simple and other Coen Brothers creations are violent, or can terrify viewers to extremes no reached by horror movies.

We could argue that Gardner is the main villain in this motion picture that does not lack negative personages.

Matt Damon is very good, as always, in the role of this monstrous man who would contemplate eliminating everyone that can block his way to – rather sick, disgusting – pleasures.

Nicky aka the excellent Noah Jupe is his son, but the boy who is about eight will soon see the material his parent is made of.

The monster is married to one twin sister, but he is willing to eliminate her, with the complicity of his sister-in-law.

However, everything goes wrong when the insurance representative, Bud Cooper, played by the wondrous Oscar Isaac, finds there is something wrong with the claim and the sinister truth behind it.

Nevertheless, this yet another villain, for instead of reporting his findings to his company, he comes to the house, while there is devastation next door, to get a cut of the money.

In the background for this scene, but we could say just as important in the structure of Suburbicon, we have a racial calamity, for the people living next door are African Americans.

They have moved to this apparent small piece of heaven thinking that the community would be friendly, only to find that the reality is horrible and this is more like hell than paradise.

In a way, we could think of American Beauty, albeit the carnage in Suburbicon is nothing to compare with the other film, but they both depict what lies beneath the surface, the illusive bliss of suburbia – well, some of them

Bud Cooper explains to Gardner that since he is aware of the murder and he is in charge of the case, he must share in the spoils, when the host asks for the reason why he would not kill him.

The insurance expert is amused by this question and says that he is not the only one who would find the truth about the claim and it will sound off all the alarms if he dies…

Which is exactly what happens to him, for he has just drank from a cup where a toxic substance had been mixed, although it fails to dispatch him for good, right away.

Therefore, we have the famous Coen Brothers morbid, hilarious humor mixed with terror, as Cooper runs from the house, down the street, where due to the attack of racists on the neighbor’s home, this parallel tragedy is not observed – not for a while – and bud has to run for him.

To kill this would be accomplice, he uses a metal stick – was it a golf club – which hits the victim so hard that it would not come out and the killer has to put a foot on the face of the corpse to extract it.

Absurd, funereal jocularity is present in the consequent scene, where the monster takes the body, places it in the trunk of the deceased, then drives it away, all the time followed by another Goodfella, called Sloan.

Gardner takes a bicycle from the car that he abandons with the dead body inside and cycles away, on a thing that is destined for boys or girls aged eight or less and he has to put his knees above his head to pedal!

This is when Sloan, who is yet another monster who wants money, approaches him, because like the departed insurance man, he has inside knowledge and he is a dangerous, professional killer.

However, an incoming vehicle blows him away, for he was too busy to plan his enrichment to consider he is driving parallel with the bike, on the wrong side of the road.

And if you are familiar with the Coen Brothers ‘style, it is in their habit to kill a vicious figure like that, just as he was showing a self-assurance that he was sure would make him wealthy.

It did not.

Suburbicon is very good, if not outstanding.