Movie Breakdown: Malcolm & Marie
Pre-Screening Stance:
Writer/director Sam Levinson (Assassination Nation, Another Happy Day) has yet to knock one out of the park, but my plan is to pay no mind to that little tidbit since I think that John David Washington and Zendaya are really talented and I’m excited to see them on the screen together.
Post-Screening Ramble:
There’s a scene in Malcolm & Marie where the former (John David Washington) reads the first review of his new film and – even though it’s very positive – it causes him to launch into a long rant about critics and how he loathes how so many of them can’t watch anything without adding some sort of political or high-art slant to it. This is a weird moment, as it immediately makes you wonder if something like the decision to shoot Malcolm & Marie in black and white was less of an artistic choice and more of a move to say this is a film that’s only about a couple in the midst of a big fight – that’s the black and white, simple as that breakdown – and there’s nothing else to it. However, this very dialogue-heavy film strays far beyond Malcolm and Marie (Zendaya) and the fallout they’re having after he forgot to thank her at the premiere of his movie. Yes, the two dig up things that have long been buried inside them, they hurt each other in ways that only people who are very close can, and both feel like the other isn’t near as grateful as they should be. There’s also a lot about authenticity in art and what it means to be a filmmaker and, again, musings about critics, and it’s always as though these moments arrive right when the only two people seen in the film are soaring and finally getting somewhere in a real conversation they should have had a forever ago. In other words, Malcolm & Marie should just be about a couple verbally slugging things out, but it’s actually something else entirely due to all the additional commentary that it’s saddled with.
Director Sam Levinson does do good work behind the camera here, but writer Sam Levinson never manages out how to get out of his own way. It’s too bad, really, because it somewhat squanders nice performances from Washington and Zendaya.
The film will hit Netflix this Friday, February 5. I thought it was alright, but unless you’re into the idea of an artsy hour and 45 minutes of two people ranting, you might want to slide over to something else.
One Last Thought:
The Wikipedia entry for this film says that it was “the first feature to be entirely written, financed, and produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, with filming taking place in June and July 2020.” I feel like this note would be more impressive if it was attached to an enormous blockbuster and not some little movie with two people in a remote location, but either way, this sort of info is still interesting (to me, anyway).
