Rebecca, On the Rocks, and toobin a crisp rat
Two films about marriage, plus culture notes about famous men
Hello, and welcome to the first episode of Criticism Is Dead!
On this week’s episode, we discuss Rebecca (2020) and On the Rocks (2020)—two films, both alike in content (marriage) and watchability (background noise).
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00:41 Rebecca, out on Netflix, is the latest, cynical example of how big streaming fare can go wrong.
As Rachel Syme writes for the New Yorker:
Ultimately, “Rebecca” suffers from a malady that is plaguing much of streaming entertainment, one that might be traced back to the surprising success of Amazon’s TV show “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” a splashy, high-budget period piece that had a delightful, strong first season only to buy too heartily into its own schtick. Streaming executives seem to have learned the wrong lesson from “Maisel,” which is that if they make a production look good enough, the viewers will follow. Streaming executives, who have admitted that they use data to calibrate the films and shows they produce, seem to believe that films like the “Rebecca” remake give viewers exactly what they want. “Here,” they seem to say. “Here is some maximalist fare with actors you have heard of—press Play for serotonin.” Netflix, in particular, has been leaning on the formula of late. We saw it in “Ratched,” another period piece that is more style than substance, and in the recent “Emily in Paris,” a grating girlboss fantasia that felt like a Pinterest board in search of a plot. As I reached the infamous party-dress scene in “Rebecca,” which played like the dénouement of a teen drama rather than the brutal, visceral abasement that it is in the novel, I thought, They really do think we’ll watch anything.
In our humble plural opinion, Lily James and Armie Hammer also kinda suck in this movie! (Mrs. Danvers, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, is the sole saving grace.) Here’s a burn from Vulture’s Angelica Jade Bastién: “Poor, poor Armie Hammer. Who told him the lie that being white, tall, and rich-looking was enough to establish a career in Hollywood?”
And this didn’t make it into the pod, but I (Jenny) question if director Ben Wheatley was trying to do something else here, with this very modern-girlboss-appropriate line uttered by Danvers: “The men in London, the men at the Manderley parties. You were nothing but playthings for her. And why shouldn’t a woman amuse herself? She lived her life as she pleased, my Rebecca. No wonder a man had to kill her.”
*adjusts glasses* Actually, Maybe It Is the Husband Who Is Bad.
10:03 On the Rocks, available on Apple TV+, is basically Sofia Coppola for normies. Ouch!
Pelin, normally a huge Coppola-head, calls the director’s latest work “basic.” She expected a stylistically distinct film, with intelligence and subtlety, and received… not that! Shout out to the climactic monologue in which all the movie’s themes are listed out, bullet point by bullet point, like this is fucking SparkNotes or something.
An apt line from Richard Lawson’s review of the film in Vanity Fair:
But the film never achieves lift-off, drifting instead through a series of scenes that repeat and repeat the movie’s few, basic themes before sputtering to a too easily resolved—and patly rendered—conclusion.
16:37 Plus, culture notes about two famous men and their dumb defenders.
TL;DR: oh my god all these defenses and takes and counter-takes are so boring, please stop wasting energy capping for powerful celebrities!!!
In the evergreen words of Astead W. Herndon (rule nos. 1 and 2. probably also 3):
P.S. Unfortunately, I guess this tweet of mine is no longer accurate :(
Bonus links
Jeremy and Rajat in Vulture! Never forget: You may not like it, but this is what peak comedy looks like:
Some good profiles I’ve read recently: Bad Bunny in NYT Mag (cannot recommend highly enough), Ayad Akhtar in New Yorker.
Okay bye!
— Jenny
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Some credits:
Music: REEKAH
Artwork and design: Sara Macias and Andrew Liu
Special thanks: Dan Geneen