There is very little about it Riff Raff,the latest from director Dito Montiel and screenwriter John Pollono to compliment it. The movie is dark, mean spirited and just not good. This cast is well suited to comedy; many have contributed some funny films, but the script offers them nothing but one embarrassing joke after another.
Riff Raff follows ex-criminal Vincent (Ed Harris) on a happy New Year's holiday with his new wife Sandy (Gabrielle Union) and stepson DJ (Miles J. Harvey). His vacation is thwarted by his biological son Rocco (Lewis Pullman), his ex-wife Ruth (Jennifer Coolidge) and his son's pregnant girlfriend (Emanuela Postacchini). Oh, and a pair of dangerous men (Bill Murray and Pete Davidson) are hunting his son and not far behind. The film is a dark comedy about family dysfunction and a ruined past.
Despite a promising Prelude, Riff Raff has nothing worth enjoying
The tonal mismatch makes high-stakes moments feel like a joke. The genuine jokes land like a solid brick, and the cute moments generate more laughs than they should. What lets this movie down the most is the script and how derivative it is. Riff Raff it feels like an inspired and unformed idea from someone else.
Pullman and Harvey struggle to lose; none can overcome the script's shallowness and the project's largely derivative qualities.
It doesn't feel like it was written as an original concept, but it was born out of the growing trend of ensemble comedies that use dysfunction and murder as a catalyst for family drama. despite a promising start, Riff Raff fails to live up to its potential and never utilizes its star cast.
Riff Raff's Fun Actor Struggles To Carry A Rotten Script
The cast is the only thing that can really hook us. Therefore Riff Raff it has risen to the top of my must watch list. Watching Gabrielle Union fall to a pedestal is quite disappointing; Jennifer Coodlegie isn't as effective as the creative team had hoped, and Ed Harris, Bill Murray and Pete Davidson are sleepwalking, though they have an innate talent for creating something out of nothing.
The only cast member who walks away with an ounce of credibility is Lewis Pullman, who is simply electric and belongs in a completely different project. Miles J. Harvey is an absolute sweetheart and deserves infinitely more. We get a bit more of him as he narrates parts of the film, and he provides quite a few laughs and touching moments. However, Pullman and Harvey struggle to lose; none can overcome the script's shallowness and the project's largely derivative qualities.
In the end, Riff Raff neither funny nor moving. The family drama is poorly constructed, the characters are thinly written, the drama is laughable, and the jokes are bottom of the barrel. Despite the cast that people will be interested in watching, there is nothing to recommend this movie. No matter how likable Harvey is or how compelling Pullman is, the film never rises to their level and they struggle to carry a tissue-thin script with no substance to hold them together.
I don't go out of my way to drag movies because a lot of time and effort goes into every project and a movie of this caliber is probably made with the best of intentions. But the intention to create a dark crime comedy is different from actually executing one well. And Riff Raff it just doesn't fall down.
Riff Raff It premiered at the Toronto International Festival in 2024. The movie is 103 minutes long and has not been rated yet.