Suburbicon (2017)

Directed by George Clooney. Starring Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Noah Jupe, Glenn Fleshler, Alex Hassell, Gary Basaraba, Jack Conley, Megan Ferguson, Karimah Westbrook, Leith Burke. [R]

Two late-50s suburbia story threads rife with potential are mashed together incongruously, resulting in a lumbering but curious muddle of ill-formed characters and ideas; in one, Damon’s unassuming middle-class father harbors disturbing secrets and intentions, while the other depicts the arrival of a black family that is subjected to racist overtures and threats immediately and without provocation. The first thread gets a few wild but unconvincing twists and turns (and contrivances), but the darkly comic satirical elements are shapeless and unfocused. The second thread gets short shrift so often as to be forgotten during long stretches; it doesn’t help that the targeted family doesn’t get to exhibit actual personalities and are simply reduced to totems. Despite the high pedigree of talent involved (portions of the script were written by the Coen brothers), consider this one of the biggest and most perplexing misfires of its calendar year.

34/100