As far as I'm concerned, Writer-Director Steve McQueen is a perfect 3 for 3 ("Hunger," "Shame," "12 Years A Slave") in his short filmmaking career. It has been 5 years since "Slave" won the Best Picture Oscar, but it looks like McQueen has decided to tackle the lightest topic thus far in his career: A blue-collar bank robbery.
The trailer makes the film look like a generic heist film, albeit a well-shot one, but don't we expect more from McQueen than this? I know there is no doubt plenty of potential socio-political topics to tackle here but doesn't the mixture of McQueen and the pulp source material from Flynn feel almost too facile?
McQueen (“12 Years a Slave,” “Shame”) directs from a script he co-wrote with Gillian Flynn (who also adapted her own novel “Gone Girl”). The film stars Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Daniel Kaluuya, and Robert Duvall.
Here’s the official synopsis:
“From Academy Award®-winning director Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”) and co-writer and bestselling author Gillian Flynn (“Gone Girl”) comes a blistering, modern-day thriller set against the backdrop of crime, passion, and corruption. “Widows” is the story of four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities. Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time of turmoil, tensions build when Veronica (Oscar® winner Viola Davis), Alice (Elizabeth Debicki), Linda (Michelle Rodriguez) and Belle (Cynthia Erivo) take their fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms. “Widows” also stars Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Daniel Kaluuya, Lukas Haas and Brian Tyree Henry.”
“Widows” opens November 16.