Riff Raff is worth it to see Bill Murray playing a bad guy, but the slow pacing and tired narrative are hard to overcome.
PLOT: Vincent is an ex-criminal who more than anything, just wants a normal, peaceful life. He and his wife Sandy have built a loving family with their son DJ and are spending the winter break in a cabin before he goes off to college. Chaos ensues when Vincent’s disowned son Rocco, his girlfriend Marina and Vincent’s ex-wife Ruth abruptly show up to spoil the festivities with an ominous warning: the famed gangsters Leftie and Lonnie are coming for them.
REVIEW: Sometimes a film comes along and the cast is enough to convince you to take the leap. No plot or motivations uttered, just a poster featuring an intriguing cast of characters. And there are few lineups more intriguing than one that includes Bill Murray, Ed Harris, Jennifer Coolidge, Gabrielle Union, Pete Davidson, and Lewis Pullman. Add in some out of the box performances, and Riff Raff had all the makings for a great film. And what we get is good, but it feels like there was plenty left on the table.
Riff Raff is about Vincent, an ex-criminal who’s long since left the business and living a new life with a new family. But when his old family pays a visit, claiming Vincent’s former associates have beef with them, his life is turned upside down. Ed Harris does a good job as Vincent, even if I had a little trouble buying Gabrielle Union as his wife. Love both of them, but given the fact that their chemistry is practically non-existent, it feels more like filling out the cast with big names versus people who are right for the roles. Vincent never really won me over, and it mostly feels like: why are people fighting over THIS guy?
The criminals that are hunting them down, Lefty and Lonnie, are played by Bill Murray and Pete Davidson and they were easily the best part of Riff Raff. They have a very fun dynamic and it feels a bit outside of what we tend to see from these two. Murray is fantastic as Lefty, a mob boss who’s going through a bit of an existential crisis. The way he kills a dude, only to immediately talk about how he probably didn’t deserve it shows he’s not so black and white. Usually, he’s just playing a variation of the Bill Murray schtick that we’ve seen for years (and love) but he’s really doing something different here. I’d say this is easily the most unlikable he’s been in years, making for some intriguing casting.
Jennifer Coolidge is wonderful as Vincent’s ex-wife Ruth. I’ll never tire of her being gloriously crude to children. She brings a likeability to Ruth that I think would have otherwise been absent. She still has those classic Coolidge trademarks, but manages to feel different enough. Miles J Harvey takes the role of “young kid with a verbiage of a scholar and way too much emotional security.” I’m never a fan of this kind of character, and if anything, he clashes with the dark humor of the film a bit. I understand that it was necessary in order to show Vincent’s new life, but he feels very disconnected from the rest.
The film is pretty low energy and moves at a slower pace than most modern films. It’s almost presented like a stageplay, with long bits of dialogue and limited locations. All of the events just kind of happen and the context isn’t properly communicated. There are plenty of great performances, but all of the characters feel very surface level and not very lived in. There’s such a nonchalant quality to Riff Raff‘s narrative, that nothing ever really has much impact. Even the deaths just kind of happen without much pomp and circumstance.
Riff Raff winds up in a place of death and chaos, giving a bit of identity to what is an otherwise stale mob tale. The performances and characters really help to give this a bit of energy. But outside of Murray and Davidson, it can feel a bit old hat. Ultimately, I liked the film for its performances, but I feel like we’ve seen this story told before, and in a more interesting way.
RIFF RAFF RELEASES IN THEATERS ON FEBRUARY 28TH, 2025.
