Awful, overlong, over-rated, unbelievable, race/gender-obsessed film - TV Widows from 80s was better
- Widows review by PV
Some points about this movie which has got great reviews from the usual pc virtue-signally critics who feel they have to give a film by a black director with black actors and women starring a brilliant rating and reviews.
Unfortunately, this is a rubbish film. The massively over-rated director is only matched by the over-rated Viola David who is UTTERLY unbelievable in the role she plays. Liam Neeson's wife? Yeah right. This mixed marriage race thing may be a novelty in the mainly segregated USA but it's old hat in the UK.
Making women the bank robbers is also old hat - it was done in the far better original 1983 TV series which I watched at the time, back when it WAS a novelty (even though NO real life bank robbers are female - the wives and girlfriends just get the cash as hubbies go to prison lol!)
This is basically polemic about gender and race, box-ticking like crazy, with a few unbelievable twists and some US corrupt Chicago politics chucked in to try to give depth.
Just awful. Also boring and overlong.
If you want to watch a GREAT heist movie then rent out SEXY BEAST; if you want a better so-so heist film then get THE HATTON GARDEN JOB. This movie of WIDOWS is rash masquerading as social statement about race and gender. If this is the future of film-making, I shall not be visiting the cinema much again (and ticket sales 26% down since Hollywood became obsessed with churning our race/gender-obsessed movies galore).
1 star. Dreadful trash.
6 out of 30 members found this review helpful.
Tv is better
- Widows review by KN
Why this is highly rated is beyond me. Unexceptional dialogue and acting . No interesting plot devices but above all boring. I remember enjoying the tv series in the eighties and it’s probably dated but I imagine it’s superior to this twaddle. There are scenes that insult your intelligence.
3 out of 5 members found this review helpful.
Fascinating, original, brutal
- Widows review by IR
A very difficult film to categorise and describe - a thought-provoking, intelligent thriller with enough twists to keep Chubby Checker in business for centuries.
Some truly outstanding performances, no dumbing-down and some properly evil adversaries. In fact, my only slight gripe is that I didn't truly feel able to connect with the main female lead. I truly admired her determination, fight and ruthlessness, which were brilliantly portrayed, and perhaps so well done that I didn't feel I could warm to her. I understand, but don't empathise.
Nonetheless, a refreshingly brilliant take on a classic genre.
1 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
Waste of 15 minutes of my life
- Widows review by PB
Would have given zero, but 1 star lowest. Don't normally write reviews but this film had nothing for me, turned off at 15 minutes in. Slow wandering
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Watching paint dry is more thrilling
- Widows review by Alphaville
Don’t be fooled by the trailer, which shows nearly all the brief action and adds an atmospheric score that the movie sorely needs but sadly lacks. Widows is thrill-less, virtually score-less, prosaic film-making, bogged down plotwise in politics and religion and visually in still shots of actorly conversations. Thrilling? If only. It’s a completely cold watch, with no characters of any interest and no visuals of any interest. It’s a film that needs a real director at the helm, not a faux-art Turner-prize wannabe filmmaker like Steve McQueen.
PS US critics loved this film while trashing the much superior Replicas, an indie sci-fi film I saw on the following night and a cinematic masterpiece by comparison. If cinema is to outlast the inroads of such as Netflix, they need to get their act together.
1 out of 5 members found this review helpful.
Gave up watching
- Widows review by CR
Just couldn’t get into this. Tried for half an hour and then abandoned it, something I’ve not done before. I usually persevere expecting a film to get better or at least watch it because I’ve paid for it but not this time.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Much better than I thought!
- Widows review by HM
Not your usual heist movie; a tangled plot gives plenty to be interested in. The characters stand alone well and do not merely prop up the plot. Fine performances all round. Criminals' wives are pressured into getting their hands on money to stave off a gangsters' desire to get his money back stolen by their husbands. Exiting, action, plot; the lot. Deffo worth a viewing.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Watch the TV series instead
- Widows review by JK
Too much swearing, was not fast paced enough, poor imitation of the original series which was gritty and believable unlike this film. I am being generous giving it three stars!
0 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
One of the worst films I've watched this year
- Widows review by CKM
Anyone thinking this is anything like the TV series then think again, boring, predictable, lacking any meaning or substance .... this is truly a waste of time and shows how a good story can be ruined by film makers ... why make something this bad?
Don't waste a minute of your time watching this drivel.
0 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Widows
- Widows review by TS
Great Film to watch on a rental without having to buy the Film in shops, good to see the girls taking the main roles in Films for a change, Not to Violent and I like that.
0 out of 3 members found this review helpful.