Riff Raff
Riff Raff
Riff Raff: Dito Montiel’s family crime drama thriller, ‘Riff Raff’ is a family crime comedy that runs for only 103 minutes. Sounds a bit short lived. And one would be justified to feel as such considering most, if not all, of the film’s cast were reasonably good but the entire film lacked momentum. Although the film eventually moves on from its slow beginning, there is little to nothing it can show, and almost every unsettling twist in the story is wasted because the film fails to develop it. The movie starts strong with ideas about love and family, its just that they don’t use it for the real purpose at any point of the film. Rather, those ideas serve as something that exists, separated from the plot though waiting for the moment to become part of it. Only, they never do.
An episodic introduction suggests the final point of extreme tension when the shy boy DJ (Miles J. Harvey) is holding an older bloody man named Vincent (Ed Harris) at gun point. Step back in time a few days ago with DJ’s warm voiced narration; they are step son and step father, as it is obvious then. While the film is in its early stages, they appear to be well-natured towards each other; although it’s just them practicing their shooting outside their vacation home, it does make one wonder how the story approaches reach its peak, however in small increments.
They possess a rather straightforward relationship with playful jests of intimate affairs which DJ’s mother, Vincent’s second wife Sandy (Gabrielle Union), does not appreciate. After all, this is a rather entertaining family setup until out of the blue, late at night there is the climactic entrance of Vincent’s older son from a different relationship, Rocco (Lewis Pullman), a loud and rebellious character, and his lovely, pregnant Italian girlfriend, Marina (Emanuela Postacchini) and Vincent’s ex-wife Ruth (Jennifer Coolidge). It seems as though they have come to bring in the New Years with the family but Vincent’s intuition informs him that Rocco is up to no good.
Somewhat later, confirming without specifying how and for what reasons this assumption is true, an older mafia member named Leftie (Bill Murray) sets off with his physically attractive younger subordinate Lonnie (Pete Davidson) on a road trip designed to find a target. It is suggested that the individual they are seeking is at this winter resort. We would, however, refer a great deal of information more slowly and in more erratic bursts of frequency. In the meantime, the Anguished Times of Vincent and his mother’s dual family s circumstances tear up, leads to relations which, quite humorously at first, arise from a wide range of insecure stereotypes.
Pullman also moves on from the ‘scared’ character he played in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and this time around promises to make the audience laugh as he embodies a bad boy in a leather jacket with a bad temper and troubling daddy issues. He is fun to watch. Harvey the new comer is also interesting, as he is portrayed as a small boy whose heart and dreams are huge and who is just about to leave for college. As if that were not enough, he too is suffering from a mysterious kind of romantic pain in a rather strange manner, probably too rational for his own good. You would think that they need older brothers; actually, they do. Just as Rocco would need to have his hand held before he becomes a father. But unresolved issues get the best of Rocco who strikes in anger at DJ for his uncontainable enthusiasm.
Sadly, this is the extent of the movie’s interesting dynamics. Rather, whenever an actor is mentioned, the audience is immediately given a first and final impression of that character – thanks to the cast, that knows how to read John Pollono’s script – but there’s always likely to be such an impression. The entire premise of Ruth’s character is that of a drunken, sex-crazed, clumsily sketched stereotype, which Coolidge executes with vigor and sass, but none of it is real.
Marina Postacchini bestows on DJ a few life and love lessons, but neither of them helps in the story at any point. A character called Sandy from Union appears only as a straight man to a couple of others gone mad but whose enemies are weak. And yes, Harris’s take on Vincent is enjoyable to hear but the role itself has only the dramatic veil of depth. These, it seems, are revealed as he is being told more of his history and the two men that were on their way to his clan. While these facts help in creating an impression of later dramatic content build-up, it is not the case with Montiel as he reveals these aspects to the audience only because he runs out of time. Today the family battles will begin and the moment so many have been waiting for has finally arrived. Why do some characters feel as if they were already late to the stage?
Even though a gripping conflict is presumably set up, “Riff Raff” takes its good foot and mouth time telling its story, with many unnecessary availing digressions along the way. Michael Covino is perhaps the most magnetic presence in the film alongside Pullman, a largely silent, sadistic character who manages to link the film’s disparate story lines; rather interestingly, we only learn about him through flashbacks as a metaphor of meaning and conflict when the film tries and fails at presenting the present, where all blind lined plots are supposed to crash. The wait is not however worth it since the film never recovers back its lost energy any time soon after it plateaus.
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- Genre: Comedy, Crime
- Country: United States
- Director: Dito Montiel
- Cast: Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Harris, Gabrielle Union
