Suburbicon - Who knows what this was meant to be

First of all, let me say that I really enjoyed George Clooney's style of directing in 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' and who doesn't enjoy the writing of the Coen brothers?  Then combine these elements with A-listers like Matt Damon, Oscar Isaacs and Julianne Moore and how can this possibly fail?  It did.  Spectacularly.

Perhaps the reason it bombed was that it had too many good elements (if that's even possible).  For a start it has no idea what it wants to be.  In the first act it introduces plot threads that really don't relate to the central theme of a couple getting mixed up with some shady characters and a plot involving murder and misinformation.  Plus there's the fact that it's set in the 1950s (I think - could be 60s!), but, either way, there's not an awful lot of point in setting it here.  It could be set today not really effect the main storyline at all.  Nice sets though.  Just not really necessary.

In the film Matt Damon is married to Julianne Moore.  Or should I say he's married to ONE Julianne Moore.  The other is her sister - which took me a little while to actually figure out if they were the same person or not!  However, no matter how many Julianne Moores you have on display, the fact remains that there's no likable character.  A child is - technically - the person you should root for and you will do.  However, he can't really carry the film in terms of good vs bad.  Oscar Isaacs isn't in it enough and, when he does make an appearance he does steal every moment he's on screen.

'Suburbicon' is billed as a 'black comedy.' I don't recall laughing once.  I couldn't 'get' the humour (if there is any to begin with!) and I do enjoy a slice of darker humour.  It's a murder drama/thriller that tries to be too many things at once.  You could take out so much of this and leave - probably - quite a tight little story that would have been enjoyable to watch.  Does the phrase 'Too many cooks...' apply here?

5/10 a hard trek, a bit like unicycling to Mordor and back