Widows

Widows is, in its most basic form, a heist movie. I love heist movies, like The Asphalt Jungle, The Killing, Rififi, Bob le Flambeur, etc. The reason for the heist is established, the group is formed, usually of strangers, the plan is hatched, the heist is pulled, then something invariably goes wrong.

Their have been heists with women as the thieves, but they've been either comic (How to Beat the High Cost of Living), or surreal (Spring Breakers). I think Widows is the first one that takes women seriously pulling off a heist, and it's about time. As such, Widows is just about perfect.

As the title suggests, Widows is about a group of women, widowed when their criminal husbands are killed in the aftermath of a robbery. Two million dollars goes up in flames, and the person who was supposed to get that money, Brian Tyree Henry, wants it back (he's running for Chicago alderman, against an equally slimy Colin Farrell, probably a pretty fair view of Chicago politics). So Viola Davis, taking charge, recruits her fellow widows to rob Farrell's campaign office, where there is five million dollars in kickback money.

Her recruits are Michelle Rodriguez, who while actually wearing dresses, really doesn't deviate from her action-film character, and an especially Elizabeth Debicki, who turns to escorting after her husband's death. The fourth member turns out to be a bad-ass hair stylist and Rodriguez's babysitter (Cynthia Erivo). Davis is very much a drill sergeant, mainly because she has the most to lose, as Henry and his sadistic brother (Daniel Kaluuya) are only aware of her husband taking part in the original robbery.

The women form a bond, so this is a weirdly feminist movie, even if it about a sisterhood of crime (but of course they are stealing ill-gotten money), as each one learns what they are capable of. There is a major twist that I did not see coming, and a pretty great climax.

Widows is directed by Steve McQueen, and I would not have expected something like this coming from the director of 12 Years a Slave, Shame, and Hunger. The action scenes are well choreographed, the camera angles expertly managed, and the pace hums along so there's never really a good time to go to the bathroom. As a bonus, there are a few scenes with Robert Duvall, as Farrell's father, hamming it up as only Duvall can.

But make no mistake, this is a popcorn movie. If it gets award nominations then so be it--it hits its mark, but it doesn't aim very high. This film did not change my view of the world or make me understand new truths. And I wonder about something that I see in movies, from Heat to Baby Driver--are there really career criminals who never seem to go to jail? This movie presents pulling off crimes as being just another way to make a living, and judging by the way Davis lives, her hubbie (played by Liam Neeson) does a very nice job of it.

So, Widows is a great action film, but is not transformative, unless one considers it in the context of "You've come a long way, baby"--now you're competent enough to rob.