The story of the ex-con who got away is a tried and tested troupe. The notion of a reprehensible person who finally has had enough of the life and decided to walk away always serves as excellent character work and gives an actor a chance to truly flex how complex they can be on the big screen. One of the best is Sam Jackson as Jules in Pulp Fiction (he still got robbed of an Oscar). But what if that got remixed and instead of a serious drama, it’s in a crime comedy/drama? That’s what director Dito Montiel’s latest film Riff Raff tries to tackle.
Vincent (Ed Harris) is seemingly living a normal suburban life. He’s married to Sandy (Gabrielle Union), and helping her raise his stepson DJ (Miles J. Harvey) deep in rural Maine away from his former life as a Boston “contractor.” The most exciting thing going in his world is trying to help DJ get out of the friend zone from a crush and get excited for DJ to get ready to go to college. That all changes when his adult son Rocco (Lewis Pullman) and his pregnant girlfriend Marina (Emanuela Postacchini) show up late one night in need of his father’s help. Oh, Vincent and his son Rocco are estranged from each other due to his divorce from his ex-wife Ruth (Jennifer Coolidge). But something big has happened that threatens to upend his perfect post-crime retirement life.
It turns out that in Riff Raff, Rocco was defending Marina’s honor from an abusive ex-boyfriend and unfortunately beat the punk to death. Oh, this guy isn’t just any regular dude, he’s the son of another high-profile “contractor” named “Leftie” (Bill Murray), who isn’t going to let something as simple as the murder of his son slide without reigning hellfire everywhere he goes. So Leftie teams up with fellow hitman Lonnie (Pete Davidson) and now it’s a race against the clock to find Rocco and kill him.
When Rocco and his mother Ruth come in contact with Vincent, at first Rocco’s tight-lipped about what’s going on, plus Vincent doesn’t really want Sandy and DJ to really know about his past life, which has some divorce-inducing secrets associated with it. As a result, there’s now a blended family all hiding out from Leftie under one roof with a bunch of unresolved issues as well as a ticking clock for hitmen to find them. Oh, and Ruth is Jennifer Coolidge doing her best Jennifer Coolidge work, so comedy ensues.
The final act of Riff Raff has the explosive confrontation between Leftie and Lonnie (who have left a trail of bodies for anyone who even hears them say their names) as Leftie wants to enact his justice. Because Riff Raff begins with one of the final scenes of DJ narrating the story, the audience gets to see how the whole film leads up to that moment. The ending feels a little hollow, but it is still a very interesting ride as the actors have a genuine fun time mixing the humor with the horrific.
Speaking of the actors, all of them a great in the film. The key standouts are Bill Murray and Pete Davidson, who act like an odd couple of hitmen, constantly bickering with each other, even while they are blowing heads off. Bill Murray does deliver some great one-liners, while also being menacing at times. I would love for Bill Murray to do a straight-up no-comedy villain role before he retires because he has the chops in spurts in Riff Raff. As stated before, Jennifer Coolidge (who will forever be Stiffler’s mom in every role she has until the end of time) brings her A-game and delivers most of the comedic moments of the film. Another standout from the film is Miles J. Harvey (who mostly has done smaller films or TV shows) serves as the only sane person in the house when it all hits the fan and serves as the audience avatar.
That said, Riff Raff feels like a film from a past era. The film’s tone feels like old-school Tarantino, with a little bit more of a comedic flair to it. The final act does feel rushed and could have used a little bit more of Bill Murray having a blast as a crime boss, who treated his son like crap, but still has to murder a bunch of people for justice’s sake. As stated, the final 10 minutes of the film seem to sprint towards the ending, but then the final 30 seconds of the film may leave viewers puzzled as there’s a resolution… but then there isn’t one. Does that mean Riff Raff is a bad movie, of course not! Bill Murray and Jennifer Coolidge alone are worth the price of admission as they are having a blast in this film and certainly worth your time at a theater, or at least to rent it from home.
Riff Raff is now playing in theaters nationwide and On Demand.
