The Reel Review
A down-on-his-luck Don the ex-con is strong armed by L.A. mobster Armen to kill Armen’s ex-girlfriend, Phyllis. But when he’s unable to kill her, they form an unlikely duo and decide to double-cross the mobster. Shea Whigham and Carrie Coon star in this crime thriller with dark comedy overtones.
It’s pretty clear from the start that Don is not so much a bad guy as he is just really unlucky. Gambling debts landed him in a dire situation, which led to some bad decisions, a decade in prison, and abandonment by his family. Whigham is great as the lovable loser, with an also terrific Carrie Coon as Phyllis, whose kooky personality masks a shocking killer instinct. Glenn Fleshler (Billions, Joker) is loathsomely good as the shady Armen, the mobster who seemingly never lives up to his promises.
As buddy crime/road trip comedies go, this one from writer/director Jeremy Reiner (The Affair, Friday Night Lights) sticks to the familiar format and will induce more smiles than laughs. But the twisty storyline, with the two gradually becoming more confident in their plan and more trusting of one another, never feels forced and it is a fun enough romp all the way up to its somewhat sad and ambiguous ending.
REEL FACTS
• Married with four children, Shea Whigham and his family split their time between New York and Los Angeles.
• Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Gone Girl) is married to Pulitzer and Tony award winning actor Tracy Letts (August: Osage County). They have two children.
• Lake George was filmed where it was set – Los Angeles and Lone Pine, California.
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