The Reel Review
A Christmas family holiday at a former mobster’s vacation home in rural Maine is disrupted when his first wife, estranged oldest son and his pregnant girlfriend arrive unexpectedly under suspicious circumstances. Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Harris and Bill Murray star in this dark comedy/crime thriller.
Despite having such a strong, big-name ensemble cast that also includes Gabrielle Union, Lewis Pullman and Pete Davidson, Riff Raff sure is one wobbly film, not strong enough to make either of its two genres work on their own, much less as a really awkward mashup. And despite being set during the Christmas holiday, you’d never know it from looking at the generic setting.
With the exception of Murray’s mobster hitman, the performances are all clichés of similar roles most cast members have played previously and director Dito Montiel (A Guide for Recognizing Your Saints) never quite gets right that tonal shift between comedy and crime thriller. There are a few chuckles (one scene in particular involving a couple of chatty and clueless busy-body neighbors), but the film’s violent climax and silly, implausible finalé feels contrived, highly unlikely and ultimately unearned.
REEL FACTS
• Brian Cox (Succession) and Dustin Hoffman were originally cast in the two roles that ultimately went to Ed Harris and Bill Murray.
• Jennifer Coolidge has won two Best Supporting Actress Emmy awards for her performances in the first two seasons of the Max dramedy series The White Lotus.
• Although set in Maine, Riff Raff was filmed in New Jersey.
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