Eddington
Writer/director Ari Aster's latest is an absurdist dark comedy where the humor comes from the stupidity and poor decision-making of its characters. And, oh boy, do we get some stupid decisions from its characters. Set in the town of Eddington, New Mexico, during the COVID-19 lockdown, we're introduced to an entire town of incredibly dumb characters all following their own agendas while shouting their opinions at each other and rarely, if ever, truly listening to another person. In some ways, Aster has brought Internet discourse to life which, while intriguing, isn't always interesting.
It's hard not to watch Eddington and feel the influences of the Coen Brothers in every frame. The characters of Eddington would feel right at home in Burn After Reading, although I don't think the film is ultimately as funny or witty partly because of its 148-minute running time which begins to drag long before the film tonally shifts into an action flick during its final act and unnecessarily stretches out into multiple epilogue sequences.
In a town full of self-indulgent idiots, our main character is shitkicker Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) who is driven by his own inadequacies, his refusal to take COVID or the mask mandate seriously, and his jealousy and hatred for the town's mayor (Pedro Pascal) who he believes may have raped Joe's wife (Emma Stone) when they were teenagers. Joe's home life is hardly supportive made up solely of his emotionally distant wife and her conspiracy-theory obsessed mother (Deirdre O'Connell) who, without meaning to, turns her daughter on to a cult.
Having chosen to run for mayor in a fit of rage, plastering his police cruiser in (misspelled) campaign slogans, Joe has trouble getting out his message in an articulate way. Given his inability to listen or connect to his wife, physically or emotionally, and being forced to uphold laws that he doesn't believe in (in Joe's world COVID, for reasons never articulated, could never make its way Eddington while at the same time we see his health deteriorate which of course is directly caused as his refusal to take very simple precautions). Joe's impotence, and his growing rage for not being able to solve it, is the slow burning fuse by which Aster lights the fire which will eventually explode in the film's final act.
While Pascal's Mayor Ted certainly has more charm, he's not that much smarter than Joe. With the town struggling with the lockdown we also get the effects of the George Floyd attack leading to poorly-planned protests by, you guessed it, equally stupid characters almost of whom are white whose motivations (interest in a girl, winning back an ex-boyfriend, simply being outside together during lockdown) are far from pure. The funniest moments of the film involve the white characters spouting off rhetoric without ever attempting to understand it (which leads to a dinner table reaction that provides the one laugh-out-loud moment of the film). As with Joe, the characters are simply reacting to events (almost all while struggling to wear their COVID masks) including several scenes of white teens exposing the idea that their voices aren't those to be heard while, of course, continuing to shout over everyone else making sure no one else's voice is heard.
Aster certainly gets his point across, and to that end Eddington is a success despite being at least a half-hour too long. I do think the humor of the film, and how the jokes land, will ultimately determine your reaction to Eddington. For me, Eddington is smart and humorous but rarely gets to the level of funny needed to take the edge off what is ultimately a rather bleak look at an American small town during one of the most trying times in recent memory. The film is also in desperate need of a straight man to properly react to the absurdity, something Joe is ill-equipped to do given his own limitations. While I think enough of the film works to recommend, it's far from a summer crowd pleaser and isn't likely a film I would return to anytime soon.
- Title: Eddington
- IMDb: link
