God I wanted to like this movie.
Ed Harris, Lewis Pullman and Bill Murray? Gabriel Union? I was so in. I was also enticed by the films breakout star Miles J Harvey, in a role I rarely get to see black men play. Sadly, this dysfunctional family, semi-Christmas movie left very little to be desired.
Directed by Ditto Monteil, Riff Raff follows a chaotic blended-family who become targets for the patriarchs gangster past. Vince (Ed Harris) has traded in his life of crime for simplicity with his new wife Sandy (Gabrielle Union) and her son DJ (Miles J Harvey). But that plan all falls apart when his semi delinquent son Rocco (Lewis Pullman) shows up with his mom and Vince’s ex wife Ruth (Jennifer Coolidge) and pregant girlfriend Marina (Emanuela Postacchini).
This movie was all over the place. All of these talented actors performed well as individuals, but there was zero chemistry between them as cast. The dialogue was rough and much of the writing leaned heavily into exposition. There were some tender moments but it was overshadowed by frequent tonal shifts making it all feel disjointed. The storylines were too complex and there was too much going on with each character to connect with them. I definitely understood the intent of the film and I got what it was trying to say about messy family dynamics, but for me, it just didn’t connect.
I don’t think it was a bad movie, it is certainly fine to watch, but it is an unfinished film because it felt like something was missing, as if the director was unsure what he wanted it to be in the final cut.
Riff Raff is playing at TIFF ’24. For more information, click here.
