Furlough - A Movie Review

We’re going to have a good time. What could go wrong?

Furlough is a 2018 film. A rookie correction officer has to escort an inmate to see her dying mother. Traveling by bus and through the city, Nicole struggles to keep Anderson under control as they encounter several adventures.

I was excited to watch Furlough because it had an engaging premise about an unlikely friendship. The film’s primary focus is the interactions between the characters. The film gears off course, adding too much filler and making a fool out of one of the characters.

Melissa Leo and Tessa Thompson did a fantastic job establishing their characters. I like when films study unlikely friendships. Nicole and Anderson have several conversations along the trip, mainly about life.

Before Furlough, I watched Melissa Leo in Welcome to the Rileys. I swore I was watching another person in this film. Leo was fantastic as an extroverted prisoner who merrily has a conversation with anyone. Leo did an outstanding job in how she led her character.

Nicole (Thompson) is a first-year cop. She is very nervous. Her character is just embarrassing. While Anderson is laid-back and they make a good connection, if this were a different story, Nicole would have been in a lot more trouble.

At request, Nicole removes her prisoner's shackles and leaves Anderson alone in public to take phone calls! Nicole understands that she is a cop, right? She should be more attentive in her field of work! Complying with Anderson’s requests only made her take advantage of Nicole’s good nature.

After establishing Nicole and Anderson’s bond, the film intercepts separate stories. Parts of the story were random, lurking on obvious filler territory. Anderson takes off from Nicole to fool around with a man while Nicole flirts with a landlord of an apartment building. Seriously? Nicole has had issues with her love life, but now is not the time to solve them!

The film has a good cast of actors, like Whoopi Goldberg as Nicole’s manic mother who calls her every 15 minutes. She was a riot! Credits include Edgar Ramirez, Brena De Niro, La La Anthony, Damien Lemon, and Suzanne Shepherd.

Road trip films offer an ensemble of characters. Traveling to several places, on a bus, in the city, or inside some little stores, most people have something to say about Anderson’s appearance. Never judge anybody based on appearance,

If Laurie Collyer had stayed true to the story’s direction, Furlough could have been stronger. The story is original, just not cohesive. Writers had several ideas for the story. That’s great, but we needed to focus on one storyline. Too much happens in the film.

I would have altered the choice of perspective. Nicole’s family got more focus instead of Anderson’s storyline. Anderson’s family storyline deserved more attention than the random scenes in the city. Nicole actually let Anderson get a makeover! Why did we need to see that?

Anderson’s story with her family had more potential. Cutting out most of the filler in the city, we would have arrived at Anderson’s house sooner. We deserved more time with her family. The revelation involving one character concerning Anderson felt tacked on.

Furlough had potential. I was expecting more from it. It was funny in some moments, but there was too much filler. I lost interest in the middle. I was disappointed in the portrayal of Nicole’s character, especially as a cop.

Live life for yourself. That’s the moral of Furlough. Furlough could have been a better film, but it’s still enjoyable for what it is.