Movie Review: 'On the Rocks' Another Triumph for Sofia Coppola

I can already hear the whining over On the Rocks. I can hear people saying ‘nothing happens’ or ‘it’s so boring,’ or other such unimaginative complaints. Indeed, On the Rocks has no explosions, it has no special effects and no bombastic, propellant score to rouse your limited attention span. All that On the Rocks has are a pair of masterful performances skillfully directed by one of the most thoughtful and nuanced directors of our age. I don’t understand why that’s not enough for so many of you?

On the Rocks stars Rashida Jones as Laura, a struggling author, wife and mother of two. Laura is concerned that her husband, Dean (Marlon Wayans), is losing interest in her. Dean has just opened his own consulting company and is working incredibly hard to establish new clients and revenue. He’s also working alongside a team that includes at least one incredibly beautiful younger woman that Laura definitely feels jealous of.

Laura’s feelings of insecurity are in many ways not based on Dean but rather on her father, Felix (Bill Murrary). Felix’s identity is based in infidelity. Felix has made being unfaithful to women a central part of his being. His entire philosophical existence is based on disproving monogamy as a practice. I’m bringing that to the character but truly, Murray communicates all of what I have just described in his manner and casual dialogue.

That said. Felix isn’t a bad dad. He’s always been there for Laura even as he was very much not there for Laura’s mother or any of the many women who’ve crossed paths with him. He’s a doting dad and when he finds out that Laura is suspicious of Dean’s faithfulness as a husband he springs into action, eager to help her play amateur sleuth. Given that he doesn’t believe any man can be faithful, based on his own proclivities, Felix isn’t exactly approaching this issue with objectivity.

Using his vast wealth, Felix actually makes the amateur detective work a whole lot of fun. He rents cars, hires detectives, pays for background checks, and generally goes out of his way to prove that Dean is a cheater. Along the way, father and daughter bond and bicker and both reveal themselves in ways that are unexpected, charming, funny and sad. On the Rocks is brilliant and original in the ways in which the notion of infidelity and the broadly comic manner in which Laura and Felix ‘investigate’ gets to genuine, insightful truths about these characters.

I absolutely adore the style and approach of Sofia Coppola. Her patience, her willingness to allow a scene to linger and for characters to unveil themselves is unmatched by any other modern director. I can just imagine studio hacks desperately begging for Coppola to add an incident or bits of business to a scene. Coppola however, is steadfast in allowing tension to build in quiet and for something as simple as whistling to become, if not important, notable and revealing.

That style, of course, is made possible by having someone like Bill Murray at the center of the action. Murray is Coppola’s unquestionable muse, a man of such compelling, unique and easy charm that any wordless scene feels more alive and vibrant simply for his unpredictable presence. In On the Rocks, you can’t take your eyes off of Murray as you patiently wait and are roundly rewarded with modest comic gems of pure charm.

Rashida Jones does well to be Murray’s foil. The temptation would be for a character in Jones’ position to be a brittle scold or constantly on edge and flying off the handle. Jones’ beat to play is somewhere between try-hard, cool mom and insecure, vulnerable mess. She’s confident, smart and capable but her struggle with her past as well as her identity as a wife, mother and writer have placed a deep and unending stress on her that she’s working very hard to keep at bay. Jones is playing beats that any audience, man or woman, can relate to without having the character constantly humiliated or falling all over herself.

On the Rocks is about how the past informs our future, forms our insecurities, and how so many of us fight a constant battle to not let those insecurities define us. All while we deal with the Felix’s of the world who’ve managed to avoid almost any emotional scars via narcissism leavened with a heap of charm. Some Felix’s are bullies who keep insecurity at bay through brute emotional force. Then there is Murray’s Felix who's been able to skate around his flaws with an Olympian level skill.

That’s the sneaky trick of On the Rocks. On the surface, it appears to be just a charming father-daughter story artfully rendered by one of our finest directors. Secretly, the movie has the charge of a pop culture buzzfeed quiz: Are you a Laura or a Felix? Are you okay with the struggles with insecurity or are you just arrogant enough to not have to deal with insecurities at all?

Wow! I love this movie. I’m a Laura, by the way.

On the Rocks premieres in limited theatrical release and on Apple TV on October 23rd, 2020.