A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Laundromat” (2019).
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
In “The Laundromat”, Ellen Martin (Meryl Streep) loses her husband Joe (James Cromwell) in a boating accident. She expects a multi-million dollar insurance payout, but is frustrated that the insurance companies evaporate in a miasma of shell-companies and double-dealing. Her compulsive investigations lead her to two Panamanian-based double dealers: Jürgen Mossack (Gary Oldman) and Ramón Fonseca (Antonio Banderas).
Based on a true story, a hack of the company’s 2.6 TB of email data led to the 2016 scandal known as “The Panama Papers”: something that dragged into the headlines the alleged dodgy-dealings of many celebrities including David Cameron.
Green screen wackiness with Mssrs Goldman and Banderos (Source: Netflix)
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, Meryl Streep, David Schwimmer, Robert Patrick, James Cromwell, Sharon Stone, Jeffrey Wright.
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Written by: Jake Bernstein, Scott Z. Burns.
Ellen (Meryl Streep) navigating the streets of Nevis. (Source: Netflix).
“The Laundromat” Review:
Positives:
- Meryl Steep delivers another superb performance as the grieving avenging widow.
- There’s a “twist” in the final scene which I didn’t see coming, and which was impressive.
Why James Cromwell has little more than a cameo. (Source: Netflix)
Negatives:
- This is a really strange and disjointed movie. It seems to be trying to be “The Big Short“, but is a significant fail. There are numerous quirky scenes, most involving Oldman and Banderas. But there is enough bat-shit crazy stuff in here to make you think that either Sonderbergh, or the writers, or both were on acid. What was with the “Dawn of Man” sequence at the start? And why the anonymisation of the ‘hominids’? Lots of bonkers stuff.
- The movie is made up of a series of chapters (“Lessons”), but the connection between the lesson title and the “message” conveyed is loose at best. It’s all a bit of a convoluted mess.
- The script seems to assume a school-boy level of knowledge of the subject matter. As a result, some of the explanations of Mssrs, Oldman and Banderas come across as extremely patronising ‘mansplaining’.
Summary Thoughts on “The Laundromat”:
There’s a stellar cast involved with this one, and the subject matter in the hands of an Adam McKay could have been compelling. But as it is, it’s rather a disjointed mess. It’s worth a watch just to see the actors at work. But that’s about the long and the short of it. Watch “The Big Short” again instead.
This has been sitting on my Netflix box for a long time without a watch, and this is mostly because the title suggested something completely different (and not of great interest). (Yes, I understand in retrospect that the movie is partially concerned with money laundering!) It was only my wife – the illustrious Mrs Movie Man – suggesting we watch it that pushed it onto the list. If it had been titled something like “The Panama Papers” I would have probably watched it sooner!
Trailer:
The trailer for “The Laundromat” is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuBRcfe4bSo .
