'On the Rocks' film review: Father & daughter play detective in Coppola's latest
Sofia Coppola and Bill Murray reunite for this breezy, low-key screwball infidelity dramedy 'On the Rocks' (streaming on Apple TV+ starting Oct. 23)
In short: Young mother Laura (Rashida Jones) reconnects with her larger-than-life playboy father Felix (Murray) as they begin to suspect her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) may be cheating on her.
The most interesting idea 'On the Rocks' has is Laura's struggle with writers block, which fuels otherwise passing suspicions that tail spin out of control - with no help from her way-too-charismatic father. Laura is tormented by her inability to write and the constant distraction of household obligations. Her pent-up frustration on both fronts contrasts with Dean's jet-setting lifestyle. Laura feels trapped endlessly cleaning up children's toys and taking her toddler to class, while Dean spends his care-free days traveling abroad and going to SoHo parties.
The whole of 'On the Rocks' is essentially Laura's misdirected frustration, which gets focused and amplified into her nagging doubt about Dean's faithfulness. And for this, she has her aggressively likeable father to thank. Felix is all too eager to give second opinion on the mounting pile of incriminating evidence and offer his unsolicited thoughts on cheating. Murray is pure charm as the aging pleasure seeker, able to cajole and delight every waitress and even police officers.
Murray is simultaneously the best and worst aspect of 'On the Rocks.' He's effortlessly winsome - the kind of guy who can hold court at any party and entertain just with his towering personality. He's also the impetus for the film to exist at all. If Felix was simply removed from the film altogether, 'On the Rocks' would be just Laura's creeping suspicions - it's Felix who kicks her reluctantly into action. And in this regard, the film uses the overtly magnetic Felix as a distraction. This is fundamentally Laura's story - Felix is just along for the ride (even if it seems the other way around). He is simply charming enough to distract from the fact that Felix gets all the best lines of dialogue and wrests control of the story.
'On the Rocks' earnestly wants to explore the homemaker's frustration, and the dangers of an imbalance between professional success and life as a homemaker. But these more promising notions are sidelined by Laura's suspicions about Dean - which Felix then totally plays into. What could have been a thoughtful, introspective rumination about marital frustrations and resentment instead becomes a totally likeable, if less substantial, inoffensive and totally watchable comedy.
Final verdict: Coppola's musings on matrimony and infidelity highlight a perfectly pleasant little father-daughter misadventure.
Score: 3/5
'On the Rocks' streams on Apple TV+ on Oct. 23. This dramatic comedy is rated R for some language/sexual references and has a running time of 96 minutes.
