A24 and Apple are putting their best foot forward with the upcoming release of On The Rocks: The first film under the studios’ production partnership is the latest effort from Sofia Coppola, which reunites the acclaimed filmmaker with Bill Murray for a dramedy that looks like it could be the third in a triptych, preceded by Lost In Translation and Somewhere. The studios have released the first trailer for On The Rocks, which is set to debut theatrically (or so they say) and exclusive on Apple TV+ in October:
Murray stars as the playboy father (but of course) of Laura (Rashida Jones), a woman who’s beginning to have some doubts about her marriage as her husband (Marlon Wayans) spends more time at work and away from his wife and their children. So she turns to her womanizing, pathologically charming dad for a little advice, and—wouldn’t you know it—he only exacerbates her concerns. On The Rocks seems to fit thematically between Somewhere and Lost In Translation, though it also looks like Coppola’s most conventional and mature film to date.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A young New York mother faced with sudden doubts about her marriage teams up with her larger-than-life playboy father to tail her husband. What follows is a sparkling comic adventure across the city—drawing father and daughter closer together despite one detour after another. Acclaimed filmmaker Sofia Coppola brings a light touch to this blend of an exuberant love letter to New York, a generation-clash comedy about how we see relationships differently from our parents, and a funny celebration of the complications that bind modern families even as they tie us in crazy knots. Laura (Rashida Jones) thinks she’s happily hitched, but when her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) starts logging late hours at the office with a new co-worker, Laura begins to fear the worst. She turns to the one man she suspects may have insight: her charming, impulsive father Felix (Bill Murray), who insists they investigate the situation. As the two begin prowling New York at night, careening from uptown parties to downtown hotspots, they discover at the heart of their journey lies their own relationship.
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“I’m not bragging or anything, but just so you know, my wife is black.”
You are very exotic looking. Was your father a GI?
That’s not Emma Stone!
“A generation-clash comedy about how we see relationships differently
from our parents, and a funny celebration of the complications that
bind modern families even as they tie us in crazy knots.”Wow, that’s clearly written by a marketing intern who was forced into the office on a Friday afternoon.
Who’s going into an actual office these days? That kind of work can be done on a laptop in your pajamas.
What a laptop’s doing in my pajamas, I’ll never know!
Oh, look at the one percenter who’s so fancy that he wears pants in his home office.
“Hilarity ensues!”
Would you look at that…Marlon Wayans is still alive!
He just barely survived his run in with the Coen Brothers.
I’m still not ready for a Wayanassaince of any kind
I don’t have anything against Sofia Coppola but I stumbled across “The Virgin Suicides” (which I like OK) the other night and, considering her entire output now, she’s definitely one of those director’s whose work is entirely dependent on hiring people more talented than she is and she really needs to find a good writer. No shame, either. Hitchcock was helpless without a good writer and even Billy Wilder admitted his work went down hill after his falling out with I.A.L. Diamond. I just wish she had a clue.
I think the only clue she needs is the fact that she’s a successful and widely respected film maker. Any artist who makes a living doing their art their way is doing it right, even when some people don’t care for it.
I can sort of understand this argument considering her screenplays are relatively short on dialogue (or have a lot of purposefully mundane dialogue), and therefore depend a lot on the abilities of her actors to fill in the gaps. But a) that’s clearly a deliberate choice, considering her evident appreciation of long wordless or minimal-dialogue sequences, and b) isn’t part of the job of any director finding the best people to work with? Everybody knows the Coens are very good at casting but nobody argues that that means they’re dependent on good actors and are therefore mediocre directors.
My main criticism is one I level toward a great many filmmakers and artisits, which is namely how limited the storytelling craft is. Sofia Coppola’s films fall into one of two categories. They either explore the downside of being rich and famous, or they’re about children confronting their parents. Her films are the product of an entirely too basic and narrow perspective on life, and are a product of her upbringing in a thoroughly unreal, privileged and cloistered existence. For example, while Marie Antoinette has its defenders, but I am not one of them. Though I thought it took bold risks formally (I loved the use of anachronistic music) the story failed utterly, because it was not in the least bit concerned with the consequences of wealth and privilege, beyond the impact it has on those who enjoy it. We see all the glitz and glamor, but the film fades to black right when the price of that privilege comes through the gates. It’s like telling the story of Czar Nicholas II, but without all the revolution and murder. Coppola makes the pretense of confronting her own fame and fortune, but I think in the end, she really wouldn’t have it any other way, and so her films ring just a bit hollow and disingenuous. Don’t get me wrong, I believe strongly in making art that you know, and tell truthfully. The problem is that so many artists are so damned solipsistic, that they think their truth is is the only truth that matters and can be told meaningfully. But there is nothing from stopping them from telling NEW truths. Hemingway was born of privilege, but he still sought new truths through his wartime experiences and his adventure seeking. Sylvia Plath lived a rather cloistered lifestyle as an academic, but she still sought life experiences and wrote incredible things from even the most mundane of activities like beekeeping. And when Steinbeck was preparing for “The Grapes of Wrath” and Sinclair was writing “The Jungle” they both lived among the workers. Coppola has found a niche that works for her, and that’s fine. But she could be more. A lot more. If she really wanted to be.
For example, while Marie Antoinette has its defenders, but I am not one of them. Though I thought it took bold risks formally (I loved the use of anachronistic music) the story failed utterly, because it was not in the least bit concerned with the consequences of wealth and privilege, beyond the impact it has on those who enjoy it. We see all the glitz and glamor, but the film fades to black right when the price of that privilege comes through the gates.But that’s what makes it an interesting picture. We already know what happens next — plenty of books and movies have already been made about the French Revolution, but not many try to make the French Royals people rather than caricatures. It’s like Russian literature. Tolstoy and Chekov may have been in favor of reform or revolution (even if they likely would have been shot had they been alive at the time), but they wisely set most of their works in the environment of nobles and other upper class people; works about turnip farmers would get dull quickly (see the utterly forgettable Soviet literature about happy tractor drivers and the like).
Ok, and now I’m back to being intensely curious about what Bill whispers to Scarlet at the end of Lost in Translation… just when I think I’m out, that scene pulls me back in! (and yes, I did a G3 quote on purpose).
I think that mystery is solved by cranking up the volume during the scene.
Fun Fact: When I saw this in the theater,we had the misfortune of having a person in front of us who wouldn’t stop commenting on every scene, and every piece of dialogue.When this scene happened, she said, rather loudly “What did he say?”The guy in the row in front of her turned around and said “He said, ‘I really wish that blond bitch in the audience would shut her fucking mouth for 10 seconds’”Tears and a round of applause followed.
I remain as always cautiously optimistic.
Does this mean that we’re seeing this at the virtual Golden Globes along with that Tom Hanks movie thanks to the mountains of money Apple has to buy nominations for their stuff? Golden Globe winner Rashida Jones has a nice ring to it.
Did the internet backlash to Lost in Translation happen or did I miss it. Or are we in the period where there’s backlash to the backlash? Wait, did that die down, and now we’re back to hating it? I’m just trying to keep up.
(Also, I loved Lost in Translation when it came out, but I haven’t seen it in years, and I’m afraid to see whether it holds up.)
I watched it a few years ago and still really liked it. I don’t know what that really counts for though!
It holds up. Dialogue is necessary for a lot of movies, but I like that she goes with the “show, don’t tell” method. I haven’t seen LiT in a couple years, but it also seems to be one of those films that benefits from a decent soundtrack as well. That said, I also appreciate it when films don’t rely on music to set the mood either, but there are right ways and wrong ways to do it, and I think that LiT does it right.I’ll also always remember when Murray walked out of the Oscars when he didn’t get Best Actor that year. Still can’t decide it it was a “well, I guess my work here is done” kind of move, or the “fuck you guys”. I like to think it was a little bit of column A, little bit of column B.
This certainly looks like a film about two people set against the back drop of a city that is a character unto itself.
So, kinda like nearly any film set in NYC, L.A., San Fran? I find your comment to be true for Hollywood films, but not so much for foreign, even if the Hollywood film is doing scenes in European/Asian/African locales. ETA: Rome, Paris, and London do get that glamorizing treatment from time to time, but it’s no where near what US films do to personify US cities. It’s also not necessarily a bad thing. I always think that Wonder Boys did a great job of giving Pittsburgh a great sense of place and personality unto itself, just as an example.
That trailer made me think less of Sofia Coppola and more of Woody Allen.(Not a compliment.)