Widows

Let’s start off by saying I’m thankful this wasn’t a female version of Takers… a true fear of mine. Not because women shouldn’t be seen in that light, but because women are far more intelligent LOL. Don’t get me wrong I loved all the sexy men, white and black, parading around in “Takers” from Idris Elba to Paul Walker, but there’s always something missing when women are excluded from great feats. Just face it, we’re great, and everything we touch has it’s greatness magnified times 1000.

But this review is not about Takers, so let’s refocus…

This movie is based in the streets of a south ward in what seems to be the heart of Chicago. We have gang bangers running to be politicians, politicians running to be gang bangers, dead white and black men, and in the middle of it all 4 women trying to redeem their lives after the deaths of the husbands they thought they knew and loved… well I’ll use the term love loosely.

Widows was a really great metaphor for so many real struggles in life. A big example being of the political battles going on between white supremacists that want to “represent” the world black people live in without experiencing any of our trials, and the home town heroes that could have good intentions to lead our people into a better life but have also fell victim to the narrative of black people getting their money in less than legal ways.

The cinematography in this movie did a great job of separating the haves from the have nots. There’s one specific scene that had me questioning it’s purpose until I saw the destination in the scenery. Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell) expresses his lack of care for this lower level ward in Chicago to whom I believe to be his secretary, Siobhan (Molly Kuhnz). His driver takes them from the location of a rally for the ward which is less than desirable to a man of his “caliber”, and as they ride we hear their convo, but witness the buildings become less tainted, the grass become greener, trees become more vibrant in color and health, and then like clockwork we’re in a nicer and safer part of town with his fancy home and integrated security systems and personal campaign workers. This scene alone excited me with its visual artistry, and ability to convey it’s purpose with more than just dialogue. I honestly had to rewind the scene to listen to the conversation they were having because the images distracted me that much with how vivid and intentional they were.

Another metaphor that I absolutely have to speak on {spoiler alert} is about the clear disregard white men have for people different than themselves when it comes to self preservation. Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson) makes this comment at a point in the movie, “I couldn’t save him… I couldn’t save us. I had to save me, me…”

Nooooooooooowwwwww Liam…. I must say this character flaw coupled with the real life foolishness that occurred from him admitting to wanting to kill a black man because of the tragedy that happened to his friend is definitely an amazingly unsurprising match up to me, but don’t worry… I know he’s not the character in real life. I don’t think much needs to be said on this white man making this statement in this movie and living as a black woman in the real world. I completely see a white man feeling more of himself to do what he does in this movie, but I won’t give it all away for any of you that still want to watch the movie.

Overall the storytelling in this film was very well thought out and effectively executed through dialogue and imagery. Viola Davis killed yet another role, although, I wish they would stop casting this amazingly beautiful dark chocolate women alongside these weird looking mashmallowy white men. The side of me that gets really uncomfortable watching white people kiss in movies was extremely weirded out by this couple. I think it’s a pretty good watch though, just don’t expect the action and explosion that you would get from a “Den of Thieves” or “Die Hard”. This movie is definitely more mellow and filled with intricacies like “Inside Man”, however, I am not saying this is as great a movie as that. Please, please, PLEASE, do not think that is what I am saying, LOL.

Looking for something chill and interesting, give it a shot.

Be D.O.P.E. Black girl!

Release Date: November 16, 2018
Where I watched: Verizon Fios On Demand