FILM REVIEW
RIFF RAFF
Rated R
103 Minutes
Released February 28th
You may think that a film titled Riff Raff is a fun, light-hearted, sexy comedy. You’re in for a rude awakening. The movie has a sarcastic, street sense of humor, but it’s a carefully designed psychological thriller, a biting sardonic look at the everyday problems faced by people living on the edge of society while projecting lives of normality. This is a window into intertwined families whose dire dysfunction shapes their world and has been handed down from one generation to the next. There are angels in disguise who bring humanity to those for whom mental anguish is a resting state.
Every performance in this tightly wound but bizarre tale rings true for me. Each member of the cast should be celebrated. I believe this is the kind of movie that will be shown to film students over the years, for its originality, sharp dialogue, and intensely tender interactions. Be warned, this movie is not for the faint of heart. Riff Raff is an acquired taste. When a film’s cast includes such varied talent as Ed Harris, Bill Murray, Pete Davidson and Jennifer Coolidge, it’s probable you’re not about to see a Disney movie.
The seed of the idea started in 1994 as the play of the same name, written and staged by Laurence Fishburne, just after he appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. The movie has the energy and style of a punk music video. The director of the film, Dito Montiel, was a hardcore punk musician in the early ’80s, lead singer with the band Gutterboy.
Montiel briefly modeled for Versace. In 2003 he published a memoir called A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and later made it into a film. Montiel once saw a commercial that suggested that we should tell our moms we love them. He sent his mom such a message, and her reply was “Why did you send me that suicide note?”
Miles J. Harvey is charming as the kid. Gabrielle Union is the “fish out of water” naïve and upscale young wife of “retired” and gentrified hitman “Vincent,” played by Ed Harris. Lewis Pullman stands out as his son “Rocco,” While not an A-List star, you will recognize Pullman’s face. The son of Bill Bullman, Lewis has established himself as a superb actor in his own right, with major roles in many television and film projects, including Lessons in Chemistry, Top Gun: Maverick and Bad Times at the El Royale. Riff Raff producer Drew Goddard noted that after seeing hundreds of actors for “Vince,” to find one who could fit and transcend the role, “Lewis had that sort of magic.”
Manuela Posthacchini, who plays Rocco’s fiancée, grew up in the Marche region of Italy and studied ballet as a child. She became interested in acting at 13, when she first saw a local theatre group perform. She has worked on several films and has moved to the US to further her career. She has the depth and charisma to light up the screen.
Jennifer Coolidge plays Vince’s ex-wife and Rocco’s mom, “Ruth,” Coolidge is one of those actors who makes it look so easy you would think she just fell out of her mother’s womb as the “Jennifer Coolidge” we all know, shrugged her shoulders and walked off lighting up a joint. However, she has put in the work.
For a while she worked as a waitress at a New York restaurant where her friend Sandra Bullock was the hostess. She did improv comedy in New York, then moved to LA and joined famed improv group The Groundlings. Coolidge has worked in film since 1995, and her breakout role as “Stifler’s Mom” in American Pie (1999) was her 8th film.
Riff Raff is like a bowl of spicy soup. Each of the characters adds another ingredient, layer upon layer, of flavor, richness and complications. Some will find Riff Raff uncomfortable. It’s fun if you don’t take it too seriously – it’s a black comedy. It’s a “Riff” on personalities, on how we are shaped by our family life, even if it’s dysfunctional. In the end, it’s all about the goodness of the “soup” when it all comes together.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
