2023 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!
In a small, quiet town, where nothing ever happens, and the police chief, Jordan Sanders (Jon Hamm), often finds himself bored, with nothing to do–a murder happens. The woman who’s been murdered, her name is Maggie Moore (Louisa Krause). Then another woman is murdered–and her name is Maggie Moore. Together they are Maggie Moore(s), and their collective cases have made things challenging for the small town. Who’s at fault, and will the police catch them before they kill again?
What a rough start. Maggie Moore(s) takes some time to develop, to do much of anything really. Sure, viewers get to see the set up for the story, and they have the opportunity to get a bit of background information on some of the main characters–but not much happens at the start (not anything interesting at least). I found myself bored, trying to find reasons to stick around until the final buzzer, and there came a time when I believed that Maggie Moore(s) would ultimately become background noise while I got some work done at my desk first thing in the morning. The film lacked emotion in the opening act–and as the film lacked substance through the first forty-five minutes I continued to question how it managed to make it into one of the biggest film festivals in the world. To that I’m not sure that I ever got an answer–but things got better nonetheless.
Just as I started to think that Maggie Moore(s) wasn’t going to get any better, that the comedy wouldn’t develop into anything interesting, the tone of the film shifts–and things get significantly better. The comedy that should have existed throughout the entirety of the film finally comes to be, finally finds its way into John Slattery’s Maggie Moore(s). Does it save the film? Heck no–but at least there was something to attract me to the remainder of the film.
Maggie Moore(s) is sort of all over the place, with seemingly dozens of storylines strewn throughout the course of the film. However, even with so many moving parts it doesn’t seem that any of the storylines suffer along the way. I am impressed by the fact that Slattery and Writer Paul Bernbaum are able to work in so many different stories in a way that Maggie Moore(s) doesn’t become convoluted or cumbersome. It remains linear and accessible, even if some of the storylines aren’t the most entertaining.
There are little bits of emotion strewn throughout Maggie Moore(s) and that helps to keep the film somewhat grounded and relatable. However, emotion doesn’t really come into play until the final few moments of the film. While there is some semblance of emotion in the entirety of the film, it doesn’t become relevant until the film is almost over–when it’s almost too late to have an impact on the overall project.
Maggie Moore(s) never does enough to pique viewers’ interest–and when it finally decides to dive in a try to appeal to viewers it’s too late. It’s never really able to do enough, and while there are effective moments of comedy and emotion, they are few and far between, never truly lending themselves to success.
Directed by John Slattery.
Written by Paul Bernbaum.
Starring Jon Hamm, Tina Fey, Micah Stock, Nick Mohammed, Happy Anderson, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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