THE STORY – An imaginative tale of two strangers and the unbelievable journey that connects them.
THE CAST – Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, Kevin Kline, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Jodie Turner-Smith, Billy Magnussen & Hamish Linklater
THE TEAM – Koganada (Director) & Seth Reiss (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 109 Minutes
“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” may be one of the most baffling studio releases of this year. Koganada’s straying from his indie roots into the world of studio filmmaking leads to a grandiloquent exercise, desperate to evoke feelings of longing and heartache. Both “Columbus” and “After Yang” are humanistic works with an ethereal sense of poignancy that work wonders on viewers. Here, none of Kognada’s magic as a filmmaker is present, even with two Academy Award-nominated stars front and center. At times, Kogonada channels something, often in the replication of the works of Jacques Demy and Hayao Miyazaki. Yet, it isn’t enough when the central dynamic at its core fails to elicit the yearning spirit that makes any viewer hopelessly head over heels.
When “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” begins, lonely bachelor David (Colin Farrell) is wallowing in the inevitable sadness every individual experiences when heading towards a friend’s wedding without a date. It’s pouring rain, his car is booted, and he’s just ready to hit the road. Thankfully for David, a mysterious car service run by Kevin Kline and Phoebe Waller-Bridge rocking a terrible German accent set him on his “destination.” It’s a path that leads to a semi-awkward meet-cute with Margot Robbie’s Sarah, a fellow New Yorker who’s also inextricably the other most attractive person at this wedding. Pretty clearly, something is simmering between the two, even though Seth Reiss’s screenplay is doing everything from a dialogue perspective to impede that. David and Sarah’s courtship births a quest that leads them through mysterious doors, transporting them through seminal moments in their lives that not only make them reevaluate their past actions but also come to terms with who they are as individuals today — especially if the two are to pursue an enduring love with one another. This is certainly Koganada’s biggest film, both from a production standpoint and narratively, but his essence as a filmmaker is rarely felt. For every moment where these characters attempt to have some profound moment, it’s disregarded by stilted humor or an expounding of an epiphany that isn’t completely genuine.
It’s hard to root for a romance when Reiss’s screenplay instantly makes one not want to encourage this blossoming relationship between Sarah and David. In fact, “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” may be the first time that the audience witnesses a romance where the two parties shouldn’t be with one another. Within the first few sentences of meeting each other, Sarah point-blank tells David, “I’m going to hurt you.” Her character, which appears like an imitation in a Delaney Rowe TikTok, is borderline insufferable. Even though both characters try to break through self-imposed walls built up from insecurities during their adolescence, Robbie’s character is the only one who feels almost alien to the rest of the film. Until the very end, Sarah constantly warns David not to pursue her, and that she is a “monster” who will cheat on him because she is scared of being hurt first. Robbie does her best to make something out of nothing, but when given dialogue that feels so out of touch with what actual people sound like, it’s only a setup for failure.
Sure, there are people like this who exist, but not even someone as talented as Robbie appears to believe the words Sarah is saying about herself, so why should we? It’s painful watching two of the most devilishly charming talents in the industry struggle to muster up an ounce of romantic chemistry with one another. It’s a romance set on a path that is completely one-note, even with Farrell doing his best to make any slight gesture between them the spark that finally awakens the audience to this burgeoning love they form for one another. Farrell, who previously starred in Kogonada’s “After Yang,” seems to understand his frequency, even if it’s diluted this time around by stilted humor and lame sequences like him horking down an “all-American cheeseburger” that tries to make a Whopper from Burger King seem like a delicacy. He’s attempting to squeeze out a wearily earnest performance that dials in on the charm when it’s able to cut through the awkwardness of this dialogue. Funny enough, “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” is at its best when Farrell wallows in the self-induced loneliness he places himself in, rather than the actual romance itself.
There are some moments when Kognada’s direction breaks through the studio sheen that boogs his style. Benjamin Leob’s cinematography is give or take, balancing elegant staging with incredibly uninspired shots. Even Joe Hisaishi’s score is all but put on the back burner for pop songs, original music by Laufey, and even a Mitski needle drop that someone as chronically self-torturous to themself would recognize as soon as the melody started. For the record, though, these are all brilliant artists, but Hisaishi, who has never worked on an American film in his storied career, is not even given the platform worthy of an artist of his caliber.
Why Koganada decided to embark on “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” is a mystery to a longtime fan like myself. On paper, sure, this has plenty of elements to allure someone of his sensibility, but the screenplay is plagued with dialogue that makes me question if the screenwriter has ever interacted with another human before. Koganda previously wrote the screenplays for his films, has clearly not touched up this project, which feels like the domino that set everything off the rails. Maybe Koganada is one of those guys whose style of filmmaking was never meant to mesh with mid to big-budget studio filmmaking. His patiently grounded style is what has made his films flourish so far. We saw this recently with Chloé Zhao’s venture into the superhero complex, and as soon as she left, she flourished once again. Koganada is one of our most empathetic filmmakers, and without a doubt, his career has plenty of great things in store. We’ll have to consider this outing a slight detour.
