Widows review – Mr T’s take

The best heist film ever or an insipid bore? Widows review, brought to you by AboutFlick’s Mr T.

Directed By: Steve McQueen.

Review: Widows narrates the story of three women facing financial crisis who get drawn to a life of crime to pay off debts after their husbands are killed in a police shootout during a botched robbery attempt.

The film features an ensemble cast comprising Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell and Daniel Kaluuya among others. However, there isn’t much they can do to save a weak screenplay and even weaker execution.

The beginning of the film isn’t too shabby. But from there on, it loses its way. Much of the events leading up to the climax is unnecessary and come across as cliched. Apart from Veronica (Viola Davis) and Alice (Elizabeth Debicki), most other characters are at worst superfluous and half-baked at best. Every heist movie worth its salt has a twist somewhere, and this has one too, but sadly the audiences can see it coming a mile away. The rationale given behind it isn’t compelling either. Colin Farrell doesn’t have enough material to work with, and Daniel Kaluuya as a trigger-happy henchman never turns out to be quite as funny as intended.

Ultimately, the film regains its touch in the end, and the camaraderie between the leads is what makes the film watchable. It’s sad because the premise is exciting and if properly edited, I’m sure a 90-minute gem will emerge out of this 139-minute mess.

Rating: My rating is 2.5/5.

Who should watch this: This one is for heist-film lovers. Do check out better films in the same genre like Inception (2010), Reservoir Dogs (1992), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Inside Man (2006) and Logan Lucky (2017).