Originally Posted by
IMPress Polly
If you haven't seen this film, you really must. I had the opportunity to view it recently and must say that it's among my favorites of the year to date.
That said, one shouldn't go in with the unfounded assumption that this will be a standard-issue, Ocean's Eleven type fun-loving, substance-free heist movie because, in point of fact, the heist itself is a secondary plot point, not the main focus of the movie. Instead, this movie is serious in tone and more essentially about the gritty struggles of its protagonists simply to survive in a surprisingly specific and well-informed interpretation of Chicago. The plot follows a group of women who attempt a heist in order to pay back a crime boss after their criminal husbands are killed on a botched job, with its main focus being on the planning of the heist and the struggle to acquire the resources necessary to accomplish it, which is multi-layered, gripping, and deeply relevant. In the process, Widows addresses such contentious topics as interracial relationships, prostitution, superficial anti-sexism, police excesses, the racial character of Chicago's notoriously corrupt politics, and so forth.
What I like the most about this film is its refusal to pull punches; its determination not to give liberals a pass. I especially connected to the character Alice, who is persuaded by her mother to become an escort; a decision that, the film is clear, she has been psychologically prepared to take by a lifetime of abuse, which her new condition only perpetuates. Such unglamorous treatment of the sex trade runs in stark contrast to the typical portrayal one encounters on so many a liberal online publication (e.g. Vice, Jezebel, etc.), wherein women involved in prostitution are typically portrayed in the opposite way: as super-cool lovers of fun who are hilariously rebelling against uptight moms who have just old, boring ideas about the immorality of sex outside of marriage and just don't understand how good "sex work" is for women. The existence of a very different class reality does not occur to their pampered, middle class reader bases who would never prostitute themselves. It does not occur that someone might sell themselves for something other than fun or that it might not work out well.
In a similar vein, I appreciated the way the film portrayed the crime boss's rival candidate for alderman, Jack Mulligan, as this highly corrupt and exploitative character himself who presents himself as a champion of female business ownership and reveals the despicably exploitative ways in which he "helps" women come to own their own enterprises and then cynically uses them to advance his own career in politics.
Widows also captures the weight of being poor in a way that is not just sympathetic, but as terrifying as it really is. I won't cite a specific scene (as to avoid spoiling things too much), but one involving catching a ride comes to mind in particular.
There is at least one part of this movie that seems a little contrived, like the filmmakers were really trying to make sure that they hit on this point and that point on a social justice checklist rather than truly allowing the story to flow naturally, and there is an occasion where things feel far-fetched, but 90% of this movie is truly worth seeing. It's informed, it's thoughtful, it's serious, it's weighty, and it's definitely riveting. Funny? Eeeh, that's not really its main goal. Don't expect this to be another plucky heist movie. Expect to be gripped by what authentic desperation looks like.
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