WIDOWS: WIDOWS PEAK

Women have made great strides in movies in the past decade or so. Rather than playing the background characters or women who are meek little heroines in need of rescue, they’ve taken on lead roles that have gone to men in the past. Many times this has worked against women with them remaking movies that starred men in the same roles (GHOSTBUSTERS, OCEAN’S EIGHT). But on occasion some great movies have been made offering women lead roles more worthy of them, original films that deserve attention. WIDOWS is one of those movies.

The film literally opens with a bang as a heist gone wrong takes place. The men involved are wounded and on the run when the police catch up with them, not just shooting them but blowing up the van they were driving. The men and the money from the heist at the same time are gone in a flash.

All of this is taking place during a high stakes election in Chicago. The opposing forces are Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell), the latest in a long line of Chicago style politicians whose father Tom (Robert Duvall) has done something to make his sure thing not so certain. His opponent is Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry), a local crime boss turned politician who sees a more lucrative career milking contracts as a politician.

In the midst of this tight election the two opposing forces are doing everything they can to win, be that legal or not. When it turns out the money that was lost were the same funds backing candidate Manning he holds the widows of the men who were stealing the money responsible. He now tells Veronica (Viola Davis), the widow of the ring leader Harry (Liam Neeson), that he holds her responsible and gives her one month to come up with the money.

But Veronica wasn’t aware of the dealings of Harry. All she has is a key to a safe deposit box. What she finds in the box is meticulous details that Harry kept in a notebook as well as the plans for his next heist. Turning to the other widows, each in dire needs with the deaths of their husbands, she makes them an offer. Join her to carry out the last job, pay off the debt to Jamal who otherwise will kill them all and still have enough left over to live a decent life.

As Viola works on each of the wives to join (Michelle Rodriquez, Elizabeth Debicki and Carrie Coon) she assigns those who join her different jobs to prepare for the job. Picking up weapons, finding out where the location the floor plans Harry left behind are to and finding a driver for the job.

As all of this is taking place two other stories are running concurrently. One is the political maneuverings going on between the candidates. The second involves Jamal’s son Jatemme (Daniel Kaluuya), still employing the thuggish street gang methods his father once employed to find out what Veronica is up to. Leaving behind wounded and dead men in his wake, he plans on taking things into his own hands.

A twist presents itself about an hour in and then all of these threads tie together to form the final 30 minutes of the film. They are weaved together intricately and splendidly to tell a story that’s more than one would expect from a simple heist film. And while one twists is presented more are compiled one on top of the other before the credits role.

And while we’re witnessing these women commit a crime we want to see them get away with it, to redeem themselves from the terrible predicament they’ve been put into. We cheer them on as they become resourceful and learn to work with one another in spite of their differences in lifestyle and predicament. We want them to succeed and for the bad guys to get what’s coming to them. They are a formidable force to be reckoned with and one that no one expects to come out on top. We cheer them on because they’re the underdog. These are strong female characters and a nice change to what we’ve seen women play in the past. It’s a refreshing action film with enough drama to keep you interested. This is one worth watching.

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