If I wanted to see two grown adults fight, I would have tuned in to Divorce Court, Nikocado Avocado, or even just gone to see my parents.
Malcolm & Marie is a film about two lovers arguing their relationship apart the night of their movie premiere. The film tries to comment on movie critics and romantic relationships. Malcolm & Marie is a trying film, meaning that the film may try to entertain you and make an important observation, but fails like the couple’s stability.
On a technical level, the movie did great. Zendaya and John David Washington give an incredible performance and, at the very least, make their characters real. The cinematography and colors (or lack of) do provide the movie with an aesthetically pleasing touch. However, the black and white did not represent anything and was done so that the film could look artsy. The soundtrack is terrific, as the smooth jazz helps the feeling of Malcolm and Marie trying to stay in love. That’s what I can say is good about the movie.
SPOILERS AHEAD
In summary, Marie gets mad, and Malcolm responds. The film goes absolutely nowhere. Both of them bicker at each other in an almost abusive way. You can tell that the director wanted to create an original take on romance films. Romance or couple-focused movies tend to get hate because they can sometimes portray people that are too perfect and relationships that have no problems. Instead, this film shows almost every problem Malcolm and Marie have.
However, there is a fatal problem with the movie that I believe great romance movies don’t. Malcolm and Marie don’t develop as human beings or lovers. They may apologize and be honest about what bothers them, but they don’t become better at each other. One may argue that the moment Malcolm apologizes is him becoming better, but that scene only happens because Marie lectured him like an angry mother when her son tells her a joke. Great romance films have lovers that develop that learn from their mistakes to become better overall. The fights these lovers have can show their ugly side and flaws, but the movie goes somewhere, unlike Malcolm & Marie. The characters don’t change overnight and in one apology like Malcolm tries to. It takes days in those characters’ relationships to improve and help each other.
On a symbolic level, the director Sam Levison tries to highlight how Hollywood is obsessed with racism. His execution on the subject could have been a bit better. The whole movie makes a joke about how white film critiques will see black characters and instantly assume how they represent a struggle for the African-American community. According to Levinson, this is annoying, and not every black character represents this. Though, he could not be more pretentious and hypocritical about it. Sam Levison will complain about these people when he does the same thing. Levinson writes this conversation as if Hollywood could use his criticism and as if anyone had even asked for his opinion. His lack of creativity showed when he wrote Rue Bennet from Euphoria again in this film as Marie, which doesn’t provide anything to the story and only shows how his writing is disappointing.
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