(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
"On the rocks" means undiluted whiskey with ice cubes, but "on the rocks" is also a term used to describe a marriage that is about to break. Laura (Rashida Jones) suspects husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) of cheating on a colleague and calls her father Felix (Bill Murray) for help. The father does not stagnate the daughter's concern, but rather happy spirits on the fire. It doesn't take much persuasion before Laura joins him on a raucous search for evidence of Dean's infidelity.
Bill Murray, known from box office successes as among others Ghostbusters (1984) and Groundhog Day (1993), got a new lease on life in Coppolas Lost in Translation (2003). IN On The Rocks he plays a notorious womanizer who believes that all men are like him, including his daughter's spouse. Felix's view of women and men and this type of man is perceived as somewhat prehistoric in 2020, but is finely balanced by Murray, who portrays his casanova and art broker role brilliantly and extremely entertainingly: "I think I'm getting deaf, but only for women's voices », Is just one of many pointed statements from the skirt hunter and the world man with a prehistoric view of women.
Lost in Translation-grip
Sofia Coppola uses several grips from the film Lost in Translation. The film solidified her directing talent and brought Coppola an Oscar. In both films, it is a low-key mood-bearing main motif and not an action-driven plot. On The Rocks experienced as quiet, but also occasionally as a hurried intricate comedy, a kind of road movie with father and daughter in the front seats of the red sports car. In these parts, I get strong associations to several of Woody Allen's more recent films.
Coppola's tribute to his hometown New York invite us into the city's more flamboyant, sophisticated and usually inaccessible environments. But the film is not just beautification. It is also a critical and hurtful look at the alpha male and what his eternal zeal for seduction means for the women around him. On The Rocks also hints at how Felix wrecked his own marriage. Coppola herself has said that her famous director father Francis Ford Coppola is the main inspiration for this character.
Privileged environment
Since the film is American, it is tempting to link it to the political climate of recent years and the ongoing gender struggle in the United States. The mother of two mother and author Laura's annoying caricatured insecurity and trivial appearance allow for double meaning. The biographical anchors the portrayal of a woman in midlife crisis and her necessary detachment from a dominant father. But here the film is not perceived as personal or credible enough.
In such a privileged and sober environment, the main character's lack of progress and understanding of self-worth seems somewhat strange. The story here quickly becomes predictable and general. Nevertheless, it stylishly reflects a society characterized by more stereotypical roles for women and men. I forgive it happily. The film is, as previously mentioned, saturated with unique environmental descriptions from above Manhattan and what to me seems Brooklyn's better neighborhood. The fact that Felix is an art collector and seller gives Coppola the opportunity to show off exquisite environments she is very familiar with. Here it is her eighth feature film that grabs as hometown poetry from the top shelf; the exclusive establishment and those who naturally attend this habitat are conveyed with empathy and rigor.
