Violet & Daisy (2011)
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Alexis Bledel, James Gandolfini
Writer and Director: Geoffrey Fletcher
Synopsis (Cinedigm):
Violet and Daisy are a pair of
gum-cracking assassins who casually snuff out crime figures in New
York City, distracted only by the fact that a concert by their
favorite pop idol Barbie Sunday has suddenly been canceled.
Determined to raise cash for a pair of
Barbie Sunday dresses, the duo takes on a new hit job, only to face a
reckoning in the form of a mysterious loner. He catapults the girls
into an odyssey far beyond the world of Barbie Sunday and bullets for
pay.
Review:
I didn't really know at all what to expect before going into Violet & Daisy. Danny Trejo's face on
the front cover of a Blu-ray nowadays is a tricky situation. You
could either be getting something fun or something that will make you
want to gouge your eyeballs out with a butter knife. Or, it could be
false marketing to get you to check out a movie by putting an actor
in the forefront, when they're actually only in the film for about 3
minutes. That's pretty much the case with Trejo in Violet &
Daisy. Anyway, none at that matters at this point. What does matter
is that this was super fun assassin movie. It's not heavy on action,
but more so on character depth. It carries a quirkiness from time to
time that slightly reminded me of something out of a Gregg Araki
film, but ultimately much more balanced.
The movie totally hits hard with
striking visuals and grand cinematography. There's aren't a lot of
different sets, other than getting characters from point A to point
B. Largely, the film is set in the apartment of the assassins' next hit.
Color scheming is really good here, as the film taps into several
emotions in its 88 minute runtime. It's funny, charming, badass, and
bittersweet, and every factor in the movie caters to these feelings
appropriately. If a scene is supposed to come off cold and straight
forward, the room the characters are in is shaded in blue. If you're
feeling the warmth and kindness of someone, then the set design
adheres to that, too. Or it could be that I'm just talking nonsense,
but this is the vibe I got.
Saoirse Ronan really blew me away with
her performance in Hanna, and she does it again here as Daisy. Alexis
Bledel is also quite good as Violet, but I'd be lying if I said I
didn't feel that Ronan steals the show every step of the way. But, as
a unit, the chemistry is done up nicely, and the characters are
really hard to not fall in love with. They are tonally very different
from one another, in terms of personality and actions. Super fun to
watch, and very comical. But if there's anything that overcasts
Violet and Daisy's friendship, it's the bond that's built between
Daisy and Michael, played by the late James Gandolfini. All three of
these characters are dealing with their own little personal turmoil
throughout the film, and that is what makes the story so
intriguing. Gandolfini is seriously at his best; it's honestly a very
sobering performance, given the circumstances. Admittedly, I got
choked up a few times by his presence. He and Ronan together are complete magic, though, and that's
really all that needs to be said.
While Violet & Daisy does put the
assassin side of itself off to the side several times, you never once
forget why the two females are at Michael’s apartment. This is
important, as it creates nice parallel of mixed emotions for the
characters. That being said, the action is really stylish and
exciting. The opening of the film will suck you right in, and a few
other instances serve as a reminder of how hardcore our characters can be
when called for.
Final Thoughts:
I dare say that Violet & Daisy was
not the film people were expecting writer Geoffrey Fletcher to follow
up Precious with, let alone be his directorial debut. All I can hope
for is that he does another film, preferably soon, because I was
really impressed by this. It's visually beautiful, comes packed
tight with cool characters and some really stand out performances.
Well worth a watch.
Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack available HERE. Special features included are a poster slideshow and theatrical trailer.
- Eric (Brobocop)
