‘Jessica’ just hangs around, wearing out welcome
The trouble with “The Trouble with Jessica” is that it’s neither funny nor original. It’s more of a mashup of elements borrowed from “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” “The Trouble with Harry,” “Weekend at Bernie’s” and a dozen other macabre dramedies populated with glib, morally bankrupt characters ripe for comeuppance.
In this instance, they would be the foursome of Richard (Rufus Sewell), his wife, Beth (Olivia Williams), and their hosts for the night, Tom (Alan Tudyk) and his spouse, Sarah (Shirley Henderson). All are flawed in their unique way, which is a key factor, I guess, in the message co-writer-director-composer Matt Winn endeavors to convey over one “zany” evening in an upper-middle-class home in London.
The owners are Tom and Sarah – but not for long. Due to unforeseen financial straits, they are being forced to sell. As a bon voyage, they’re throwing a bittersweet going-away dinner party for their best pals, Richard and Beth, who show up with an unwelcome plus-one in Jessica (Indira Varma), the author of a current best-seller chronicling her life as a free-wheeling vamp.
She’s come to stir the pot simmering on the back burner, metaphorically speaking. And she wastes no time doing it, unabashedly flirting with Tom, a former conquest, and taking sarcastic digs at Sarah. The latter bites her tongue until she can no longer restrain her outrage. The ensuing scolding prompts Jessica to excuse herself and head out to the garden, where she improbably takes her life. This is where the “fun” begins.
Instead of shock, Tom and Sarah experience panic, worried that salacious tabloid headlines about a famous author’s suicide in their home will induce the buyer, Klaus (Sylvester Groth), to rescind his offer. So, what to do? Sarah suggests loading the corpse in the SUV, transporting it back to Jessica’s flat and hanging her from the ceiling like a piñata. The sanctimonious Beth is aghast, while the men, thinking more pragmatically, are much less horrified.
The rest pretty much writes itself, as the film devolves into a stagy farce, featuring an array of insults, confessions and slapstick involving either concealing the deceased’s limp body from suspicious eyes or shuffling it out to the backseat of a car to make it look like she’s merely drunk. If this strikes you as humorous, by all means, indulge. But I’m wagering most will not.
Seemingly cognizant of his film’s severe tonal issues, Winn draws on his musical abilities to introduce quirky jazz riffs as cues for us to laugh during his film’s supposed comical moments and goes scoreless when Beth is proselytizing. Except for a handful of genuinely LOL deadpan lines delivered by Sewell, it seldom works as well as Winn intends. Nor is any of it the least bit believable. It also feels physically confining, despite Winn’s attempt to expand the setting by taking a large portion of the third act on the road.
He needn’t have bothered. There’s rarely a second of it that doesn’t feel artificial or affected. Admirably, the actors give it their all, doing their best to tamp down on the emoting, but it’s an exercise in futility. The dialogue concocted by Winn and co-writer James Handel is neither authentic nor natural, compelling you to check out, redirecting attention to your watch. Not a good omen for a film that’s barely 85 minutes.
That might explain why “Jessica” languished for two years before its U.S. release. Like the recent, uncannily similar “The Uninvited,” also starring Sewell, Winn’s venture into satire is akin to fingernails dragged across a blackboard. And that, alas, is the trouble with “Jessica,” a film that talks a lot but has precious little to say.
Movie review
The Trouble with Jessica
Rated: Not rated
Cast: Rufus Sewell, Shirley Henderson, Olivia Williams and Alan Tudyk
Director: Matt Winn
Writers: James Handel and Matt Winn
Runtime: 89 minutes
Where: In theaters (limited)
Grade: C
