Windfall: Movie Review

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Windfall Movie Review: A riveting yet boring experience

We were surprised to find out that "Windfall" was only 90 minutes long because it certainly felt longer than that - and not in a good way. The film was riveting and even compelling when taken as a whole. But there was something off about it like it needed more meat and more depth to be truly magnificent which the film failed to build up. As-is, "Windfall" is acceptable by the thinnest of margins.

A wealthy CEO (Jesse Plemons) and his wife (Lily Collins) come to their vacation home but soon discovers that someone (Jason Segel) is robbing it. The CEO and the robber agrees to have a compromise and that he will let them go safely if he is given money. They negotiate and eventually land at half a million dollars. But with the huge amount of money involved, they will need to wait until the next day to actually get the money into the vacation home's location. As the trio wait in agony, they also get to know each other more intently.

All we have to say is that Jesse Plemons was a godsend for being cast in "Windfall". He easily takes the cake as the best actor in the film. His portrayal as an entitled self-made billionaire was on point and you'll definitely hate his character for his controversial mindset. His character was also the anchor in the film bringing in most of the thought-provoking topics compared to the other two characters within the film's narrative. Sadly, for us, Jason Segel struggled mightily in a non-comedic role. We felt that his characterization lacked that punch to really make an impact as a retrenched nobody who just decided to rob a billionaire's vacation home. Lily Collins was just alright as the unhappy wife. As for the film's narrative, it was the film's weakest link in our opinion. The film felt like it was trying to do two things (or two genres) at the same time. The first half was a dark comedy as audiences will find it amusing how negotiations were being made between the robber and the CEO. But in the second half, the film transforms into a more serious thriller as negotiations start to break down between the three and personal rifts were revealed. For us, the film was a master of none for both and the sudden shifts in tone was surprising and unevenly paced. Oddly, the film was both riveting and boring. The unlimited conversations and slow pans just added to the film's boring factor as not all conversations were as compelling as some. Overall, we wouldn't really recommend "Windfall" as a must-see. If you have extra time to burn then this film might work for you.

Rating: 3 reels

Why you should watch it:

- taken as a whole, the film actually had a lot of thought-provoking material and topics

Why you shouldn't watch it:

- Jason Segel just didn't come off well in his less comedic role this time

- the film felt like it was trying to be doing two separate genres