Dito Montiel’s family crime comedy movie “Riff Raff,” boasting an all star cast, natural, and 103 minute long, manages to feel like a three hour long film. It plods along for the most part and when there are events, they are vaguely interesting and lack character development or humor even though there are many attempts at shifting or creating numerous plots. The main characters, a father and son hardly find time to dwell on the past, only to discover that pursuing peace and love turns out to be a much more complex matter than they ever imagined. Great ideas are planted, but never come into fruition.
A one and off, brief prologue depicting a crucial scene where a shy DJ (Miles J. Harvey) holds an older and blooded Vincent (Ed Harris) at gun point in its most rudimentary structure. After the latter’s personable voiceover, dating back a couple of days prior, mistreats them to be a stepson and step father. They seem to have a rather pleasant relationship in the beginning circumstances, but during targeting exercises at their country summer house one begins to wonder where the emotion brought out in the earlier climax originates and is teased with crumbs through the plot.
It is not surprising that the two have a pretty open relationship and have no issues making jokes about Affairs, which does not go well with DJ’s mother, and Vincent’s second wife Sandy (Gabrielle Union). But this cheerful family environment is spoiled by the ill timed entrance of Vincent’s first born son Rocco (Lewis Pullman) who and is a troublemaker with his pregnant girlfriend Marina (Emanuela Postacchini), his inaudible drunk mother Ruth (Jennifer Coolidge) who is Vincent’s ex. They are like birds who have come back home for the family gathering on New Years but Vincent is quick to make the assumption there is a foul play on Rocco’s part.
Somewhere else in the film, Leftie (Bill Murray), a weathered and harsher mafioso complete with violent temper and a younger clotheshorse associate of his called Lonnie (Pete Davidson), are on the road to track down a target. This is likely the reason the person they are looking for is there at this winter resort but the information comes slowly and sorely at natural intervals. Meanwhile, the dichotomy of Vincent’s family life is beginning to collide, and the people who take part in these clashes at the beginning are rather what can be described as comedic because they are all trying to self portray the rule of a large self insecurities.
Pullman with this film steps out of his usual timid self as he plays a character who is a badass ‘naughty boy’ with childhood issues who wears leather jackets. Harvey, on the other hand, has a small physique yet with aspirations. He is about to leave for college. He seems to be heartbroken but handles it mathematically which accompanies his science background. It’s as if the character needs to have an older sibling, just like Rocco who is constantly seeking guidance to help him become a father. However, he is stuck in some internal issues and eventually snaps at DJ for being too overzealous.
A common pattern in most films, this is about as interesting as anything gives to the movie’s dynamics. In most instances, once a character is given form and shape, it is very easy to know their whole character and character in that given moment owing the cast, and their ability to understand the text of screenwriter John Pollono but there’s usually nowhere left for them. Ruth’s character trait is quite simply that she is continually drunk and horny. This is a vulgar stereotype which Coolidge succeeds in portraying effortlessly with vigor and enthusiasm, but there is nothing more to it.
DJ is treated to life and love advice from Postacchini’s Marina, although they prove irrelevant in the story. Sandy of Union appears instead only as a ‘straight man’ counterpart to somewhat disturbing humor of some other characters but has mentioned almost nothing of her own ethos. And while the one played by Harris, Vincent, is quite unnecessarily long winded, his character is said to include a number of layers, supposedly. These, it is claimed, become clearer as we discover more about these men who were headed to Vincent Harris’s family (and two other men) however while these do get us introduced to possible drama, Montiel never uses it, exposing secrets about Vincent to his family when only the climax of the story is left to resolve. Anything that comes close to involving resolution manifests itself obscenely too late.
Although establishing quite fun and explosive dynamics, the narrative painfully drags on in “Riff Raff” with numerous side tracks that never come to much. Next to Pullman, Michael Covino is perhaps the most appealing character of the film and for the right reasons, for being a brutal and fierce figure who connects the different strands of the story; it’s ironic in a way, as he only appears in flashbacks, when we are already beyond the point of having much meaning and conflict, and when the film is trying to create this in the current timeline, its storylines are on the verge of crashing. Unfortunately, such build up isn’t rewarding, considering how fast the energy of the film peaks, only to drop and stay low for the rest of the film.
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