From NYFF: ‘On the Rocks’ is Endearingly Sweet

Academy Award winning writer-director Sofia Coppola makes an intriguing change of pace with her latest film, “On the Rocks,” which feels more like one of Woody Allen’s detective-rom-com hybrids from the ’80s and ’90s than it does "The Virgin Suicides" or "Lost in Translation." But it’s also a change of pace that really works. “On the Rocks” (produced by A24 and distributed by Apple TV+) works to mend a long-impaired relationship between Laura (Rashida Jones) and her father Felix (Bill Murray), endearing audiences with its layered characters and bubbling charm.

Coppola’s film unfolds in the cushion of an affluent Manhattan apartment, as Laura begins to suspect that her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) is having an affair with his new business assistant, Fiona (Jessica Henwick). Laura feels increasingly alienated from Dean. She also begins to lose touch with her work as a writer, instead spending much of her day caring for the needs of their two daughters.

The film takes a turn towards the upbeat when Laura calls her father Felix, an aged but charming womanizer, for advice. Felix suggests that the two begin sleuthing together to get to the root of Laura’s suspicions, and before we know it, the game is afoot. But somewhere amidst all the adrenaline, the two begin working on the insecurities that caused the father-daughter relationship to drift in the first place. Sometimes, “On the Rocks” serves as a banal but therapeutic reminder to foster relationships — because simple time and attention can go a long way in invigorating trust and affection.

Bill Murray eats up the screen in his second feature-length collaboration with Coppola following “Lost in Translation” with his most effervescent performance in years. As Felix, Murray saunters around the screen with a wry confidence and carries the weight of the film with a magnanimous presence, from convincing a policeman to give his car a push-start instead of a speeding ticket to landing all of his jokes with a sly wink to the camera.

Coppola also reunites with cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd (“The Beguiled”), who uses backlighting throughout the film to create misty, dreamlike outlines and shadows. But Coppola’s trademark visual style — the desaturated color grading and moody lighting that worked well in films like “Lost in Translation” — feels out of place in such a charming film. It could be that the dream-like haze is meant to paint a fuzzy picture of nostalgia, and that effect certainly works at times, but the visual style feels too derivative of “Lost in Translation” to take on an identity of its own in “On the Rocks.”

"On the Rocks" is not meant to be a thought piece on human relationships, but many of the film’s conflicts can be boiled down to Freud’s theory of the superego. Felix represents the id and can be swayed by instant gratification. He says that it’s human nature for a man to make a decision based on sexual impulses. But Felix knows that he is impulsive. His id is not subconscious, but rather an excuse — a mask he wears to shield the regret he feels for his past infidelities. As the film goes on, and the id narrative inevitably collapses on itself, the conversation shifts into the Superego as the two discuss the morality of relationships — is monogamy a human construct? Is it merely a by-product of evolution for men to break that contract, and women to seek to honor it? Or is it a moral responsibility that both parties should sign on?

While “On the Rocks” doesn’t exactly break the theological bank with its ideas, Coppola offers enough wit, charm, and a standout Bill Murray performance, to make a solid, enjoyable film.

“On the Rocks” premiered at the New York Film Festival, and will begin its limited theatrical run in Cambridge, Mass. at Landmark’s Kendall Square Cinema on October 2. It will be available on Apple TV+ starting Friday, October 23.

—Staff writer Lanz Aaron G. Tan can be reached at lanzaaron.tan@thecrimson.com and on twitter @LanzAaronGTan1.