A First Look At "Suburbicon"
Friday, July 28, 2017 at 8:00AM 
Chris here. With fall festival lineups beginning to be revealed, that means some of the upcoming films that have been shrouded in secrecy are beginning to lift the veil. One such film that we've seen next to nothing from is George Clooney's Suburbicon, which will be among the Venice and Toronto lineups.
Thus far we've only had the starry cast (Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac) and a script by Clooney, his writing partner Grant Heslov, and the Coen brothers to stoke our curiosity - with a brief plot synopsis about home invasion to have us scratching our heads as to what the actual tone of this thing would be. Now there is a trailer that... leaves us with more questions about the tone.
Take a look at the trailer and I have some burning questions after the jump...
- Just how much are we supposed to be laughing at this? That opening is terrifying. The film is coproduced by Dark Castle, which specializes in horror films.
- How far into Travis Bickle territory will this Matt Damon performance go? Oscar prefers Movie Star / Pretty Boy Damon over his stronger characterizations, but could this change that?
- Will Julianne Moore reboot the Magnolia pharmacy monologue after crunching up those pills? What if we ask really really nicely?
- You feel the Coens more here than Clooney. Heck, you feel Soderbergh more than Clooney. Where is his voice here?
- What does Oscar Isaac want "all of"? It can't be our affection since he already has that.
- Why does seemingly every trailer these days have to kill the vibe with bizarre song choices? It only confuses the tone here even more.
What are your Suburbicon thoughts?
Reader Comments (16)
Yeah I'm totally with you. Everything here seems really intriguing but also confounding about what any of this actually is. Is that a good strategy? Maybe this just means the film is equally atonal.
There's actors I haven't seen nearly enough of (Oscar Isaac), actors that are always fun to watch (Julianne Moore), and actors that I've seen too much of and never want to see again (Matt Damon).
The last time I saw Matt Damon in a movie (The Martian), every time he was on screen, I kept thinking why couldn't they have cast someone else? Someone less shallow and self satisfied? Chiwetel Ejifor? Jessica Chastain? Why do I have to sit here and watch Matt Damon? Again?
So I don't have a lot of interest in this one, despite Isaac and Moore looking great as usual.
The only thing about this that inspires confidence is Isaac's ability to choose worthy projects.
Damon's performance here and the tone of the thing almost make it feel like The Informant! Part 2, and I am HERE for that.
@brookesboy
Just last year he was in The Promise and the recent X-Men film.
Oscar with a mustache. God YES!
MMinDC
This looks terrible. A pastiche of far superior filmmakers. All style no substance.
I think it looks great - reminiscent of Clooney's debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, a terrific film.
I'm kinda done with the Coens' style of mixing violence & comedy. It's not that I'm squeamish. I just think it's played out. This looks well-made but much like Hail Caesar or Monuments Men it feels like a rental.
This looks like fun. Suburban dad goes ape-shit just to protect his family. I'll probably go see it.
Who made that horrible trailer? Is it suppose to be funny? Will I pay money to see Damon getting beat up? I would have gone to see for the cast alone
I'm just not feeling this one.
I'm a huge yes after that
Everyone looks on their A game and Moore looks like it's a juicy role. Plus it looks the opposite of boring. Im in!
I feel like this film is going to be so much funnier than any tradition sort of trailer can sell.
I'm a Yes for all of the above people, but....
What's the story about again?
whatever oscar wants all of, he can come over here and help himself...