John Slattery goes behind the camera and teams up with his Mad Men buddy, John Hamm, for the new dark comedy, Maggie Moore's. In a dusty desert town where nothing ever happens, a police chief is suddenly faced with the back to back murders of two women with the same name.
In addition to John Hamm, this stars Tina Fey, Nick Mohammed, Happy Anderson and Micah Stock. And as the synopsis had said, this story revolves around two women with the same name in the same small town who end up murdered, leaving the cops confused and attempting to solve the case. Now, I thought John Hamm was great in an understated way.
He's not very demonstrative, but instead creates a persona that is thinking and emotional with a delivery that's down to earth and even friendly. I mean, he's not a moron by any means. So there are no bumbling cops or all kinds of missteps by the police that are cliche and played for laughs.
Now, I like to that he's got depth to his character. He's a feeler. And even though the background is short, we can understand where he's coming from.
Nick Mohammed is a deputy and a lot of his character is played up for one liners, most of which they don't really land. But they're also designed to be a bit cringy. So in that sense, I mean, they do work for the context.
He and Hamm, they have a good chemistry and they work well off of each other. Now, for the story, there's not much mystery for us as the audience. Pretty much everything is laid out within the story, allowing us to see each action.
So really, the only ones in the dark for the story are the cops. Now, I really like the concept and the premise of the story where two different people who share the same name are killed. Was it a case of mistaken identity? Was it just a goof up? Or was it skillfully planned in order to create misdirection and doubt? Unfortunately, though, the movie is much less clever than it believes it is.
Comedy is forced through a lot of it. And probably the biggest negative for me is how abrasive the main character is. Now, he's not meant to be somebody that we root for, but I found him so annoying and juvenile that each time he appeared on screen, I just groaned.
Micah Stock plays Jay, the husband of one of the Maggie Moores who was killed. And the dude, he's just trash from the word go. He's built to be somebody that we want terrible things to happen to.
But he's also the main character and the driving force throughout the story. So we get a ton of screen time with it. And the funny thing is that just about every character in this is annoying and mediocre, written to be grating and distasteful.
At no point is there really any sympathy created for the characters. Maybe outside of Ham. I mean, even Tina Fey, who can be extremely funny.
And this is often trying way too hard to deliver comedic lines. I mean, she does have good interactions with Ham, and I really liked them together. But her inclusion in the story felt like wasted potential, relegating her to a nosy next door neighbor slash clumsy romantic interest.
And I'm not sure if the story was angling for a rom-com vibe, but if it was, I mean, it totally missed that mark. There are beginnings of a relationship arc, but not enough focus or attention is ever invested to make this feel even slightly emotionally invested in a relationship. And the story also takes itself on tangents that are big distractions, putting a lot of focus on mundane items for a half second attempt at an ooh moment.
But those they're also wildly uninteresting. I mean, yeah, some of the characters may get their comeuppance, but if you don't care about them to begin with, what does it matter? Now, I was hoping the story might include some nuance or even surprises, but it plays out as a very rote narrative, playing it safe and by the numbers, but then also in an uninteresting and unfunny way.
There was a surprise in the final act of the story that did feel abrupt. There is a shocking moment. And while the story already revolves around the violence of murder, a sequence towards the end changed the tone of the story, taking it in a very dramatic turn that didn't match what had been established prior.
And the runtime feels a little long, even though it's only an hour and thirty nine minutes. Maybe that's because the whole story is incredibly obvious, combined with the lack of good and smart humor. Overall, Maggie Moores is a disappointing and uninspired story that removes any intrigue or meaningful arcs by giving audiences every plot point up front, leaving nothing to be discovered.
Characters are grating and shallowly developed, but also so simply written that they're also forgettable. Jon Hamm and Tina Fey would normally be a huge selling point, but their storylines are ill-fitting within the narrative, making it seem like their scenes were actually for a different movie. I was incredibly bummed at how this turned out, because not only do I really like some of the actors, but the trailer made it appear that this would be smartly funny. And in reality, it's senseless and boring.
For my rating, I'll give Maggie Moore(s) 4/10. Thank you for your time.
Images gotten from IMDb
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