Sweet Virginia is done well enough that you won’t be disappointed, yet at the same time you can’t help but think it’s missing something that you can’t quite put your finger on.
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This story starts off good enough. Three men are staying after hours at a diner when a mysterious gentleman walks in and demands to be served. He is abrasively told to leave, which he does so but not before he calls one of the men, who has no knowledge of him, by name. Eventually this mysterious man re-enters the diner and kills all three of the people staying late. This action sets off the story. Later we meet Sam Rossi (Joe Bernthal), a former rodeo champion, who now runs a motel dubbed the Sweet Virginia. He struggles to keep control over the establishments patrons and appears to be a former tough guy who is struggling now that he is not. Early on we find out the one of the murdered men’s wife, Lila (Imogen Poots), had paid for the killer, who’s name is revealed to be Ellwood (Christopher Abbott). Lila promises payment for his actions soon, and Ellwood promises that if she does not pay him then he’ll make her pay another way. Ellwood is also revealed to be a tenant at the Sweet Virginia and soon befriends Sam, who is unaware of the dangerous nature his dangerous nature. The plot thickens when Lila finds out that she will be getting no insurance payment from her husband’s death due to him having been bankrupt. This causes some obvious issues that lead to a conflict between Sam and Ellwood.
Now that all sounds good and well, and is intriguing when it’s being setup, but it ultimately is put together in awkward fashion. First and foremost, this is not some vigilante film. The Ellwood and Sam relationship only comes to at the end of the final act, and for what is ultimately a bad reason. Just and FYI, but if you are trying to cover up bleeding and cuts on your body why would you put on a white shirt? That’s all that needs to be said about that, though its not the only issue that the characters leave you scratching your head on. As mentioned above, Lila has immediate struggles in attempts to pay off the hitman she hired and is next on his list if she doesn’t come up with some money. She never really tries to solve this, and her character just runs away. Sell your car! Sell whatever you must! You have an angry hitman on your heels. At the worst she could’ve sold her car and scrounged some money to buy her some time.
Lila’s character seems like a missed opportunity. She seems like she should’ve been the main character of the movie. It should’ve dealt with her and the conflict is more natural when it comes between her Ellwood. The conflict between Ellwood and Sam just takes too long to show itself in this film. It just can’t help to be felt that this movie if they moved Sam Rossi to a more minor role and focused on Lila as she tries to maneuver her way around a crazy person that the writers would have had a very solid tragedy with shades of Macbeth on their hands. However, as the film stands, everything is just awkward.
The acting is fine enough. Joe Bernthal is always enjoyable, and Christopher Abbott is solid as a lunatic hitman. Imogen Potts for the reasons above, could’ve used some more screen time. The film is also solidly shot and put together from a technical standpoint. There’s nothing that is done from that standpoint that makes you scratch your head.
Overall, what is delivered here is a film that had major potential but tries too hard to be like the films of the Coen brothers and Taylor Sheridan, instead of trying to be what it would work really well as, which is a Shakespearean style tragedy. Still potential can bee seen from the writers, The China Brothers (yes that’s how its presented in the credits, and yes that is like an aforementioned group of filmmakers), flashed something here, and it will be exciting to see what they can come up with next.
