There’s a lightness to the scenarios in “On the Rocks” that feels almost too precarious. The more the film goes on, the more it seems that the slightest wrong move could upend the carefully created tone of casual lightness. It’s a testament to the film’s own singular commitment to itself that it never veers off course. Instead, by the end of “On the Rocks”, it feels like Sofia Coppola has played an ingenious trick on us. Coppola’s latest release is a father-daughter dramedy by way of screwball comedy with stakes that, at first glance, feel too trifling to sustain an entire film. But the more it goes on, the more restless it becomes, the more charming Coppola’s commitment to mining the bittersweet crisis of her characters becomes.
There’s a recurring bit in “On the Rocks” that feels central to the film’s ideology. Laura, a writer experiencing severe writer’s block, has a conversation with her father – the impish Felix, who is played in delightfully comedic fashion by Bill Murray. Felix will suggest something ludicrous, and even improbable. Laura will respond in the negative. There’s no way she can capitulate to his shenanigans. And, then, a few scenes later we cut to Laura participating in those same ludicrous shenanigans. The recurring bit is key to figuring out both Laura and Felix’s relationship with themselves, and each other. But, it’s also a distinct peek into the way that Sofia Coppola is playing around with the idea of routine and cycles.
The protagonist here is Laura, played to affable delight by an especially game Rashida Jones. Laura lives in a lavish flat in Soho, is married to the warmly earnest Dean (Marlon Wayans, who is a believable dream-husband in a handful of scenes) with whom she has two lovely daughters. Her biggest crisis is the writer’s block that’s preventing her from finishing her book. Her anxiety, mixed with what seems like the ennui of nearing forty, catches up with her when she begins to suspect that Dean is having an affair with a younger co-worker. She confides her concerns in her father, an act even she seems to regret. His almost too invested response is the first of a series of important tells in the film. Felix, a retired art gallery owner and a consummate womanizer, is happy to use his past of his infidelities for good. All men are scoundrels, and he will help Laura to get to the bottom of the truth with hers.
That’s about as much plot as there is in “On the Rocks”, which follows Laura and Felix getting into a series of ridiculous scenarios as they extol the virtues and limits of men, women, relationships, marriages and family. On its surface, “On the Rocks” is quite straightforward about its discursive interest in exploring Laura’s headspace. Felix injects drama in her life, but Coppola is filtering it all through Laura’s own internal battle with herself. But, instead of emphasising this, Coppola supports a casual unravelling of the plot. Laura, more often, is stuck in noncommittal mode, allowing herself to fall into place with her father.
By design, “On the Rocks” eschews any sense of urgency with Laura’s crisis. Her book isn’t going anywhere, but it does not seem urgent. Her marriage may be falling apart, but she’ll manage for now. The film’s own avoidance of anything that feels momentous is a key. And it is by design. Coppola plays a deft trick by using Laura’s own ambivalent headspace to match the film’s own formal discursiveness. The repetitious and cyclical nature of moments in Laura’s life become central to examining the films engagement with identity. This places a significant challenge for an actor. Jones, as Laura, has to demand our interest even as her role often becomes reactionary. There are multiple scenes where we watch Laura listening. She is listening and quietly reacting to Felix’s nostalgic ramblings. In a series of hilarious scenes, she listens to a friend droning on about the highs and lows of a love-affair that began over Hurricane Sandy. Or, she listens to her husband excitedly talking about his new business. And, as she listens, we begin to feel her ambivalent and vaguely exhausted emotions.
In a way, “On the Rocks” feels like a reflexive commentary on itself, working even better within context. Coppola, the talented daughter of a famous celebrity, casts Rashida Jones the talented daughter of another famous celebrity and Jones’ husband is played by an actor who comes from a legacy of acting talent. The element of ‘rich people’s problems’ that the film exudes, where characters can spontaneously plan trips to resorts in Mexico, feel intentional. The insularity is the point. It’s a gentle critique in its way of a different kind of life. A movie-life existence that is not quite real. Until the fantasy breaks and the film must confront the tough emotions that Felix’s cavorting is hiding.
The question of whether or not “On the Rocks” is minor Coppola, like many have said, seems to be missing the point. Coppola’s work has always been marked by swerves, whether thematically or stylistically. And, even as “On the Rocks” is centred on a crisis that feels less propulsive, it retains Coppola’s typical engagement with the world as mildly absurd and relentlessly ambivalent. Except, here, that ambivalence gives way to a warm and whimsical centre surface hiding something that’s a little sadder underneath. The inevitable emotional confrontation between Felix and Laura, when it comes, feels atypical because of the ways it doesn’t seem to dig as much as you expect it to. But, Coppola – by design – is more suggestive than explicit here. The underlying sadness of the film is there – never excavated, but constantly nagging beneath. There are hints of worlds and lives beneath the surface here, in a way that makes “On the Rocks” feel like the beginning of a series of films. You want to return to this world and the warm chemistry that Rashida Jones and Bill Murray have together. Coppola offers us a beguiling window into these characters with lives that feel half-removed from our own. There’s a lightness to the charm of “On the Rocks”, but there’s also thoughtful observations lingering beneath.
“On the Rock” screened as part of the New York Film Festival and will premiere on AppleTV+ on October 23.