Premise: An ambitious
young women dives head first into the cutthroat world of debt collection.
I'm a fan of Zoey Deutch. I've seen more than one movie just because she's
in it. She doesn't have the greatest track record of movies at this point, but
I can't think of many times (if any) when she was the weak link. I've noticed
that she works best when everyone she's on screen with has at least 5 years on
her. She carries herself like she's older than she is even though she looks
very youthful, which is just a confusing way of saying that she can play a
variety of ages convincingly. She has a lot of Ellen Page energy. I think a lot
of what I find intriguing about her is that I'm curious how she'll put it all
together. She reminds me a lot of Rose Byrne in that way, who also had a period
of figuring it out.
Buffaloed isn't Zoey
Deutch's signature role or anything, but I liked her in it (probably more than
the movie as a whole). She's a self-destructive con-artist type with a heart
of...well, at least silver. Jimmy McGill and her would probably get along. They
have a similar code of ethics and blind spots. Deutch doesn't hold anything back
in this and feels like a believable huckster. She could be in an Ocean's
movie with no trouble.
The movie itself is sort of Goodfellas meets The Big Short
(better known as The Wolf of Wall Street). It leans heavily on Deutch's
playful narration to explain things, which is necessary in order to fit that
much plot in so little time but takes away from the movie for that exact
reason. There's just too much happening. It covers her origin story, rise as a
debt collector, war with other debt collectors, and redemptive con all in a
little over 90 minutes. It's too much and the movie can't keep up. It relies on
the fact that people are already familiar with the story arc of this kind of
movie so it doesn't have to explain things. I'm not sure if I would've preferred
a longer version of the same story or a movie that's the same length that
doesn't try to cover as much. Because, I liked the length but thought it needed
to flesh more out*.
*Yes, I am aware how close this is to the "the food was terrible and
such small servings" critique.
Deutch does carry the movie effectively, although she gets some help from
the supporting cast. You can never go wrong with Judy Greer in this kind of
supporting role. She made me realize how much I wish would could go back and
add her to Drop Dead Gorgeous. It was nice to see Noah Reid outside of Schitt's
Creek. Does anyone give off better nice guy vibes than him? Jermaine Fowler
is fine, I suppose, but his part is the first one I'd cut out. I still don't
know what to do with Jai Courtney. He doesn’t work as a leading man and he
isn't quite ready to be a character actor either. He's best as the heavy like
in this, for now. It's a big performance. In an ideal world, his character
would be a scene-stealer. Courtney steals no scenes though. He's not bad, just
not a standout.
I wish I found the movie a little funnier. Deutch isn't quite able to spin
gold out of straw. She can't make mediocre lines funny with her delivery alone.
I do think that will come in time for her. Sooner than later even. Most of the
jokes about the city of Buffalo felt like they were punching down more than I
cared for. This is a perfectly decent movie though. More "comedy of good
feelings" than laugh-out-loud funny. And, when it dips into more serious
topics about predatory load collection, it's not overly self-righteous.
Side Note: Is this based on a true story? I
haven't found anything saying it was, but the beats of the story sure feel like
they're based on something true. If it isn't, then I wish they would've leaned
away from that tone more.
Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend
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