Julia (Tilda Swinton) is a hard partying angry drunk. She loses her real estate job despite the help of sponsor friend Mitch (Saul Rubinek). Mitch forces her to go to her A.A. meetings. Her fidgety neighbor Elena (Kate del Castillo) is also at the meeting. She tells her about a plan to kidnap her own son Tom from his grandfather. She begs Julia for help offering $50k. Julia decides to kidnap the boy on her own for a big payoff.
It's the first film I've seen from french writer/director Erick Zonca. He shows a lot of gritty realism. The most compelling aspect of this movie is Tilda Swinton. She's going all out as the half-dressed drunken mess. It starts off more of a character study. The characters are so hopeless that it seems more like keystone cops caper. After the kidnapping, the movie drags a little as clueless Julia tries to make the scheme work. The kid isn't compelling enough. The pace really needs to pick up. It does pick up later on but the 144 minutes running time is too long.
It's the first film I've seen from french writer/director Erick Zonca. He shows a lot of gritty realism. The most compelling aspect of this movie is Tilda Swinton. She's going all out as the half-dressed drunken mess. It starts off more of a character study. The characters are so hopeless that it seems more like keystone cops caper. After the kidnapping, the movie drags a little as clueless Julia tries to make the scheme work. The kid isn't compelling enough. The pace really needs to pick up. It does pick up later on but the 144 minutes running time is too long.