Female protagonist (Rashida Jones) is a writer with first-world problems who has boring, shallow friends. She's trying to write a book but apparently does not have any idea what to write about or why. Hubby (Marlon Wayans) does something in social media, meaning he started a company that seems to be mainly about getting followers and/or likes, no mention of any relevant product or service. Daddy (Bill Murray) is a rich art dealer who, while travelling across and being acquainted to half the planet, has a life void of meaning and therefore meddles with his daughter's. Even though no-one is producing anything tangible or worthwhile, they're all loaded. There's some children too but they are basically extras.
There is hardly a story arc and no character development to speak of. There was one moment where I expected some drama to enfold at last, but that fell completely flat. Each and every character is a cardboard cutout, disengaging, entitled and ultimately boring. The cinematography is only so-so, there is no sound design that I could discern.
I went to see this mainly because of Bill Murray, but his natural charm and screen presence do not even come close to saving this dud. Most of his acting in this is pretty pedestrian, it did not feel like he had his heart in it. I'm sorry to say it, but it appears he went for the pay check above all else. The dialog is so cringeworthy, it would have been hard to deliver it though.
Just like with Song to Song (2017), I did wonder if the shallowness of the whole affair is a statement it itself, a comment on the navel-gazing self-absorbedness of modern urban life. Alas, I fear that with both films that is not the case, the lack of substance is not meaningful, it's simply the absence of a good story.
Bottom line, it has a few good moments but is like a fast-food snack, quickly digested and providing zero sustenance.
There is hardly a story arc and no character development to speak of. There was one moment where I expected some drama to enfold at last, but that fell completely flat. Each and every character is a cardboard cutout, disengaging, entitled and ultimately boring. The cinematography is only so-so, there is no sound design that I could discern.
I went to see this mainly because of Bill Murray, but his natural charm and screen presence do not even come close to saving this dud. Most of his acting in this is pretty pedestrian, it did not feel like he had his heart in it. I'm sorry to say it, but it appears he went for the pay check above all else. The dialog is so cringeworthy, it would have been hard to deliver it though.
Just like with Song to Song (2017), I did wonder if the shallowness of the whole affair is a statement it itself, a comment on the navel-gazing self-absorbedness of modern urban life. Alas, I fear that with both films that is not the case, the lack of substance is not meaningful, it's simply the absence of a good story.
Bottom line, it has a few good moments but is like a fast-food snack, quickly digested and providing zero sustenance.