A Big Bold Beautiful Journey Review

Kogonada and Two A-List Stars Can't Save a Script Riddled With Cliched Sentimentality

By: Marc Kozak

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

Kogonada and Two A-List Stars Can't Save a Script Riddled With Cliched Sentimentality

By: Marc Kozak

On paper, "A Big Bold Beautiful Journey" has everything going for it. It's an old-school Hollywood romance with a decent budget, starring two red-hot, A-list movie stars in Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell. It's directed by Kogonada, known for intelligent, thoughtful projects like "Columbus" (2017) and "After Yang" (2021), two of my favorite works in recent memory. So it's a profound disappointment that the gathering of all this talent results in a pretty large dud, with a script that has nothing much to say outside of predictable sentiment and relentlessly trite dialogue that seems to actively work against the natural charm of its two leads.

This marks the first time that Kogonada has directed a movie that he didn't write himself, and it's pretty evident from the jump. The script, written by Seth Reiss and featured on the annual Black List in 2020, is so flimsy and full of amateurish lines that you can't help but wonder how it attracted such big names in the first place.

Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell) are two impossibly good-looking single people who are resigned to being alone because they just can't seem to get over their extremely basic psychological issues. The movie uses a fantasy device to take both characters back in time to various events in their past that made them the way they are (like some kind of Therapist of Christmas Past) and it turns out the answers are stupidly simple.

" It's a profound disappointment that the gathering of all this talent results in a pretty large dud, with a script that has nothing much to say outside of predictable sentiment. "

The pair meet at the wedding of mutual friends, after both were forced to get rental cars at the last minute from a mysterious company run out of a large warehouse by Kevin Kline and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (with quirkiness levels set to nigh unbearable). They insist that the cars are equipped with the GPS package, which ends up magically bringing the reluctant couple to the same places until they give in and go on the "big bold beautiful journey" together, which cruelly forces them to drive hundreds of miles to a series of magical doors that transport them to traumatic moments in their pasts.

Sarah and David flirt but have both seemingly given up on each other before things even get started. We learn this is because they both don't believe getting involved with anyone else is worth the risk. Sarah avoids serious relationships altogether because has a long history of cheating and doesn't want to hurt anyone. David loves the chase, but always runs away once he gets what he wants. They do the whole melancholic dance of trying to convince the other one not to fall for them because it's going to end poorly, but this is a romantic movie and simply turning away isn't an option.

Robbie and Farrell are charming together and their natural chemistry is pleasant enough to get them through most scenes, but their exchanges are often so stilted that they don't feel like real people at all. Their banter primarily consists of repeating what the other one just said as a question, e.g. "I don't dance." "You don't dance?", which gets tiring pretty fast. Robbie's character curses so unnaturally that it feels as alien as listening to your parents try to use the F-word for emphasis when they never use the word normally.

But the biggest issue is that their "problems" are straight out of a Therapy for Dummies textbook. They are "damaged" because a girl said no to them in high school, or because they have guilt over treating their parents poorly before they passed away. I'm not saying these aren't things that affect many of us in profound ways, but it's not so interesting to watch dramatic reenactments of these events in order for our two leads to learn lessons they should've learned a long time ago.

The most effective journeys into the past are the ones that have fun with the concept. We get to watch Farrell and Robbie go into full theater-kid mode as they perform a number from “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" during a trip to David's old high school. David and Sarah go through their most serious breakups in the same diner, as the two couples slowly become the only characters left in the place, the four of them facing each other as they listen to the terrible reasons they have for ending their respective relationships. These creative moments are sadly few and far between, as we spend far too much time trying to force audience tears by having earnest conversations with parents who are either no longer alive or no longer in their lives.

Kogonada does his best with the material, and utilizes his biggest budget to date by staging some colorful and vibrant visuals. Everything looks great, and the moments of magic are given appropriate sheen. Unfortunately, there's not nearly enough polish in the world to buff out a script that is full of surface level observations and vague emotions. When your movie includes multiple jokes that hinge on Burger King product placement, you know you're in trouble. "A Big Bold Beautiful Journey" is a forgettable entry on the resume of all involved.