Review: 'On The Rocks' Powered by a Pair of Superb Performances

Sofia Coppola's "On the Rocks" is an often delightful film about a not-so-pleasant topic. It follows Laura (Rashida Jones), who is happily married to her husband, Dean (Marlon Wayans), and has two kids. However, when Dean comes home from a business trip loopy on sleeping pills and does something to suggest he may be cheating on Laura, she spirals into suspicion.

She calls her female friends and relatives, all of whom assure her she's probably reading too much into this, but then a quick call to her father changes the game. Felix, an impetuous charmer played by Billy Murray, further paves the drying cement of Laura's doubts and sets the film's amusing logline into motion: A father and a daughter track the latter's husband in order to prove his infidelity.

It's a whimsically charged caper that boasts two phenomenal performances, but it's hard not to dismiss the film as one of the lighter, and likely less memorable, works of Coppola's career. The pairing of Murray and Jones brings to mind what is arguably Coppola's greatest film, "Lost in Translation," but it doesn't capture much of the magic that her 2003 work conjured up.

The film does have remarkably strong moments, however, especially within the screen time shared between the two leads. Jones is rock steady, delivering a convincingly rich performance of a woman in crisis, not only in her husband's potential unfaithfulness but also in balancing her writing career and motherhood. Murray is simply sublime as a beguiling sleazeball, hitting on women half his age and going on tangents about man's natural, predisposed struggle with monogamy.

The true genius of Jones' performance is how she works in tandem with Murray, especially as Laura eventually has realizations about her father during the course of their journey together. When the two share the screen, it's magic; thankfully, that's most of the film.

What's most apparent and impressive through "On the Rocks" is how accurately and astutely Coppola catches the nuances of both men and women in her script. Her monologues for Felix feel authentically designed with a blend of misogyny and magnetism, showcasing a character who is really hard not to enjoy watching despite his questionable beliefs (which is amplified tenfold by Murray's performance).

And in displaying the woes of a suspicious wife who feels herself drifting away from her husband, Laura feels like she's lifted straight from the real world. We truly feel for her as she runs around town, pushing a stroller, dropping her girls off at school, reluctantly having her ear talked off by a fellow mother (Jenny Slate) who can't stop sharing about her sex life; her quotidian chaos feels like something we've all experienced before when the days seem to blur together with shit that needs to get done.

Overall, the film is relatable and emotionally textured at times, with a few moments that will make you erupt in laughter and equal instances where you'll feel a swell of emotion. It's lesser Coppola, in my opinion, but the lesser work of a monumental film artist is better than 90% of what's currently out there. In that sense, this can be highly recommended for anyone looking for a quick escape that's not without its substance.

"On the Rocks" is currently playing in select theaters and will be released on Apple TV+ on October 23, 2020.