Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Plot: A man breaks into a tech billionaire’s empty vacation home, but things go sideways when the arrogant mogul and his wife arrive for a last-minute getaway.
Review: What happens when you take three very talented actors and place them in one setting to do their thing? Well when those three actors are Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, How I Met Your Mother) Jessie Plemons (The Irishman, The Power of the Dog) and Lily Collins (Emily in Paris, Mank) you get a character-driven story that I’m automatically excited for. I went into Windfall genuinely intrigued to see what it had to offer. But as the hour went on it became apparent that this particular story of a man who sets out to rob a house only to have the owners, a millionaire and his wife, show up, I realised this wasn’t going the way I hoped it would.
The fact none of these character have names and the story takes place in one location makes for a strange viewing experience. Like you’re watching some friends act out a screenplay they’re working on. Jason Segel plays against type a bit as Nobody, who lazily walks through an orchard, drinks some juice and rifles through an empty house finding loose cash and a Rolex to steal. He doesn’t play the role looking for laughs (not really) and I appreciated his grounded yet somewhat off-kilter performance that left me wondering what he might do next. Jessie Plemons plays the millionaire and Lily Collins is his wife. Now if you’re familiar with these three, can you guess who goes on to steal the entire show? If you said “Jessie Plemons” we can hang out because the man is amazing in everything and once again he knocks it out of the park.
His character’s arrogance and woefully disconnected way of looking at life and his place in it is the highlight of Windfall, and much of the tension and unpredictable atmosphere comes from watching Segel and Plemons’ interactions. Collins handles herself well but she doesn’t really bring anything overly memorable to the role. That said all three work well together, and that combined with a genuine sense of not knowing where all of this was heading is what kept me watching.
Sadly the answer to that question is nowhere special as Windfall feels more like a first draft of a character-driven thriller that never fully knows where it’s heading or how to efficiently wrap things up. The “shocking” ending feels less earned and more tacked on and in the end we’re left with what could’ve been instead of a movie worthy of its very talented cast.
Sommer’s Score: 5.5 out of 10
And you can check out more great thriller content below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
Double Tap Baby!