When George Clooney steps behind the camera, he tends to also take a step back into the past: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Good Night and Good Luck, Leatherheads, and The Monuments Men all traded on whiffs of nostalgia to varying degrees of success. His latest directorial jaunt, Suburbicon, is no different, an all-star period piece set in a 1950s suburban town that is hardly idyllic.
Matt Damon plays Gardner Lodge, a husband and father who is suddenly widowed after his wife is killed by the mob—apparently, Gardner may owe some money to a loan shark. Enter Margaret (Julianne Moore), the aunt who comes to live with him and help raise his young son Nicky (Noah Jupe), as well as some no-nonsense gangsters (including everyone’s fave, Oscar Isaac) who are determined to make his once-quaint life a nightmare until they get what they want.
Suburbicon is based on a script penned by Joel and Ethan Coen right around the time of their feature debut, Blood Simple. As producer Joel Silver told Collider last year, when they rewrote it in 2006, they placed its setting in the present day—but when Clooney got on board, he made changes to the script and moved it back to 1957. (One other writer, frequent Clooney collaborator Grant Heslov, is also credited.) Based on the trailer, it certainly seems to possess that recognizable, darkly comic Coen brothers feel—and while Clooney’s track record as a director is decidedly mixed, this could make for a fun romp with some great performances. Look for it in theaters on Oct. 27.
