Widows

Going in: Acting should be awesome. Plot will be light, character development will be iffy, but we'll see.

Popcorn: 7/10. It was enjoyable and there were some moments that were like a wow, but not enough to make it stick. I'd say a high 7/low 8.

Art: 8/10. A solid movie. The only weak area were certain aspects of the story but it was still well constructed.

Acting: 3/3. Elizabeth Debicki was really good. As was Viola Davis (as always). There was a lot of good acting talent all over the film.

Music: 1/2. The music didn't stick out but it didn't fail either.

Filming: 2/2. There were a lot of gorgeous shots in this film and some that were structured in an interesting way. I can remember off the top of my head at least four but I counted eight. Really interesting.

Art Dept: 1/2. It didn't stick out but it wasn't bad either.

Editing: 1/2. Good editing. Nothing notable but not bad either.

Story: 3/4. There are some high points in the story (especially around character) but also some low points (plot was a little light and some things didn't make sense or weren't realistic). It was told in an interesting way and it was also interesting. There were quite a few things though that really distracted me from the story itself - mainly in terms of realistic timing. Some of the side characters had really interesting stories and that was a plus. But there were story problems as well that just pulled me out of the movie. I left it at a 3 because they balance out, but I really wished they could've fixed those reality issues because I was rooting for a 4.

Directing: 3/3. Well put together in terms of photography and acting. That much going has a lot of leadership behind it. I just wish the story could've had some things worked out on it.

Production: 2/2. Definitely worth watching and a big-screen movie. There are some close-up shots but they do some interesting things with it.

Orthodox thoughts (major spoilers):
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Something that I loved in this movie is that there was no clear "villain". There were people who were pushing against the protagonists, but they were all people with self-serving agendas and they were all criminals. The white candidate is a corrupt politician, although changeable. The black candidate is also corrupt but has his own charm and internal code. His brother is ruthless, but loyal to his brother. The husband starts out as a loving career criminal but turns out that he's a cheater that betrayed his entire crew. It's like everyone was in the darker side of humanity and we got to see that side.

In life, Western life in particular, we tend to see good and bad as this clear delineation. But it doesn't work out that way. Everyone is corrupted to some degree, even (and sometimes especially) Christians. Towards the end, the white senator ends up being the closest to a good guy but just barely (although Robert Duvall's character is a slime). But he's still a corrupt politician who doesn't really care about the people.

Good people are rare and as humans, by nature, we just don't care about others. The only person in your story that you can absolutely count on to be the villain is yourself. You are the villain of your own story. Accepting that is the hardest paradigm shift you can make because, as humans, we all want to believe we're the good guys. Even Al Capone saw himself as a public benefactor.

But that's the beauty of Christianity. The things we do that harm ourselves, those things that we can't stop doing, our anxieties, our worries, even our self-loathing - that can be turned and used for good. The good news wasn't that you could become a better person or have a better life. The good news is that you can shed the things that make you less than the best version of yourself. That doesn't mean a house on Sunset Boulevard but it does mean peace and becoming less of the villain.