Netflix And Chill: Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

If there is anyone coming to this film expecting something akin to the magnificent Nightcrawler then they're in for quite the surprise. Although there's darkness here, Velvet Buzzsaw is much more of a comedy. Yes, there are horror movie moments, good ones too, but it's the wonderful over the top nature of the thing, and some hilarious lines of dialogue, that ensure you will be smiling throughout.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Morf Vandewalt, a successful and influential art critic. His opinions can make or break artists, something that he sometimes relishes and sometimes feels pained by. Rene Russo is a gallery owner named Rhodoro Haze, a successful woman who perhaps owes some of that success to her friendship with Morf. When an agent named Josephina (Zawe Ashton), who is a friend of Morf and employed by Rhodoro, finds a collection of paintings in the apartment of her dead neighbour everyone views it as an exciting discovery that could help them all. Unfortunately, the artist had expressly stated that he wanted his art destroyed, and with good reason.

Although never as sharp or biting as it could be, this is a fun commentary on the clash between art and commerce. It shows a market driven by one or two opinions, prices created by deceptions and hype, and the fluid relationships that ebb and flow between people who can help one another up a ladder with no final rung.

Dan Gilroy does another solid job with the writing and direction, despite the fact that he's gone for a tone that may leave some unsatisfied, and even bemused. Gyllenhaal blurting out the line "the admiration I had for your work has completely evaporated" made me laugh hard, and it's when the film is most comfortable with that level of ridiculousness that it's most fun. Thankfully, it is often comfortable with that level of ridiculousness, although the more obvious laughs are couched in between moments that focus on the greed and selfishness of the main characters.

Gyllenhaal has a lot of fun in his role, a rare turn that doesn't need him to be constantly worried or angry or looking as if he might harm himself, and Russo is fantastic in her role. The fact that she seems to only get given good parts to play from her husband is pretty damning when she shows every time that she's still got a lot more to give audiences than just "cameo as Thor's mum". You also get typically wonderful performances from Toni Collette and John Malkovich, and solid little turns from Daveed Diggs, Billy Magnussen, and Natalia Dyer. Ashton, sadly, is a weak link, but that ends up being compensated for in the third act, with the final scenes for her character created to be impressively memorable.

Don't go into this expecting another Nightcrawler. Don't go into it expecting a horror movie, or even a thriller. This is a dark comedy, and if you know that going in then you can appreciate the end result much more. Say what you like about all three films so far directed by Gilroy, they're at least all interesting and thought-provoking, whether they end up working for you or not.

8/10