Film Review: A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

Welcome back to the blog readers. One genre of film I have never really understood was the romantic film genre. Is it because I have been slighted by love at every turn imaginable? Is it because I have grown sick to the idea of love since I feel it will never happen to me? Or maybe it is the idea that almost all of these films follow the same damn formula, and it honestly gets tiring after a while. When I heard about this film out of CinemaCon, I automatically assumed this would be an Oscar lock. Would that be the case? Stick around to find out.

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey was directed by Park Joong Eun (also known as Kogonada) from a screenplay by Seth Reiss. The film stars Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, Kevin Kline, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Lily Rabe, and Jodie Turner-Smith. In the film, two strangers rent a car from a mysterious rental company and find themselves on an odyssey through their past where they may learn that their past does not define their future.

Like I alluded to in the introductory paragraph, I automatically assumed this film would be a real contender for the Academy Awards for a few reasons. The first is that the Academy loves Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell. The second is that they love these kinds of films. Plus, I got that vibe from the trailer based on the performances from the two leads I thought we would be getting. But unfortunately, I thought this was less of an Oscar lock film and more of an Oscar bait film. Although I loved the performances and chemistry of the two leads and the main message of the film, I was not the biggest fan of how that message was conveyed to the audience.

I want to start by talking about the performance of Colin Farrell. Farrell is one of the more reliable performers in the business today. Want to class up a film? You cast Colin Farrell. From his Oscar-nominated work in The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) (my favorite film of 2022) to his Emmy-nominated work in The Penguin (2024), Farrell has proven that not only is he reliable, he is damn good at his job. And his performance as the down-on-his-luck David is pretty damn good. He brings a sort of an earnest charisma to this character that only he can, and getting to see him work alongside Margot Robbie is a treat. The Penguin and Harley Quinn should do more projects together.

Speaking of our favorite harlequin, Margot Robbie has been at the top of her craft for a very long time. From her beginnings in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) to her time as the aforementioned DC character, to her award-nominated work in I, Tonya (2017) (as an actor) and Barbie (2023) (as a producer), Robbie is emerging as one of Hollywood's more bankable stars. Her turn in this film as the grieving Sarah really allows her to tap into a side of her that we never really have seen before: a high level of emotional vulnerability. And then on top of that, she is able to brilliantly mix the emotional vulnerability with a heightened wall around her character. It is some really great character work, and her chemistry with Farrell is impeccable.

In my informational paragraph, I mentioned that these two character go on an odyssey where they may learn their past does not define their future, and I truly believe that this is the main message of the film. As someone who has dealt with the mental and emotional ramifications of their mistakes and their shortcomings for many years, I know what these characters are experiencing and feeling, and it is a message that I truly can relate to. And seeing these characters go through those same feelings that I have gone through, it really put into perspective for me what life could be and what I am missing out on by continually dwelling on the past. It will be a journey to fully heal myself, but I want to be able to live for myself and not for my mistakes. And this is a message that can apply to everyone.

I do like what this film was trying to do with portraying its message by making its protagonists relive their past, but I do not like the execution in all honesty. There are some parts of this film that do feel genuine and heartfelt, but there were many parts that felt like visual noise to me. Like it felt superficial and not earned to me. The one real part of the film where I actually found it to be emotionally effective would have to be the end of the film where the two characters make it to their childhood homes. That is not really a spoiler to the film because I am not describing what happens, but it is a location these characters go. And it kind of redeems the parts of the film I considered to be superficial.

In conclusion, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey takes an exceptional premise and boldly and beautifully stumbles in the delivery while wasting some truly great performances. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.