10 Awesome Performances In Otherwise Awful 2017 Movies

Box office bomb Suburbicon has all the right ingredients – the directorial talents of George Clooney, a script co-penned by the Coen Brothers and a talented cast to boot – but unfortunately, they didn’t quite come together right. Part social satire, part crime thriller and part racial commentary, the film tries to wear too many hats and ends up a muddled mess that isn’t half as clever or entertaining as it thinks it is.

Its saving grace is Oscar Isaac’s crafty, charismatic turn as insurance agent Bud Cooper – a self-proclaimed “professional sceptic” investigating a suspect claim made by suburban family man Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) after his wife (Julianne Moore) is killed during a burglary.

After deducing that Gardner orchestrated his wife’s death for the money, Isaac deftly switches from charming to sleazy at the drop of a hat as Cooper tries to blackmail his way into getting the insurance pay-out for himself in exchange for his silence.

Sadly, with just two scenes Isaac is on screen for a woefully short amount of time. If he’d had a bigger role Suburbicon might’ve been more bearable but beyond Isaac’s few moments of screen time, it’s a couple of hours that could be better spent elsewhere.