It seems George Clooney hasn't quite been able to get it right from the director’s chair again since his critically acclaimed Good Night, and Good Luck. By the same token, the director has never made a truly bad movie; his films consistently land in the realm of “good idea, but I just don't care” mediocrity. Suburbicon is no deviation from that result. In fact, that's almost exactly what I said to my friend in the theatre when the credits rolled on this 50s home invasion mob thriller.
Suburbicon is pretty lame. But to start, it should be made clear that it's not at all what you probably think it is from the trailer. That's not a complaint in the slightest. If the movie had been better in general, it would honestly be a praise for the way the marketing cleverly subverted my expectations. But that ends up being the only interesting thing this movie does… and it does it on repeat. “Oh, this character is actually a bad guy? Wait, that character is actually a good guy? Hold on, that bad guy I thought was a good guy is actually still a bad guy?” The constant “twist, turn, reveal” nature of this mobster murder mystery is about the only thing that keeps interest afloat. That, and I guess the mid-century production design and costuming is nice.
But beyond the cheeky surprises (which pop up in almost every scene), Suburbicon is just kind of boring. None of the characters are thoroughly developed; nobody is even particularly likable. The story is so confused about what it wants to be that it seems to short all of its own creative endeavors. It's not funny enough to be a comedy, and it's not dramatically compelling enough to be taken seriously as a crime drama/thriller. But it clearly tries to be both, and by never achieving full-blown resonance in either of these pursuits, it lands somewhere in Steven Soderbergh land; a dryly smug script surrounding distinct, archetype characters in bizarre situations. But everyone knows only Soderbergh can pull off Soderbergh. Clooney forgets the heart that Soderbergh always manages to inject into his films. So Suburbicon just ends up a kind of muddled mess of unexpected-yet-unexciting twists, with a few moments of nasal-exhale amusement strewn about. Add in an incredibly unrelated and disconnected racial tension side-plot, and you've got a very disjointed experience.
That's about all there is to say. It's not terrible, but you don't ever need to see it for any reason. Unless, of course, you're particularly interested in just how it's so different from the marketing. But I promise, the surprises really aren't worth the two hours. Just come find me, and I'll spoil it for you.