A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – Film Review
by Fran Winston

Directed by: Kogonada
Starring: Colin Farrell, Margot Robbie, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Kevin Kline

In cinemas September 19

This surreal romantic drama features Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie as David and Sarah, the only singletons at a wedding who are thrust together in a not-so-subtle setup. While it appears their ship has sailed once the last of the confetti has been swept up, it transpires they have both hired cars from an unusual rental shop. On the way home, they find themselves taken on the big, bold, beautiful journey of the title courtesy of the GPS, which brings them to a series of doors which transport them back to pivotal moments in their lives and emotional development. Along the way, they learn about themselves and each other.

We never learn what the mystery of the car rental and GPS is – it is assumed we will just accept it. It is a whimsical idea and one that does beg the question of how any of us would cope revisiting some of our key life moments, which form our core memories. Farrell and Robbie have an easy chemistry and seem to breeze through the various scenarios (including a rather impressive high school musical scene).

It looks beautiful – the set design and cinematography are fantastic – and Kogonada directs with an earnestness never letting it slip into rom-com territory. However, this is part of the issue with this film. While it is very sweet and has a lot of heartwarming moments, it also slips into tedium and allowing it to veer into rom-com territory might have made the whimsy more appropriate.

As it is, I found myself looking at my watch on occasion, and it felt like the premise was dragged out for far too long. There is also some rather awkward Burger King product placement early on, which is so distracting that you spend the rest of the movie waiting to see what other products will pop up. They even manage to shoehorn in David discussing his Whopper burger, which feels more like an advertising pitch than a sincere line. Kudos to both actors for keeping a straight face during that scene.

Different parts of this would work as standalone short movies – there are some good scenes and Farrell and Robbie are eminently watchable. But in its current form, it feels like a mish-mash of ideas thrown together to make a full-length feature.