Rashida Jones plays Laura; she is a writer with writer's block and raising two daughters with her husband Dean. Lately she has noticed Dean is distant and not affectionate. His business is starting to take off so he is away from home a lot. When she goes to meet him at a work event she notices how friendly he is with a younger beautiful colleague which only adds to her suspicion. While having lunch with her father Felix, she tells him what has been bothering her. Instantly he assumes the worst (himself a life long womaniser ). Rather than consoling Laura he takes the opportunity to bond with her on catching Dean out. They then spending the weekend stalking him around New York looking for evidence.
Felix is played by Bill Murray and it is great to see him reunite with director Sophia Coppola. She directed him to his only Oscar nomination in 2004 with Lost in Translation. Coppola understands him better than any director I think. When he is at his best he has an edge, here he’s both unbelievably charming and unbearably exhausting.
On the surface this seems like well covered ground for Coppola. Her films tend to centre around wealthy white women with the burden of expectation of their family or their country. I am thinking of Marie Antonette and The Virgin Suicides. On The Rocks, however this is her first out and out comedy and she named the 1934 screwball comedy The Thin Man as an influence. The film it reminded me most of is the rather underrated Woody Allen movie Manhattan Murder Mystery from 1993.
Speaking of Woody Allen, On The Rocks is a terrific New York movie. I do not think there is a city that lends itself better to film than New York. Coppola makes no attempts to show you a ’new’ New York or a different side of the city. She plays the hits. From Laura's beautiful SoHo apartment to cocktails in the 21 Club to cruising around mid town in Felix’s Alfa Romero. It's one of those love letters to New York movies and I’ll admit that is a sub genre I am a sucker for.
I am sure people a lot smarter than me will point out many flaws in the gender politics of the film and I did already see one very funny article about which is the ‘bougiest' (privileged, middle class ) status symbol in the movie (think Beastie Boys tee and Bernie Sanders/Stacey Abrams campaign badges ). None of those things really bothered me.
There is also the fun angle that the lead actor and writer/director both have very famous fathers. Sophia Coppola is Francis-Ford Coppola’s daughter and Rashida Jones’ dad is music producer Quincy Jones. Maybe it explains the soft treatment Laura gives her dad when he messes up so badly towards the end of the film. There is one line towards the end that I loved, when Laura looks at her dad and says; “It's exhausting trying to love you”.
On The Rocks is easy to love with little effort. It is available for free on Apple TV+. If you have bought an Apple device in the last 12 months you get a year of the service for free so you may have it without knowing.
