ON THE surface, Stillwater is one of those ‘ripped from the headlines’ films. Extremely loosely (and controversially ) based on the Amanda Knox saga it has already met with a lot of criticism - including from Knox herself.
It was poorly received when it debuted in Cannes earlier this year, but I was still interested in checking it out due to the director Tom McCarthy who did a great job with Spotlight, and the writer Thomas Bidegain who wrote Un Prophète in 2009.
You might expect this to be a jingoistic vigilante thriller like Taken or Man on Fire, where the brave American must fight for justice. While there are elements of that, it is far more interesting than the premise suggests.Bill Becker (Matt Damon ), a tough construction worker, is quiet, polite, and full of "yes ma’ams" and "no ma’ams”. His daughter, Alison, is currently in prison in France for killing her college roommate. Four years into her sentence she hears someone on the outside has admitted to the murder and asks her dad to convince her lawyer to reopen the case.
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The lawyer has no interest but Bill, refusing to disappoint his daughter, sets out to find the man responsible. Bill ends up forming a connection with a French actress and her daughter. The actress helps as a translator and Bill builds a bond with the young girl.
'The final five minutes hit hard...ending on a sombre tone that was haunting and effective, reminiscent of No Country for Old Men'
The detective elements of the film are both improbable and ridiculous, but McCarthy does not seem interested in that part of the story. He is more interested in letting Bill and Alison represent the chaos America inflicts on the world, sometimes in the name of justice - but always with a hammer rather than a rapier. The film has a lot to say about ‘American Exceptionalism’ and is more clever than it lets on.
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Matt Damon is really great, with his wraparound cheap sunglasses, trucker cap, and truly horrific goatee. He looks like those conservative men who argue with strangers on Twitter and share sexist, unfunny, memes about Hilary Clinton. The really great performance though is Lilou Siauvaud, as Maya, the girl who befriends Bill, and brilliantly portrays thawing out and humanising him.
Stillwater is at its best when we see Bill, and his adopted French family interact. Damon is better here than usual, and in the hands of a lesser director it could have veered into cliche, but the relationship is unconventional and feels, not only genuine, but has an innocence that is hard to capture in a film.
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The final five minutes hit hard, especially as parts of the third act are baggy and sometimes silly, but it ends on a sombre tone that was haunting and effective, reminiscent of No Country for Old Men. Overall, this might be Damon’s most interesting performance since The Talented Mr Ripley in 1999. Now that is worth seeing.
