Kajillionaire: An Odd-Duck Comedy That Aims Straight For The Heart
With Kajillionaire, writer/director Miranda July showcases her unique vision in ways that win big. Combining elements of crime, romance, drama, and comedy with an excellent cast, July creates an odd-ball coming-of-age film that’s surprisingly refreshing in its depth, oddity, and execution.
Two con artists have spent 26 years training their only daughter to swindle, scam and steal at every turn. During a desperate and hastily conceived heist, they charm a stranger into joining them, only to have their entire world turned upside down.
If you fuse the colorfully eccentric outsider Art of Harmony Korine and Sean Baker with the lush visual verve and romantic whimsy of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love, you’d have something close to Miranda July’s Kajillionaire. It’s a thoroughly unconventional riff on the familiar, which may be too bizarre for some, but if you can slip into July’s frequency, its trajectory is both unexpected and intensely touching. On the surface, it appears to be a bizarre comedy about a dysfunctional family (and it is, kinda), but underneath the film’s irregularity and absurdity lies something deeply profound, tender, and multi-layered. It strives to be much more than just a coming-of-age tale; it’s a coming-alive story with a clever focus on the family unit.
July sweeps the viewer up into her vibrantly odd and seriously funny world straight from the start. We meet the Dyne family, an oddball lot of petty grifters always on the hustle, as they break into a hilarious heist routine at the post office (which includes timed somersaults to avoid the surveillance camera) to steal packages. From there, we are fully immersed into the Dyne’s street-hustle grind, which involves avoiding the landlord who runs the neighboring bubble factory and scooping buckets of bubbles that cascade down the wall of their cheap, abandoned office apartment in between grifts. No matter how universal or absurd Kajillionaire’s hijinks may be, it’s always played with a straight face, which further fuels the film’s hilarity.
Named after a homeless man (which is explained fully in the film), our central character is Old Dolio (played excellently by Evan Rachel Wood) — and yes, that’s really her name. She’s the youngest of the Dyne clan and the daughter of Theresa and Robert (Debra Winger and Richard Jenkins respectively), who taught her the ropes of their stick-it-to-the-Man way of life. It would seem that she only exists to serve the needs of her parents; she doesn’t seem to have much of an identity outside of shaping herself to fit her parent’s mold. Sheltered from the world by her parents and denied all semblance of normalcy (including but not limited to affection), it’s clear that Old Dolio knows nothing outside her bizarre little bubble, which unbeknownst to her is about to burst.
During a scam to claim insurance money from lost airline luggage, the Dyne’s meet the infectiously charming Melanie (played by a wholly effervescent Gina Rodriguez), who is graciously welcomed by Old Dolio’s family. The fact that this outsider receives more affection from her parents than she’s ever received elicits a sense of knee-jerk jealousy in Old Dolio, but gradually Melanie’s persistent charm break down Old Dolio’s defenses, blossoming her stilted flower in beautiful and unforeseen ways. The chemistry between Wood and Rodriguez is contagious, and it’s the beating heart at the center of this deliciously offbeat story, but July’s bold and steady direction is the glue that holds the piece together. While it falters at times and doesn’t always offer up the answers you might want, it never falls off the rails, and it leads up to an ending that may surprise you, narratively and emotionally.
Kijillionaire injects the coming-of-age framework with refreshing absurdity and expected complexity as it explores genealogy, essentially asking if we are capable of becoming anything more than our parents. On the surface, it’s about finding yourself and breaking out of the shell of your upbringing, but it also has something to say about Boomers and how they’ve taken everything from the young, too. It may be an odd duckling in terms of comedy, but it’s gorgeously rendered and aims straight at the heart. There’s a whole lot to love here, and as far as we’re concerned, it’s one of the more enjoyable comedies of the year.
Recommendation: If you love films with superb performances, unique style and humor, don’t sleep on Kajillionaire!
Rating: 4 awkward stealth maneuvers outta 5.
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