Woman of the Hour

Review by Mark Woodring

It’s always interesting when actors decide to move behind the camera. Their choice of a first project is almost always something they’ve decided they can give a different perspective on.

Anna Kendrick chose Woman of the Hour.

**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**

Woman of the Hour - Review
Woman of the Hour (Netflix)

 

95 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Ian McDonald
Directed by Anna Kendrick

Synopsis:

Cheryl Bradshaw, a single woman looking for a suitor on a hit 1970s TV show, chooses charming bachelor Rodney Alcala, unaware that, behind the man’s gentle facade, he hides a deadly secret.

 

Based on a true story, Kendrick chooses to feature herself in the Woman of the Hour. Note that I didn’t say “star,” because the real star of the film is Daniel Zovatto as serial killer Rodney Alcala.

And he is creepy and threatening as hell in this. Kendrick got a great performance from him.

Kendrick, as Cheryl Bradshaw, does provide us with an avatar into the world of the 1970s entertainment industry, in which casting calls are meat markets and actors were routinely thrust onto game shows like The Dating Game in order to “increase their visibility” in the industry.

The Dating Game, specifically, BTW, is a great use of this, because dating is an exercise in acting. It makes sense in a terribly cynical way, then, for actors to either choose or be pushed onto this show.

Cheryl Bradshaw is on the verge of abandoning her Hollywood dreams when she is pressed as a last minute fill on The Dating Game by her agent, and chafes at the restrictions of the format, finally bursting through in a segment designed to undercut the actual purpose of the show, which is to make all four participants (and yes, there were Dating Game episodes with a Bachelor and three Bachelorettes) into simping, lovelorn-but-horny, two-dimensional bits of entertainment for the folks at home.

Weaving together various timelines of Rodney Alcala’s various kills with his time as Bachelor #3, wowing his kills and Cheryl with his obvious intelligence and progressive mindset in terms of saying to women what they want to hear, especially in a format like The Dating Game.

It’s a charade, though; Rodney is a sociopath with no empathy or actual human emotion.

Choosing to ground the film in his appearance on the show is a great choice, as this is just another stop on the Rodney Alcala highway, neither his first kill nor his last, he is still just a guy, unknown.

In fact, the way Rodney finally gets brought down is a beautiful thing to watch from a meta-perspective, as the tables are turned on him.

Kendrick weaves all of this together in to an enjoyable mix of entertainment critique and social scolding, while never losing sight of the purpose of the film: to examine how easily Rodney Alcala was able to manipulate women and get what he wanted. This was basically a function of knowing how society had set women up to want certain things, to hear certain things, and his looks and intelligence enabled him to exploit those sometimes contradictory things.

If he wasn’t killing women, it would be an impressive feat of social engineering, really…

Check out Woman of the Hour, as it marks a promising, if somewhat safe, entry to the director’s chair for Anna Kendrick. But it will be interesting to see what she picks to direct next.

Woman of the Hour is exclusively on Netflix and stars Anna Kendrick, Daniel Zovatto, Tony Hale, Nicolette Robinson, Autumn Best, Pete Holmes, and Kathryn Gallagher.

And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.

Please don’t forget to LIKE, SHARE, and FOLLOW us on:

And please, if you like what we do, consider helping us keep on entertaining you. You can use this handy link:




Or, you could check out the merch in Our Store:

VSMP Merch Store

Not only will you be helping us out if you pick up some merch, you get cool stuff to wear around (including the coveted WTFWT? logo!)


 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,