Kajillionaire

In U.K. cinema’s now.

One thing that frustrates me are the lazy comments about lack of originality in the cinema, cinema is full of originality, if you’re prepared to look. Kajillionaire written and directed by Miranda July, is an indie offbeat comedy centred around a family of small time scammers who spend their day to day existence looking to scam enough money to get by via petty acts of crime. It is also refreshingly original.

Alongside its originality it is also the definition of quirky, its dark and melancholic tones will not be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute in the strange world July had created.

Built on four excellently balanced central performances, Evan Rachel Wood’s Old Dolio, named after a homeless man who had won the lottery. Deborah Winger and Richard Jenkins as her less than caring parents and Gina Rodriguez as Melanie, whose introduction into their world sets everything off balance.

Wood in particular brings a lovely balance between sadness and tenderness as the girl who “has no tender feelings” as she strives for some kind of normal life. Winger and Jenkins portray a believable oddity alongside their scheming unpleasantness.

For all of its strangeness it also has plenty of dark humor alongside lovely moments of tenderness especially when Old Dolio finds herself in a parental skills class and the family end up in the home of a dying man.

As I said at the beginning this will be too dark and melancholy for some, but for me it was just the right side of it, with a cast who I enjoyed every moment I spent in their presence. If you like a quirky film or just something original and different this may just be for you.