12/2/18
This is the third Steve McQueen movie I have seen; 12 Years a Slave and Shame. Both of those movies stay in their lanes a lot more than Widows. This is a heist movie wrapped by a drama with politics and race relations tossed in. I think the result was somewhat of a jumbled mess.
There are lots of classic heist movie elements, but the heist is very simple. The character development is pretty lacking since so many other plot elements have to be explored while covering the multiple genres in this movie. I liked all the acting and there are some great cinematic shots in the movie. The best shot is a driving scene through one district of Chicago from the slums to a gated mansion in real time. It is done so well and lives up to everything you would expect from McQueen. It sticks out on its own from the rest of the movie.
A lot of the plot twists annoyed me. The child story line seemed to be an unneeded ad in; it doesn't do much to the story line. A few reveals throughout are irritating, but they move the movie along at best. Some of the stumbling blocks introduced into the heist plot line are stupidly simple. The entire heist plot line is literally following directions to a ’T’.
I didn't find the end rewarding and it doesn't wrap up anything nicely. I wouldn't rush to theaters to see this. As is apparent on Rotten Tomatoes, the audience isn't going to agree with the critics on this.