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The Laundromat (2019)
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, this dark comedy tries to do too many things. Its mission seems to be skewering the corporate practice of avoiding taxes and creating shell companies, but the uneven and sometimes silly comedy styles used tend to detract from whatever the director’s position purports to be.
Armed with good acting from popular stars Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, Meryl Streep, along with cameo appearances by James Cromwell and Sharon Stone, the film lurches from scene to scene in a semi-confused mess. It is difficult to explain the complexities of international corporate financing and banking to laymen. To do it with off-beat comedy makes it that much more difficult. Breaking the fourth wall acted as a narrator, but its frequent use became annoying.
The film was not without laughs, but it tried too hard to be quirky. As an expose it would be much better done as a documentary, without the corn.
Doc’s rating: 5/10
. The hopelessness is so funny, like the inevitably homicidal Morty Jr. and the wry comments from Beth and Jerry about Morty's familiar predicament.
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