Watching Windfall had me feeling like a kid again . . . sitting in a waiting room, unable to leave, unsure of what would happen next—and pretty sure I wasn’t going to like it.
I know that sounds unpleasant, but the premise of this movie is actually funny, unexpected, and compelling. So please be patient when Nobody enjoys that gorgeous house on that gorgeous property. Reserve your judgment when he starts to steal things. Soon, everything will fall into place. (The owners will unexpectedly return and everyone will freak out. LOL!)
Each character conceives their next move on the fly—and sheesh is Nobody the worst at it. So bad we feel bad for him. When the wealthy owners simply won’t shut up, our sympathies compete. Well structured, moviemakers, well structured.
When for a number of reasons the trio becomes stuck in the house together for longer than they’d like, the waiting-room-feeling grows. Does this really have to take this long? How the heck are we going to resolve this?
We care mostly because of Nobody, and specifically the actor portraying him. Character was clearly doing this with resignation, and the feeling grows the longer he spends with his marks. Discomfort simply oozes from this man’s face, a masterclass in acting subtly but powerfully.
Alas, no amount of good acting can fix the writing here. A waiting room can be fun with the appropriate stimulus (toys, interesting people, new information), but this one had none of that. Windfall gave us little and leaves us with even less.
A gentle calm, for now.