Movie Review: Kajillionaire

At first glance, writer/director Miranda July’s film Kajillionaire may seem like a stark commentary on the times as well as a sardonic look at the familial dynamic in the twenty-first century, but there is a lot more to unpack in the filmmaker’s third theatrical offering. Aided by a stellar performance from Evan Rachel Wood, Kajillionaire manages to create a snapshot of a specific moment in history when things seem as though they may be the worst they have ever been, yet something far more hopeful and stirring waits just around the corner.

Without giving too much away, the film begins with a family of swindlers (or, perhaps cheats, is a better term for their lifestyle, it all depends on your perspective) who are forced to allow an outsider to assist with their next con. Unfortunately, that is precisely when familial life (at least as it exists for this particular family) gets extremely complicated.

Although stellar work from Richard Jenkins as Robert, the patriarch of the trio of wanderers, and Debra Winger as Theresa, the aloof mother, is showcased superbly throughout Kajillionaire, it is the work of Evan Rachel Wood as their daughter, Old Dolio (named as part of yet another failed scam), that the film achieves an emotional resonance that lingers well after the credits have concluded. Gina Rodriguez too delivers some fine work as Melanie, the young woman the trio is forced to work with to make ends meet, such as they ever do for this family.

There is an arc to Wood’s character that anchors the film with a charming story of a quirky outsider simply trying to find a place in the world and not being afforded all that much help in the process and the actress delivers this with earnestness and an almost effortless ability to charm, even when acting somewhat malicious.

Richard Jenkins, Evan Rachel Wood, and Gina Rodriguez in “Kajillionaire.” © Matt Kennedy/Focus Features

Kajillionaire was written and directed by the immeasurably talented Miranda July, whose earlier films – The Future (2011) and Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) – also display an equally impressive command of storytelling as well as an alluring visual acuity that also makes her new film one of the best films of the year. The filmmaker also laces her work here with enough humor and charm to make the despicable actions of the characters onscreen seem less so and more a product of a misguided idealism they have become trapped by.

When all is said and done, the world that Kajillionaire suggests is not too far removed from the one that many of us may exist in from day to day. These people do the best they can, given the circumstances they find themselves. Yet, somehow, and in some way, someone manages to find the strength within to be a better person despite the negative forces pushing them in a much different direction and that is the best sign of hope that anyone could ask for.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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