Laura (Rashida Jones) is a mother of two, struggling to keep a busy home together while balancing a stagnating writing career in bustling New York City. When Laura begins to suspect her husband (Marlon Wayans) of straying from their marriage, her playboy father (Bill Murray) whisks her away from her monotonous life to pursue her husband’s whereabouts amidst the city, making for quirky bonding moments and chances to reconcile their own troubled past.
Directed by Sofia Coppola, On the Rocks (available to stream on Apple TV+ now) is familiar filmic ground: a dry, understated comedy about someone’s woes that are presumably not so different from the writer-director’s own (and yes, very much entrenched within upper/middle-class living). It’s a lovely, lighthearted buddy-comedy of sorts, and hanging out with the ever-endearing Rashida Jones and Bill Murray–whose chemistry together is natural, fun, and intoxicating–makes for an effortlessly entertaining time.
The film deals with significant and adult themes, such as faithfulness in marriage, the questioning of monogamy, and self-acceptance, which Laura and her father ping-pong back and forth over in witty conversation. The back-and-forth here is dialed in by an incredibly charismatic Bill Murray as Felix, who makes the film the sophisticated and dry comedy that it chooses to be (it’s the third time Murray and Coppola have worked together on a feature project after 2003’s Lost in Translation and 2015’s A Very Murray Christmas).
Sofia Coppola’s previous work shows what a skilled eye she has for capturing beautiful images, making each of her movies a treat for the eyes. In On the Rocks, it’s pleasurable to be swept up in every lush part of New York City’s socialite scene. But luscious locations and cinematography are one thing, and meeting that with real character developments is another: since Coppola resigns Laura as a weak and submissive character from the very start, giving very little along the way to make for a full character realization, unfortunately, the characters end up being more like props in this beautiful-looking postcard of a film.
In further Coppola signature, On the Rocks (perhaps) also not so subtly mirrors the writer-director’s personal life experiences, in which a daughter must reconcile with her ever-charismatic, towering legend of a father (whose own infamous infidelities have been well documented). Casting Rashida Jones as Laura (the Sofia-surrogate of sorts) is an earnest desire for Coppola to explore issues of her familial relationship. But it’s also a film that keeps things at a sophisticated surface-level, making me wonder if a more stirring, substantial, and significant work was just one more shot away from experiencing.
If On the Rocks were a drink, it’d be served neat, and straight up. And while it’s pleasantly fine, I’d like to see the version that allows itself to be a little more shaken. And ya know what? Make it a double.
Distributed by A24, On the Rocks is now streaming on Apple TV+.
