When I first saw the trailer for this movie the thing that initially grabbed me was the music. Anything that has to do with Dolly Parton, I’m in. I mean it’s Dolly Parton! Seriously Red started out fun enough, the film did have me hooked… in the beginning. It had a good run for about an act and a half before it started to fall apart for me but that first half was very well done. It was fun and filled with music and the promises of things to come, but then it kind of forgot to tell a story. Krew Boylan is Red, a down-on-her-luck thirty-something just working her job the best she can. She decides to dress up like Dolly for an office party (I guess they forgot to tell her it was khaki day) where she wins the contest but is later fired for fondling many of her coworkers after one too many drinks. With her next steps a mystery she’s met by Teeth (Celeste Barber) who brings her in for an audition at a famous impersonator variety show.
Red nails the audition after a few moments of nervousness but it isn’t clear that she got the gig. She follows Wilson (a Neil Diamond impersonator and runner of the show played by Bobby Cannavale) to his office where she really bares her soul and seals the deal. It turns out he’s looking for a Dolly to be part of his Kenny Rogers (Daniel Webber) act. Almost immediately she’s thrown on tour with Kenny, just trying to learn the ropes and keep up all while having the time of her life. It’s fun for her, meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but fun. Red gets to travel the world with Kenny (and make a good bit of cash) doing their couples act while faking, sometimes falling into, a relationship. Even that is one sided though because Red’s heart isn’t in it. All this leads to a third act that tries to tie all the loose ends together and nearly succeeds, albeit, clumsily.
What Seriously Red Got Right
This movie, despite everything, is a really fun and feel good ride. The actors assembled were all on point, from the members of the impersonators club to the main characters, anyone that made it on camera did an amazing job. My favorite was a background extra but seeing Elton John (an impersonator) walking around just doing random things was great. You never really knew when he was going to pop up next but it was always interesting.
The film was directed by Gracie Otto who kept the pace moving quickly with energetic shots and camera moves, it really is a beautiful movie to look at. Of course, I have to talk about the music in a movie like this – I would be crazy not to – it was fantastic. I wanted to write something like, “they really played all the Dolly Parton hits,” but it would only be half factual. Anything that legend puts out is a hit so I guess I’ll have to just call them song choices. They were all the right song choices. Also, sneaking in Rose Byrne as Elvis Presley was a stroke of genius, she played it perfectly. She had the sneaky and the playboy-womanizer aspect down.
What Seriously Red Got Wrong
Like I said earlier, the movie had a very solid one-and-a-half act but that’s where it ended. It kind of stumbled to the finish line. The story ended up getting lost and a lot of the things that were set up; the budding romantic relationship with her best friend, Kenny Rogers came to a realization that there is more to life, all got either forgotten or discarded. They were set up but there was no follow-through, like a tennis player tossing the ball to begin their services and then just walking to the locker room instead. When they finally had Red learn a lesson it seemed rushed and forced in.
It was an important one and the point of the whole story, no matter what life throws at you, just be yourself, but it felt unearned. There was no real conflict to speak of that would lead to her learning this lesson, she spent the entire film, until that very moment, loving everything she was doing. It was a roller coaster that ended in a wall because they ran out of track. The last thing that bothered me, and this is just me being picky I think, is that at several points the movie almost became a musical. I think it should have (the scene with Wilson singing his backstory about Neil Diamond was wonderful) but each time they wouldn’t commit.
Conclusion:
It isn’t often that I say a movie should have been longer but this is one of those times. I feel like there is a very good movie here if only they had allowed more time for the characters to actually grow. There is a running theme throughout the movie, Red and Kenny talk about not just being cardboard cutouts but instead being whole people, and the characters they gave us very much just felt like incomplete cardboard cutouts. That said I did still enjoy the movie for the most part, I don’t want to give the impression I didn’t, the music alone was enough to keep me watching. I’m a sucker for a good soundtrack and as I’ve said over and over, you can’t beat Dolly Parton.
As it stands, I think if you’re a fan of Dolly Parton or Australian comedy (this movie was shot in Australia and is an homage to country music) then you’ll have a good time watching Seriously Red. My biggest issues were the way they rushed the lesson learned and didn’t take enough time to flesh out the characters, both are things that really aren’t that big of a deal if all you’re looking for is a good time. And really, we could all use one of those.
Seriously Red will be released in the theaters in the US on February 10th, 2023!
Watch Seriously Red
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