"The leaders of seven wealthy democracies get lost in the woods while drafting a statement on a global crisis, facing danger as they attempt to find their way out." 

OUR MOVIE REVIEW:

The leaders of the world's wealthiest democracies annually meet at the G7 summit to discuss ongoing world events and crises, however this year, the world leaders find themselves in cosmic and apocalyptic circumstances. Director Guy Maddin, with Galen and Evan Johnson, brings us Rumours - a political satire interrogating the integrity and competence of our world leaders and seeing if they'd really help us when we would need them the most. The cast brings us Cate Blanchette as the Prime Minister of Germany, Charles Dance as the US President, Roy Dupuis as the Prime Minister of Canada, and many others in both expected and unexpected roles. 

There are many things to like and appreciate about Rumours, however, the film sadly has just as many shortcomings. It's hilarious and charming, but also massively unfocused and confusing. There's some great chemistry going on with this cast, but the film fails to really focus and commit to have them in any conflict that's really interesting. Once the ball gets rolling, there are many predicaments our characters find themselves in, but they either feel contrived or dull. The film also attempts to throw pretty esoteric and weird ideas towards the viewer, however, these never really feel complete or realized. Rather than compelling and interesting, it rolls off just confused.

Conceptually it reminds me of the show Succession, but it plays off as a lower tier episode of The Office. Its satire doesn't have as much bite as it desperately wants to have. So instead of coming across as smart, interesting and weird, it's dumb, goofy, and at its worst just cringey. Thankfully, it still manages to be funny, which is what matters in the end. The cast really sell the comedy, especially Blanchette and Dupuis who deliver perhaps the best laughs of the film. 

There have been worse satires, but there also have been far more effective ones. Guy Maddin escapes the trappings of the lesser ones by not being so heavy in the hand in its ideas and jokes. Though the jokes do land here, the ideas are somewhat lost in translation. Maddin’s directing here is also pretty flat and casual, never really quite getting there emotionally with our characters despite the moments here which are really big emotional swings. Thankfully, the cast save this film from being an annoying snooze to being a light and casual laugh.