A family risks being torn apart in 1959 picture perfect Americana after the mother is killed during a mishandled midnight burglary. The main drive of the film is Gardner Lodge (Matt Damon) and his attempt to get the insurance pay-out for his wife's (Julianne Moore) death at the hands of a pair of nighttime robbers. She's barely in the ground before her twin sister (also Moore) moves into the family home and suspicions of the matriarch's demise begin to bubble to the surface. Despite good performances from the top billed cast and some wonderfully lit internal scenes, the film is noticeably slow throughout ... even when big revelations are exposed. The film does get a much needed lift with genuine wit and charisma courtesy of visits from Oscar Isaac's suspicious insurance fraud investigator and the constant meddling from the brother of the deceased.Filming began during the 2016 Presidential election and it's painfully obvious the politically-charged months that lead up to and followed Trump's victory had a lasting impact on this film. It's therefore such a shame that the escalating racial hatred shown towards the main characters' closest neighbours gets barely any attention. It clearly shows that the awful plight of the African-American family next door was a genuine afterthought to give the film some contemporary 'edge' when it happens entirely in isolation to the main plot. Their paths only cross a couple of times and never in a way that drives either story.The unhappy family in an ever increasing downward spiral of deception, lies and death feels very much like a Coen Brothers composition. Indeed the film was originally written by the Joel and Ethan way back in 1986, a time when the idea that the picturesque and perfectly polished exterior of post-war suburban America was rotten at its core would've drawn praise from audiences. Grievously, the premise has been seen time and again since the film's initial inception so is no longer new or interesting. The worst part is it was box office disaster ($12m back on a $25m budget) and will surely be forgotten just as abruptly as it arrived - a fate it doesn't really deserve but was sadly all too easy to predict around the half-way point of the film.Best Quote: "That kind of nonsense, it can haunt you down the road ... if you killed her, I mean."

Misguided waste of talent. Terrible. Can't believe Matt Damon would waste his time in such a hollow role. Just a cliched stereotype of the late 50's. No redeeming quality.

Absolutely terrible... I swear I thought this was supposed to be an odd ball comedy of sorts from the ads. Certainly glad I waited to see it for free. Glad this movie won't ruin Matt's career. But holy terrible!!

Here's The Lowedown on "Suburbicon" (R - 2017 - US)...I'm sorry for his loss.Genre: Thriller/Crime/Comedy My Score: 6.1Cast=8 Acting=9 Plot=7 Ending=6 Story=5 Intense=5 Pace=4 Twist=8 Crime=6 Funny=3As a 1950s suburban community self-destructs, a home invasion has sinister consequences for one seemingly normal family. "What do you think you know, big man? Hmm? Because I know a lot of things." I was really looking forward to this film, it's too bad it could not live up to it. I did not like the racial element at all...I understand that we were awful back then, but it felt like neon orange curtain in a haunted house. The film ended and I was like WTF just happened...took me a while to get it. It was one of those with a great twist that I didn't catch until after I put the Blu-Ray back on the shelf I am not a fan of the Coen brothers (aside from "Burn after Reading") and I should have known I wouldn't care for this one.