The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
‘MALCOLM AND MARIE’
Washington and Zendaya offer strong performances in emotional real-time journey
A few weeks ago, HBO Max debuted “Locked Down,” a small-scale movie featuring well-known actors that was made quickly during the novel coronavirus pandemic. ¶ Now arrives “Malcolm & Marie,” a similarly bare-bones affair that, according to its production notes, was written, shot, edited and sold between April and September. ¶ Unlike “Locked Down,” however, “Malcolm & Marie” has nothing to do with COVID-19 when it comes to its subject matter. Starring John David Washington and Zendaya as the film’s namesake characters, the drama concerns a relationship — or, perhaps, the end of one. ¶ Debuting on Netflix this week, “Malcolm & Marie” is written and directed by Sam Levinson, creator and creative force behind HBO teen drama “Euphoria,” which features Zendaya at the head of its ensemble cast. ¶ As with “Locked Down,” you sort of have to appreciate “Malcolm & Marie” for what it is and within the context of the circumstances surrounding its making. Washington and Zendaya are the only actors in the film, and they turn in performances that, while at times are spectacular, are uneven overall. The same can be said of Levinson’s writing, on which the actors’ opportunities to shine so depend.
“Malcolm & Marie” certainly sucks you into this couple’s world immediately, the pair returning from the premiere of a film written and directed by Malcolm.
He’s on a high, the movie having gotten the kind of adoring response from the audience and critics in attendance he’s never before experienced.
Upon entering the lovely and secluded California home the movie’s production company has put them in for the time being, he fixes himself a celebratory drink and fills the air with the mood-setting sounds of James Brown’s “Down and Out in New York.”
She, meanwhile, slinks into the bathroom to use the toilet and becomes irritated as he screams compliments to her from afar that she barely can hear above the music. When she returns, she goes right to the kitchen, bypassing his feelgood dancing in the living room. (Much of these first few moments in the film are shot from outside the home’s windows, allowing Levinson to frame the actors in separate boxes to help drive home the idea the characters are not particularly close as a couple at this moment.)
Malcolm wants to talk about his glorious night.
“Man, I delivered a (expletive) knockout punch!” Marie wants to whip them up some mac ‘n cheese and go to bed.
Bed is nowhere in their immediate future, however, as the very play-like “Malcolm & Marie” unfolds in something at least close to real-time.
Over the course of the next couple of hours, they will talk, argue, kiss, but mainly fight. While topics such as Malcolm’s disgust for movie critics — he especially detests white critics who, according to him, want to frame every film by a person of color as something political or important in some way it may not be — dominate the early points of the evening, the relationship soon takes center stage.
Marie clearly has come home from the premiere upset, and the reasons for that will become increasingly clear, the movie Malcolm has made serving as a microcosm of her bitterness toward him.
Frustrations on both sides of this pairing are unearthed, though, and while Malcolm sometimes comes across as the devil in this story, Marie hasn’t exactly been an angel.
As a piece like this has a tendency to do, “Malcolm & Marie” ebbs and flows. To Levinson’s credit, whenever “Malcolm & Marie” starts to lose momentum, the subject matter or the mood — often both — changes.
This intimate film is captured in an attractive blackand-white by director of photography Marcell Rev, one of several crew members from “Euphoria” for whom Levinson found a gig after the show’s just-aboutto-be-shot second season was delayed due to the pandemic.
From his “Euphoria” star, whose big-screen credits include “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and “The Greatest Showman,” he helps pull a mostly compelling performance. While Zendaya seems to struggle, if slightly, in a few scenes, she is particularly strong in others. Arguably, her finest work here comes as Marie soaks in the tub while Malcolm verbally unloads on her. She says almost nothing, but Zendaya’s subtle choices are exquisite.
Meanwhile, Washington — the son of Denzel and excellent in “BlacKkKlansman” and last year’s “Tenet” — likewise is generally strong in this film. Although
he too often goes over-the-top as he rants and raves — possibly at Levinson’s urging — he is terrific in some quieter moments. And though he may be turned up to high at times, he brings an energy the film needs given there is nothing remotely in the way of a car chase or actual explosion to be found in “Malcolm & Eddie.”
There is much to like about Levinson’s direction, especially the way the two players are framed, not just initially but throughout the film, as well as the decision to shoot the film in chronological order, allowing the actors to build on their character work.
He struggles more as a writer. While he succeeds at slowly pulling back the curtain on the couple’s past, we’re too often left with the feeling they should simply break up rather than try to salvage this wreck of a relationship. We want to root for them, but it’s tough.
We can’t expect a film written relatively quickly and shot over two weeks during a pandemic to be perfect, and this one isn’t. However, like the aforementioned “Locked Down,” it’s worth hunkering down with as we ride this thing out.
“Malcolm & Marie” takes place in the hours following the premiere of a film directed by Malcolm (John David Washington), an event at which he has angered his girlfriend, Marie (Zendaya).
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