TIFF Mini-Review: Violet & Daisy (2011, Fletcher)
September 22nd 2011 04:39
Violet & Daisy
Written September 21, 2011
Writer/Director Geoffrey Fletcher is best known for his adaptation of Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire. With the dreamlike fable Violet & Daisy, he tackles his own material with mixed results. The film opens to the innocence of two girls discovering their teeny bopper favorite singer Barbie Sunshine has cancelled her concert. The theme of innocence returns when they are next seen donning nun habits and delivering ‘righteous’ pizza. The illusion is shattered when in pure Pulp Fiction style a shoot-out of epic proportions occurs. Fletcher can’t seem to get away from the allegory of innocence and its loss, however, as he shows us Violet (played by Alexis Bledel) blowing a bubble with her gum prior to shooting someone. This image is replayed in the film ad nauseam and Fletcher doesn’t seem to realize that sometimes less is more, and that the audience need not be beaten over the head with imagery. This mistake is again made when we’re greeted to multiple flashbacks of events we saw not too long before.
The film centers on the titular characters as teenage hitman who long for Barbie Sunday dresses. The job they take ends up being the most difficult of their careers as their victim (James Gandolfini, in an ironic turn) actually longs to die. While the girls battle their own morality, a comedy of errors is occurring around them in the form of rival hitman, noisy neighbors, and random robberies.
Violet & Daisy attempts to mix whimsy with violence, humor with sadness, and innocence with corruption. There are moments when Fletcher’s tone is very specific, and then it falters, shifts, and we’re left to wonder exactly what he is attempting to convey and what kind of film we’re watching. Specifically, this is most demonstrated in the character of Daisy (played by Saoirse Ronan). Daisy expresses naivety and a child-like nature throughout most of the film and yet there are moments in which she seems street-smart, cunning, and conniving. The uneven nature of her character symbolizes the film’s own internal unbalance. In addition, Fletcher hints at a possible backstory to these girls which could be a metaphor for something else and yet as the credits role we discover it wasn’t – this is a head-scratching moment, highlighting the fable-like nature of the film and once again brings into question his intent on tone.
There are some charming scenes, stylistic visuals, and decent performances but the film would have benefited from a more consistent core. Violet & Daisy is worth the watch; it simply could have been better.
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