Simple 'Malcolm & Marie' Lets Its Actors' Performances Truly Shine
Starring John David Washington and Zendaya
R
Drama
Run time: 1 hr, 46 min
Directed and written by Sam Levinson
On Netflix February 5, 2021
Before there was even a trailer, I was looking forward to this movie. All I had heard at one point was that there was going to be a Netflix film starring Zendaya and John David Washington that was categorized as a romance/drama. I am fairly certain I sent a friend a screenshot of a tweet giving exactly that information captioned with, “OH I AM SO IN.” Then the preview dropped, and I was even more sold. Since I saw her in The Greatest Showman, I had decided that I wanted to be a Zendaya-post-Disney-Channel fan. And in the last six months, I’d seen her incredible performance in Euphoria and was extremely intrigued to see Washington in something else after seeing him in Tenet (my one attempt to go to a theater in the last eleven months). Thankfully, Malcolm & Marie didn’t disappoint.
The plot is incredibly basic. A filmmaker and his girlfriend come home after a premiere of his directorial debut. And as most people know, high emotions late at night can cause some interesting conversations and experiences, and we follow this couple through that insane ride. They fight, they laugh, they kiss and make up, they wound each other with words. It takes place in one home, in black and white and in a very simple framework. There are a total of maybe 5 costumes throughout the entire movie and the house is just bare enough that you have no choice but to solely focus on these two fantastic actors and the words coming out of their mouths.
Before I wax poetic about how incredible the performances are, specifically Zendaya’s, I do need to admit that some of the writing and background are not the best. There are semi-eye-rolling moments that seem perfectly crafted for a movie rather than an attempted portrayal of real life, and there are some theatrical stormings from the room. There is also a lot of shit-talking about critics that lands a bit oddly and is clearly the writer getting some things out for himself, as well as some rants that go a bit too long. There are some occasional jumps from conversation to conversation that seem a bit thin or contrived, but, despite being someone who winces so easily at a poorly written script and screenplay, I feel like this movie helped me realize just how much great actors can carry a film that doesn’t give them the most incredible material to work with.
Okay, with that all out of the way, if Zendaya doesn’t get an Oscar nomination for this, I may flip tables. Both actors are incredible, and while I don’t love the age gap between the two leads (roughly 12 years, I believe), their chemistry feels so realistic and lived in that I often forgot about it. Both actors manage to squeeze every single ounce of emotion of the monologues they are constantly giving throughout the film, and I highly suspect there are going to be a myriad of audition pieces drawn from this movie. They manage to make the wandering conversation - that seemed almost in real time - feel extremely authentic, as anyone who has had these kind of long, drawn out kind of fights has experienced how many emotions and phases it can run through before it finally reaches its end. I feel like Malcolm & Marie did exactly what it intended to do: highlight Washington and Zendaya, and nothing else. And I’m not sure I needed anything more than that.