The first time I knew about this movie it didn't really look that interesting to me, but upon taking a further view about its topic, cast, and general reception, I decided to give it a watch. The first thing I can say after watching it is that Evan Rachel Wood apparently cannot have normal characters. She is a robot in Westworld where sometimes she needs to act like a nonhuman being, and now in Kajillionaire, she acts as the weird daughter of a couple of 2-bit low time scammers.
The story is about this small family and the petty theft commit with so much pride in order to survive and pay their rent. They are very poor and this is very easy to realize when noticing the way to daughter dresses. But they are happy to be poor, they don't have ambitions and they hate everything related to consumerism.
I know there are cheap people who live obsessed with getting free coupons and trying to get as much free stuff they can, but this film takes this mindset to the extreme and adds some silly crimes as well. This family is a broken one because their daughter was raised with this mentality and she now is unable to act like a normal adult woman.
They don't even live in a normal place but rather in a small office space located next to a soap factory. They try to save as much money as possible and are always on alert for any opportunity to steal a few bucks or get things for free. It is hard to understand why they don't simply make the effort to get a job so they can start living a better and more normal life. There is nothing preventing them from doing so, they only live off their petty thefts due to some kind of psychological fixation with that lifestyle.
Despite the fact it is a comedy it was also a bit sad because these 3 characters are all broken people and have no idea how to begin healing themselves. Besides these 3 main characters, there is an extra one they will meet at the beginning of the film and will be very important as well. However, the way the relationship with this fourth character is developed is incredibly hard to believe which made me think the movie doesn't take itself very seriously.
It can be an enjoyable flick so if you are looking for a silly comedy to laugh a little bit this one might do the job. It does have very funny scenes but it is not a comedy masterpiece. It is a bohemian comedy that tries to portray strange characters as if they were common in real life.
The best
- It has several funny situations.
The worst
- The attitude of the main characters are hard to believe. At times I thought it was satire.
- The relationship with the extra character felt forced and inauthentic.
More information: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8143990/ Review: AA In numbers: 6.5/10