- Whatever else it may be, Jordan Peele's Get Out is not the film I was expecting. In fact, I don't see how it could possibly be the film anybody was expecting. For about two-thirds of its runtime, this is a positive quality, by which I mean that the film features an abundance of interesting characterizations, pleasant surprises, and novel social commentary. For its other third, however, Get Out is a surprisingly jumbled and confounding disappointment. I've tried to take the blame for this one (Maybe I just don't like horror movies? Maybe I was expecting an extended Key & Peele sketch??), but no -- the movie just has a really stupid ending.
- Things start off simply enough: Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) accompanies his girlfriend Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) on a trip to meet her family for the first time. It's a nervous enough situation for any young man, but Chris is also understandably concerned that Rose's conspicuously wealthy parents may not be ready for their white daughter to bring home a black man. At first, the visit is uncomfortable is mostly funny ways. Rose's father (Bradley Whitford) mentions how he would have voted for Obama a third time and casually disparages the black mold in the basement. Her mother (Catherine Keener) doesn't approve of Chris smoking and offers to hypnotise him out of it. Rose's loose cannon, lacrosse-playing brother (Caleb Landry Jones) is more overtly hostile, challenging Chris to a fight over dinner. But Chris and Rose are in love, and how bad could one weekend be, right?
- As if to directly answer this question, the extended Armitage clan descends on their plantation-like home the following day to commemorate a grandfather who, in a truly wonderful detail, was narrowly edged out of the Olympics by Jesse Owens. In the film's best and most darkly humorous sequence, Chris quickly becomes the target of a multitude of microaggressions as partygoers ask him about the black experience, feel his muscles, and name-drop Tiger Woods. But it turns out that Chris isn't the only African-American in attendance. The eccentric hired help (Betty Gabriel, Richard Herd) does a lot of working and smiling, but not too much talking. One rather reserved party attendee (Lakeith Stanfield) can't think of a downside to being black, although admittedly he doesn't get out of the house much these days. And then a serendipitous flashbulb changes his story rather dramatically.
- It's at this point in the review that I probably shouldn't say too much more, aside from noting that the "much more" was too much more for me to handle. All of the promise that the film carefully built up is squandered rapidly in a sequence of events that is painfully dumb in the way that only a bad horror movie revelation can be. Even the enjoyable appearances of Stephen Root as a blind art collector and the uproarious Lil Rel Howery as Chris' concerned friend (and unrealistically considerate TSA Agent) aren't enough to salvage the film's third act. It's a shame, too, because Peele's Oscar-winning direction is effective, all of the acting performances are strong, and the film's writing contains moments of great insight and wit. But in the end, you're better off pausing Get Out a little past the hour mark and checking out a few Key & Peele sketches on YouTube instead.
