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Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott enjoy turning horror conventions on their heads, much like centering a movie around children in a violent zombie film, ‘Cooties,’ or having the scene unfold in ‘Bushwick‘ as a single continuous shot. In their latest film, ‘Becky,‘ I question whether the first violent film featuring a teenage protagonist or Kevin James’ first ever dramatic role is more distructive to the conventions. The first one does concieveably work. What’s depressing about ‘Becky’ is the wasted potential of Murnion and Milott using the star of ‘The King of Queens.’ He’s the best thing in this infuriating movie, which is the most depressing thing about it. Where does Becky fail? Ultra-violent ‘Home Alone’ featuring a teenage girl with the attitude of a slasher character and super-villain-esque murder skills set, why does ‘Becky’ fall apart?
Lulu Wilson plays the title character, an aggrieved teen adept at stealing, who completely disregards her father Jeff (Joel McHale). Footage of a bold prison escape steered by James has been interspersed where he portrays a cold, muscular man with a swastika tattooed on his skull. During the trip, Becky and her dogs (Diego and Dora … adorable) reach the lake house, only to find that her father had also invited his girlfriend Kayla (Amanda Brugel) along with her son Ty (Isaiah Rockcliffe) for the stay. You see, Becky’s mom has not been dead for that long. Okay, well, not long enough for Becky to be even remotely accepting of her father moving on. So when Dominick and some of his friends knock asking for the key, the tension is unbearable.
As one would surmise from the synopsis, the rest of ‘Becky’ turns out just as we would expect. After the cat-and-mouse game begins, it becomes quite numbing in its predictability. When Dominick arrives at the house, Becky is already out, which gives her an opportunity to play with the home invaders like how Kevin did in Home Alone, but with far more gore. Ultimately, Becky is much smarter than her attackers, and she is able to work her way around them, well, to death. However, Dominick’s mission is paradoxically vague (the key’s meaning is left moot in a manner that attempts to cloak its cleverness, but instead lowers the stakes) and therefore it becomes a good versus evil narrative. In this scenario, good is a teenage girl and evil is a group of Nazi constables who have escaped from prison.
The largest issue is that Becky is simply a vision of an angry teenager who lost her mother. Due to the lack of an archetype, she is paper thin. It’s not Lulu Wilson’s fault in any way, but it does seem that no one tried to peel the layers off the title character to add some development.
In one scene, where he is seemingly betrayed by Apex (played brilliantly by Robert Maillet), Dominick receives more than what he gets in the entire film. Unlike the rest of the movie where his mentally sick adult male perspective makes a mockery out of a teenage girl’s life, the memories of his mother’s death and the flashbacks only cheapens the overall film. If Becky fails to invoke any form of empathy from us, then this self indulging project turns into an empty one, lacking in reality.
And this one is made even more hollow by direction that pays scant attention to the geography of a scene and an aggressive score which attempts to compensate for lack of actual tension. A home invasion film that has a single location requires clear and consistent cinematography and construction. We don’t get either here. The passion comes from the knowledge of which side the good guys are, who the bad guys are, and what is on stake. “Becky” does not work in this regard, staging every interaction between Becky and her attacker as a separate event on set, which is mundane. Utilize your surroundings. Utilize more than just weapons to tear limbs from bad guys.
Once more, Kevin James is stellar here. In the wake of “Uncut Gems,” someone suggested that Safdie type directors should cast Sandler’s friend in a decent comedy-thriller role. At the very least, “Becky” would serve as evidence that he could play such parts. In a better film, though.
So is this film for everyone? Without wanting to reveal too much of the story, yes, there aren’t a lot of feel good scenes. This is a more serious film with a number of personal scenes, but it leaves behind a trace of sadness. However, for those who, like me, prefer films that are intellectually stimulating and do not have cheerful conclusions, The Fragile King is for you.
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