Movies
A Better Tune Than You’d Expect: “Where The Crawdads Sing”
“A woman who raised herself in the marshes of the Deep South becomes a suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once involved.” Director: Olivia NewmanWriters: […]
“A woman who raised herself in the marshes of the Deep South becomes a suspect in the murder of a man with whom she was once involved.”
Director: Olivia Newman
Writers: Delia Owens, Lucy Alibar
Staring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, David Strathairn, Garret Dillahunt
Rated: PG-13
Release Date: July 15, 2022
IMDB
Based off the bestselling Delia Owens novel, Where The Crawdads Sing (2022) is the story of Kya Clark (Daisy Edgar-Jones) being accused of murdering of a young man in a small deep south town. Kya has an air of mystery around her and is more known as “Marsh Girl” among the locals, making her the perfect suspect for a small community crime. The story takes turn in the present time with an older Kya living on her own and her sad, profound childhood and adolescence. The audience sees Kya’s rise of independence and pins it against her potentially going under the shackles of the law.
This is going to be a spoiler review. There is a book, and the movie came out last summer. It is time.
Kya is accused of killing small town heartthrob Chase Andrews. The attractive former quarterback is played by Harris Dickinson, who had himself a 2022 with this crowd pleaser followed a truly crowd disruptor in Triangle Of Sadness (2022). Chase and Kya had a fleeting romance, but the young love ends in bitter heartbreak. The small world that this story takes place in pins all its will for Kya’s guilt, but old-time formally retired lawyer Tom Milton (David Strathairn) comes to her defense.
Intermingled with Milton poking holes in the prosecutor’s defense are flashbacks to Kya sharing a first love with a fellow marsh liver Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith). Her first heartbreak with Tate fuels her self-reliance and sets various events in motion that lead to her eventual distressing companionship with Chase. Like any good young adult story, there is a love triangle that develops and adds additional passionate hue to the trial of her life.
The final moments of Where The Crawdad Sing sees Kya getting off for the murder and a majestic reunion of young love with Tate coming back into the fold. Kya and Tate grow old together and find individual success together. Books, scientific studies and wonderful quiet acceptance; a fine basis for a swamp living married couple. Kya and Tate grow old together and know everything about one another.
NOT. Nothing like a good NOT joke.
Kya passes away from old age and Tate is left alone to pick up the pieces. As he is cleaning up their home in the swamp and collecting Kya’s personal belongings, Tate finds this one book that has an interesting incision in it. He looks inside the dusty, moldy pages and finds a bloody necklace that belonged to Chase. Turns out the seemingly impossible sequence of events we were taken through by the prosecution in the murder trail were all true. Mr. Milton, fueled by his good graces, unknowingly convinced a jury that an innocent looking young girl was indeed, innocent.
Love a good twist!
Where The Crawdad Sings is not going to break any new ground, and nor is it going to blow you off your couch. The performances from Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor john Smith, Harris Dickinson and David Strathairn are exactly what you’d expect. It is a story that that allows for paint by number approach, and the cast of this movie paints wonderfully between the lines. Olivia Newman is used to this type of story because she works in network TV putting in directorial time with shows like Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and FBI. It is genuinely a skill to making these short self-contained simple connect-the-dots story. It is a story that is well constructed by novel writer Delia Owens and then adequately adapted by Newman and screenplay writer Lucy Alibar.
The bonkers part about Where The Crawdads Sing is that it is one of the most profitable movies of 2022. It came to theaters with just a 24 million dollar budget, and it made just over 17 million on its opening weekend. Before the end, Where The Crawdads Sing was humming a tune worthy of over 140 million dollars. To put it plainly, the oldies and book lovers came out in full force and wrapped their arms around this story. It is also built wonderfully for Netflix, and since it arrived on the streaming service, it has lived on the home page in some capacity.
Where The Crawdads Sing knows exactly what it is. That is why giving this movie a low grade would be pointless and reductively mean. Don’t go in expecting the next Pride & Prejudice (2005), but expect something on the same teir as Netflix’s Set It Up (2018) just with a tad bigger budget. Click in on for a date night with a glass of wine and feel free to putz on your phones and enjoy each others company.
STANKO RATING: B- (3.0/5 Stars)
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