It's Big, It's Bold, It's Beautiful, and Oh Boy Is It A Journey
Film
A road trip where the pitstops are magical doors, allowing you to relive formative moments of your life, sounds like an interesting and emotional odyssey, right? That's exactly the response Kogonada's latest film, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey-a title which lays bare its intentions on this long emotional drive-tries to elicit. Featuring Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie as David and Sarah, two exceedingly single people who meet at a mutual friend's wedding and carpool through this journey home together, the film boasts a fresh spin on the road-trip genre with its mystical romanticism. But A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, while drop-dead gorgeous, is a confounding trip to experience due to a trying narrative and lack of chemistry between its leads.
With every good (or bad) road trip, you need to start with a route. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey implements some exciting twists in its direction, from the odd GPS that guides Sarah and David to their "pitstops" to the idea of reliving past moments in their lives to grow as individuals, both of which are intriguing at a basic level. But Seth Reiss' script is simply too clunky, the road trip equivalent of making a wrong turn and adding an hour to your drive time. David's introduction and the entrance of The Car Rental Agency, an eccentric company that only has two 1994 Saturns to rent and pushes adding a GPS in case "your phone craps out", feels like an abrasive plot device more than the interesting spin it should be.
The road smoothes out a bit when Sarah and David finally begin their journey together. Kogonada's dedication to the magical surrealism of the story plays out quite well. Doors out of place in strange settings-in the middle of the woods, for example-along with a performance art stage that Sarah and David suddenly revisit from time to time, provide a very Kaufman-esque surrealism that is welcome excitement. This is coming from someone who doesn't necessarily care for Charlie Kaufman's films. Yet no matter how far along this ride I went, I kept on thinking about how overwritten and somehow underwritten Reiss' screenplay was. From friendly exchanges to emotional breakdowns, every moment feels inauthentic and forced. That's, of course, compounded by Robbie and Farrell having, somehow someway, absolutely no chemistry. The little cracks here and there in the dialogue between them are torn open by their lack of romantic believability, derailing the entire journey before it really begins.
But if there is something to turn the keys for, it's the stunning technical aspects. Benjamin Loeb's cinematography is a gorgeous display of lighting and colors that, within the first frame, evokes The Umbrellas of Cherbourg imagery, and carries much of the intrigue. The beautiful green rolling hills provide a sensational backdrop while Loeb and Kogonada's teamwork-after their last collaboration After Yang-delivers some exquisitely crafted cinematic images. If there's one thing to love about this road trip, it's that you're taking the scenic route. Not to mention Joe Hisaishi's score is stellar, using keys and trumpets to envelop emotional or exciting moments in a way that had me thinking about his ground-breaking and under-appreciated The Boy and the Heron score.
It's confusing to think about what really went wrong with A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, but it certainly doesn't hit the mark on its potential. While Kogonada's style still pulses throughout the film, it doesn't resonate the same way that After Yang or even his own written and directed film, Columbus, did. Regardless, it's unfortunate that a project such as this, starring two Academy Award nominees who are world class actors and an interesting premise to boot, somehow just never seems to get on the right path.
Froth
Fresh concept during fresh hop season? Sweet serendipity! The best way to stave off the disappointment of A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is to grab yourself a spectacular freshie such as this year's iteration of the Fresh Hop Hazealicious from Reuben's Brews. The basic Hazealicious is a classic so a fresh hop variation is truly something to behold, this year's especially. I mean it's really love at first pour, once you get a glimpse of the bright beautiful hazy coloring. The taste isn't far off from the regular Hazealicious, which is quite nice, but the added fresh hopping gives it a terrific floral aroma, boosting the already delightful citrus flavors. Let's just say that Reuben's Brews met, if not exceeded the lofty expectations of fresh hop season and I for one can't wait to trot back to the bar to order another one.
