Breaking News In Yuba County (2021)

Breaking News In Yuba County (2021)

6/10

Staring

Allison Janney

Mila Kunis

Awkwafina

Regina Hall

Wanda Sykes

Directed by Tate Taylor

I have to be honest—the first five minutes of this movie beg you to turn it off. Who starts a movie with a woman forcing herself to recite positive affirmations, only to have her sister, Nancy (Mila Kunis), treat her as insignificant? Add to that her husband, Karl, who’s having an affair, and the fact that she books her own birthday cake only for the bakery to misspell her three-letter name, Sue (Allison Janney), as “Suc.” To make matters worse, the store doesn’t care at all. Honestly, I didn’t care to keep watching either. But my rule of giving movies 20 minutes to impress me before turning them off paid off here.

This is a very violent movie—overly so—and it doesn’t care who gets shot or why.

As for the acting, it’s surprisingly decent, which you’d expect from a cast like this. And while the first five minutes are dreadful, the plot eventually turns into something well thought out. The movie focuses on what happens when a bunch of selfish people willing to do anything for attention are let loose.

You’ll also appreciate the variety of characters. For instance, there’s Peter’s boss, played by Wanda Sykes, who’s just chasing the thrill of being a criminal.

Now, back to the plot. The movie takes a sharp turn when Sue catches her husband, Karl, in the act with another woman. This shocking moment causes Karl to have a heart attack. You’d think that would be the pivotal moment, but it really kicks off when we learn Karl and his brother, Peter, have been running a money-laundering scheme through Karl’s bank. And then there’s Sue, who turns out to be... let’s just say, not entirely stable.

The people Peter and Karl have been working for—led by Awkwafina—want them to keep laundering money. But Peter and Karl decide they want out. Of course, it’s not that simple. On Sue’s birthday, Karl takes the laundered money, planning to run off with his mistress.

Sue, meanwhile, goes to Karl’s office to confront him about forgetting her birthday. She spots Karl leaving with flowers and a suitcase (the one stuffed with money). Suspicious, she follows him and eventually catches him.

What unfolds next is a twisted story with equally twisted characters, each trying their hardest to screw things up even more. This is a nice film and it is worth you time if you get the chance.