Queenpins (2021)

Queenpins (2021)

 

7/10

Starring

Kristen Bell

Kirby Howell-Baptiste

 

Directed by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly

 

Contains Spoilers

I have to say Queenpins is one of those movies that doesn’t try to pass any moral message, just two women who decided to beat the system—and they did. The movie is loosely based on a real coupon scam. When watching, though, what you end up wishing is that the movie itself was totally real, and that the ladies got away with their scam with just a slap on the wrist.

Acting-wise, Kristen Bell (Connie) and Kirby Howell-Baptiste (JoJo) made this comedy worth every minute. I feel the movie could have hit a home run with a shorter running time, but that said, the comedy was subtle. The movie had more of a drama feel, and the best way to describe it is as a drama with some light comedy, which I believe wasn’t what the writers and director were aiming for.

Here, you’re watching a movie about a woman who is going through a huge blow to her existence. Connie has had four miscarriages from IVF treatments, which have sunk the family into a financial black hole. Her husband was written to be a jerk—something I believe the movie should have done something more creative with. It was clear the writers wanted him out of the way so the ladies could carry out their scam with freedom, but making him the monster has been overdone. Like I said, his presence in the movie wasn’t needed. He was written to blame his wife for their current financial issues. The way he decided to handle it was by spending three out of four weeks flying about for work.

With his presence no longer influential in her life, Connie has dived into shopping to ward off depression and loneliness. Since they don’t have money, coupons have become her thing, and when I say her thing, she was a legend. She, with her neighbor JoJo, collected coupons to try and get ahead. JoJo had bad credit, and together, the pair came up with an idea after sending a customer complaint letter.

When she got a free coupon back from a product complaint letter, she wrote more (fake ones this time) and got more free coupons. From there, a scam was birthed. They tracked down the company that made the coupons for the big companies, got an inside man to help them steal coupons, and started selling fake coupons. They went further, got consulting from a tech guru, and did all they could to take advantage of the system. Then we have a character created to be another punk, who is tasked with finding out the people behind the scam and getting them to face the books.

In the end, I really enjoyed the movie, and I think you will too.