Widows

Loaded with stars in every corner, WIDOWS is an entertaining, if ultimately disappointing crime thriller.

In the first ten minutes, a Chicago heist involving the theft of $2 million from gang leader Jamal Manning goes horribly wrong.

Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson) watches as every part of his meticulous plan goes awry, exploding into a police chase in which Rawlings and his entire team are killed. No spoiler alert there, it comes down in the first ten minutes.

When Manning (Brian Tyree Hill) learns that Harry was responsible, he bursts into Harry's home, cornering his wife Veronica, well played by Viola Davis (Fences).

He tells Veronica she has one month to pay him back the $2 million. Frankly, I would have sold the Chicago penthouse and given him the money, but since we still have two hours to go, Veronica makes the leap to gather the other new widows in Harry's gang and execute his next big job to net $5 million in one night.

The other widows are Linda, played by the reliably intense Michelle Rodriguez (Fast and Furious, Avatar) and Alice, portrayed by Elizabeth Debecki (Guardians of the Galaxy).

Carrie Coon (Fargo) is wasted in a throw away role as the one widow with no interest in the plot.

The film also features an entirely different plot line with Colin Farrell as Jack Mulligan, running for office against Manning and following in the footsteps of his aging father and crooked Chicago politician Tom Mulligan (Robert Duvall),

By the time the two worlds intersect, you better have a high tolerance for low credibility.

Veronica is supposed to be on the school board and totally separate from her husband's world, but she handles weapons and heists like a perfect blend of James Bond and George Clooney in the Oceans films.

Linda recruits her babysitter Belle (Cynthia Erivo) to be their getaway driver.....huh?

The next heist just happens to involve another major character's home, how convenient.

I expect more from screenwriter Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Sharp Objects). She introduces so many interesting characters and then strands them with no resolution; its frustrating.

Director Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave) doesn't do the viewer any favors either. You can feel him making artistic decisions that are meant to be powerful but most of them land poorly.

One entire scene of dialogue with Jack (Ferrell) realizing he wants out of the unending cycle of crooked Chicago politicians should have been powerful, but McQueen shoots it from a camera mounted outside the front fender, not even aimed at the characters. Yes, I know we are supposed to see the disparity of the neighborhood he leaves and the one he arrives in, we get it. But its so ham-handed in its delivery, it feels forced.

So does one big surprise at the end of the film.

Come on Gillian, EVERYTHING you write doesn't have to have a big twist. Don't let yourself slip into M.Night territory.

Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) is very good in a nasty turn as Manning's executioner, but Duvall and Coon are completely wasted.

Good music score by the prolific Hans Zimmer (Inception, Interstellar).

According to director McQueen, there is a three hour version of the film somewhere. I'd be fascinated to see it. It must be more complete than this muddled version that leaves loose ends and shotgun shells spinning on nearly every floor.

WIDOWS gets a B-