5/10 If you are looking for a movie that is full of oddities, “Kajillionaire” has them in spades for you. This movie has strange characters, ridiculous situations and despite some positive aspects, when the movie ends you will never want to revisit it again. As for those positive aspects, “Kajillionaire” does have several of them. The acting across the board is fantastic and lead actress Evan Rachel Wood plays a character unlike any she has played before, to great effect. The score and soundtrack are also extremely well done and set the mood perfectly for the movie. There was a scene that takes place in a dark bathroom and writer/director Miranda July incorporates some starry visuals that worked really well. Finally, despite its problems, this is an original story and even though elements of it fall flat, originality is what Hollywood needs these days and July offers plenty here. Unfortunately, this isn’t an enjoyable movie to watch. Most of the characters are either bad people who we can’t root for or so extremely socially awkward that we cringe every time they come on screen. Elements of the plot felt extremely unrealistic for a movie that is supposed to be grounded in reality. This family of three adults are all capable of working or getting some kind of legitimate job but for reasons never explained, decide to steal and scam to barely get by. Their motivations are never really explained and for how long they’ve been doing what they are doing, I didn’t buy that they wouldn’t have been caught by the authorities by now. Certain scenes go on way too long (one scene involving a dying man in bed comes to mind) and the movie as a whole begins to drag with its slower pacing. Some film websites have categorized this as a comedy, which if that is the case, there isn’t one laugh to be had in the entire movie. This is more of a drama about an awkward woman who has mental issues as she never received any love from her parents growing up which is a lot more sad than funny. Gina Rodriguez gives a great performance but I didn’t buy her character’s romantic outcome by the movie’s end. Overall, the movie drags on too long without having much to say. Despite the great acting and soundtrack, July has crafted a mediocre, strange movie that brings the viewer no joy to watch and no reason to revisit it.
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