Sofia Coppola’s latest work ‘On the Rocks’ is a love letter to New York City as well as to her favorite lead actor Bill Murray. They worked together on her biggest hit 2003’s ‘Lost in Translation’ which snagged her the Academy Award for Best Screenplay. Coppola’s gift is in finding the humor in the banality of life. Her characters are not worried about paying their mortgage or looking for their next stimulus check. No, they are obscenely rich and live in multi-million dollar lofts with high ceilings. This is the world that Coppola grew up in and knows very well. You may not remember the gist of the plot. That’s okay. The pleasure in ‘On the Rocks’ is seeing Bill Murray at his deadpan best meandering through the boozy old-school glamour of New York City.
Bill Murray’s voice over is heard in the opening scene saying, “You’re mine until you get married. Then you’re still mine.” We then meet Laura (Rashida Jones) who is an author with a bad case of writer’s block. On top of that she is a mother of two children and dealing with the possibility that her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) is cheating on her with the office hottie. Her art dealer playboy father, Felix (Bill Murray) ignites the suspicion of infidelity. Why wouldn’t he? He did the same thing to Laura’s mother years ago. He talks his daughter into following her husband around town.
Probably the funniest scene is when Felix is speeding through New York City in his red vintage Alpha Romeo. The cops pull him over and he talks his way out of a ticket. Laura rolls her eyes and quips, “It must be very nice to be you.” As we follow Felix and Laura around classic New York haunts, we get the sense that what he is really trying to do is reconnect with his daughter. He’s a man that enjoys a stiff martini at lunch and flirtatious banter with a waitress. The reality is that he cheated on Laura’s mother and left the family in shambles. He thinks that Dean is cheating on her because that’s the kind of guy he is. He says, “It’s his nature.”
Bill Murray is perfect for this role. In ‘Lost in Translation,’ he played a fading actor who crosses paths with the young and vibrant Scarlett Johansson. Loneliness is a constant theme in Coppola films. You can be rich and successful but if you don’t have human connection, what do you really have in life? You can tell that Felix is enjoying his time with his daughter. Laura goes along for the ride. Although her father is a cad, she still loves him. You get the feeling that maybe she deserves more from her marriage. Sure, it’s nice to get an expensive piece of jewelry from your spouse but does it make up for not spending quality time with them? That’s a question that estranged couples constantly face.
‘On the Rocks’ is a fizzy, bittersweet comedy. It’s a modest film but nonetheless entertaining. There’s nothing revelatory here but the chemistry between Murray and Jones is undeniable. It’s fun to follow the two around a New York City that may be gone forever. If you like Murray’s comedic dry sense of humor, this film is irresistible. You could say that ‘On the Rocks’ is somewhat autobiographical for Coppola. It’s about a New York artist and mother in mid-life coping with a father (Francis Ford Coppola) that is a legendary filmmaker. ‘On the Rocks’ is a light comedy worth a view due to the uncanny charm of Bill Murray.
