RIFF RAFF is a 2024 crime comedy film directed by Dito Montiel, written by John Pollono. The film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
The life of a former criminal is thrown into turmoil when his old family appear for a long-awaited reckoning.
The cast includes starring Ed Harris, Miles J. Harvey, Jennifer Coolidge, Gabrielle Union, Pete Davidson, and Bill Murray.
RIFF RAFF made its debut in theaters February 28th, courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
RIFF RAFF is a dark comedy drama film that offers a bit more than you’d expect from the genre. The film opens with narration from a character by the name of DJ (Miles J. Harvey) as he attempts to set the stage for this dysfunctional family drama. The film takes the “so how did I get here” Deadpool approach as you get a quick glimpse of the pivotal moment during the films final act before going back to before everything hits the fan. DJ is an extremely intelligent but clearly sheltered but good-natured teenager preparing for college.
He is spending Christmas and the New Year with his stepfather Vincent (Ed Harris) and his mother Sandy (Gabrielle Union) at their vacation home, a rural cabin located in picturesque Yarmouth, Maine. I fell in love with the relationship between DJ and his stepfather as they seemed to have a very special bond. This special family trip is quickly interrupted when Vincent’s estranged son Rocco (Lewis Pullman) arrives in the middle of the night with his his very pregnant girlfriend and his mom, Vincent’s ex-wife Ruth (Jennifer Coolidge).
I will say the film does require patience from the perspective of the screenplay because viewers are given breadcrumbs by way of flashbacks as the overall story is pieced together. I felt like it was slow-moving at times making it seem like I was just waiting on something to happen, but it was worth it in the end once everything came full-circle. I honestly loved the overall story, and I was impressed with the serious themes writer John Pollono chose to weave in this well-crafted web of his creation. Pollono, who wrote and directed the film version of his award-winning play SMALL ENGINE REPAIR in 2021, prefers to tackle complicated themes in his stories and he sticks to what he knows here. I won’t dig into it much more than that because I don’t want to spoil anything, but by the end the story hit me much harder than I thought it would. RIFF RAFF is as much about dysfunctional family dynamics as it is about loyalty, and facing the hard truth that as human beings we are far from perfect.
The cast is a big selling point for RIFF RAFF and for good reason because everyone was fantastic. I wasn’t familiar with Miles J. Harvey at all before this movie and I really liked him in this. He has this good-natured innocence about him that just makes him seem like such a fish-out-of-water amongst of all of the calamity happening around him. It was great because you can see him trying to make sense of the craziness, and more often than not he just shakes his head realizing he will never understand these crazy people he calls family. Ed Harris is awesome as always, taking on the balancing act of a family man with a dark past. Gabrielle Union has limited screen time but she was really good as well. Bill Murray is a legend and although he does have a small role, he is amazing as always. Pete Davidson is also really good as Murray’s right hand man.
I absolutely loved Jennifer Coolidge as Vincent’s no-filter alcoholic ex-wife Ruth. Ruth is the epitome of what you see is what you get, and although she is very clearly someone more than willing to push boundaries, I found myself drawn to her especially as her character gets fleshed out throughout the story. And talk about a career resurgence for Coolidge with the HBO Max series WHITE LOTUS and now several other projects, she has come a long way since she portrayed Stiffler’s mom in AMERICAN PIE.
Lewis Pullman is one of those up-and-coming actors and I thought he did a great job as Rocco, taking on a fairly complex character that required a significant amount of emotional depth. I thought Emanuela Postacchini did a really nice job as Rocco’s girlfriend Marina who is a centerpiece to the overall story, and I have to point out the fact that she is absolutely gorgeous. Actor Roger Guenveur Smith was in the movie for about 5-seconds during a flashback as Sandy’s (Gabrielle Union) father, but all I could think about was Mike Epps making fun of his hairline in the 2002 comedy ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS. Such an underrated movie.
THE VERDICT
A surprisingly moving dark comedy thanks to a fantastic cast and a powerful screenplay from writer John Pollono, RIFF RAFF is a technically sound character driven film well worth your time. Just go in knowing that this is definitely more drama than it is comedy, because if you’re looking for laugh-out-loud moments you will be disappointed.
TED TAKES RATING - 7.2/10
RIFF RAFF is now playing only in theaters. Check out the latest trailer below.