The Trouble with Jessica Movie Review

I hate to say this, but what were they thinking? There is nothing redeemable about this movie. ​
Well, it makes a halfway decent attempt at being a humorous caper. The acting is satisfactory when the script isn’t beating them up. They try their best. However, the completely and unbelievably absurd direction the characters take makes that a challenging task for even the most seasoned professional. There are a few moments where you chuckle, but not nearly enough to call this ridiculousness a success.

Tom (Alan Tudyk) and Sarah (Shirley Henderson) are hosting a dinner party. Beth (Olivia Williams) and her husband, Richard (Rufus Sewell), arrive with the unpredictable Jessica (Indira Varma). Beth apologized later for bringing her. Jessica’s a writer who finally got published, with a memoir of her life, so she’s on a high at the moment. The group of fifty-something sit down to eat.

Jessica is the friend who flirts with all the men around. Sarah takes it rather personally when it happens. Jessica denies it, of course. This particular evening, Beth gets a taste of what it feels like. The hosts mention that they are experiencing financial difficulties. Richard asks if he can help, and Sarah and Tom ask if he has a spare million. They have decided to sell the house to make things work. This is all in the opening scene.   

Unfortunately, it’s here that the story may lose you. Director Matt Winn does a good job of making you feel like a fly on the wall, but on the wall of a house you’d prefer to leave, taking the chance, you may not get the chance to have one of your last good meals.

Co-writers James Handel and Matt Winn now decide to have Ms. Odd Man Out kill herself in Sarah and Tom’s backyard. This comes absolutely out of nowhere. Despite being upset that her friend killed herself, Sarah explains that the death will ruin any chance of selling the house. People don’t want to purchase a home of death. She also feels somewhat guilty about having yelled at her now-deceased friend. She breaks down. Now comes the part of the story that’s a moral dilemma for the entire group. They all, except Sarah, want to call the police. It’s what you do. But they need to sell the house. Sarah asks her friends to look the other way. Help her and Tom put “the body” in her own home.

What does it matter where she did it? She killed herself, she wasn’t killed. A little arguing goes on between the couples. Richard wears a wig… is a lawyer. He can’t be a part of this! When it isn’t easy to convince their friends to help, there’s a bit of blackmail. Friends should be able to overlook this, right? Handel and Winn sure think so. The director in Winn didn’t think things through when he decided to make this horribly written farce that he co-wrote. Hmmm. Well, it not coming out for several years after being completed makes sense. He must have been aware that the narrative worsened with each passing moment.

Richard and Beth decide to help and are thus on a trip across town after a noisy neighbor gives us probably the best scenes of the film. We get to the end of the story after a run-in with the police, a confession, a realtor, and Sarah changing her mind, making the film even more intolerable. There you have it. I can’t say there’s a reason to watch. It’s unbelievable. It’s bizarre. It feels like a high school Freshman had to turn it in for Drama class. If curious about how bad it is, or if I’m wrong, check it out at theaters on 4/25.