Mark Reviews Movies: A LOT OF NOTHING

A Lot of Nothing, RLJE Films

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Review by Mark Dujsik | February 2, 2023

Screenwriters Mo McRae and Sarah Kelly Kaplan set themselves up to fail with A Lot of Nothing, which begins as a pointed satire, moves on to become an increasingly unlikely thriller, and ultimately realizes that, because of the severity and real-world nature of its premise, it needs to make some kind of statement. As for the effectiveness and clarity and power to which that message amounts, well, the title is right there.

The extreme tonal shifts certainly don't help matters. McRae, making his feature debut, also directs the movie with a level of skill that seems promising at the start. The technical accomplishment of the movie's opening scene, however, feels like a distraction from the fact that, as a writer, the filmmaker isn't sure where to take this material and that, as a director, he's missing the bigger picture of making all of these various story elements feel of a piece.

That opening scene is an unbroken one-take, following James (Y'lan Noel) from picking up a delivery from the front porch of his lavish, newly renovated home through a roller coaster of outrage, a debate about culture and the politics of race, and a pretty decent joke about how impotent social media activism can be. James, an attorney, is married to Vanessa (Cleopatra Coleman), who works at the same firm. They are actually the only two Black people employed there, which becomes a matter of some importance and for a potential workplace revolution as the couple watches the TV news.

The story is a sadly familiar one: A police officer has shot and killed an unarmed teenager after a traffic stop involving loud music. Vanessa is angry and desperately wants to do something about it. James is calmer and argues from the legal side, insisting that the cop will undergo an investigation into the shooting, that justice can prevail if a crime has been committed, and that the guy is technically innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. While debating the situation, eventually Vanessa offers a suggestion as to how they can make a real difference in this moment: Write a post on social media. McRae and Kaplan don't need to oversell the point, because the juxtaposition of such societal tragedy against the relative feebleness of the couple's solution is funny and biting enough.

There is a more important hook to the story, and it's that the cop who killed the teen is James and Vanessa's next-door neighbor. That's what really prompts the anger, Vanessa's idea that they should confront their neighbor, and in James getting his pistol should anything go wrong. Nothing comes of it that night, of course, but after the daily grind of co-workers treating James and Vanessa like "others" in a variety of ways, Vanessa decides to face Brian (Justin Hartley), the neighbor cop. Matters escalate, and soon enough, the couple has the cop held prisoner, taped to a beach chair, in their garage.

It's a bold setup, filled with the potential for widespread and far-reaching conflict. McRae and Kaplan's screenplay shows some promise as and after it happens, too, with Vanessa serving as the voice of righteous outrage, James acting as a kind of moral and legal mediator, and Brian offering very little to-the-point information and plenty of platitudes about the kind of man and police officer he sees himself to be. With all of that in place, though, the movie punts.

As it turns out, James and Vanessa are having company for dinner that evening—namely his brother Jamal (Shamier Anderson) and the brother's pregnant fiancée Candy (Lex Scott Davis). A whole new set of complications emerge, with the homeowners trying to keep their guests from realizing they have a captive in the house, some personality clashes among the four coming to light, a long-held fraternal conflict revealing itself, and another piece of melodrama that seems to come out of nowhere, just to add to the potential problems.

Whatever story this was when James and Vanessa debated what they could do, took extreme action, and were left to deal with the fallout slowly disappears. We're left with characters talking around or completely evading the topic at hand—that the cop killed a kid under suspicious circumstances—as they try to devise a solution to, as well as fix some additional problems (such as the cop having a medical condition) in, this messy affair.

It's underwhelming, because A Lot of Nothing features some fine performances, especially Coleman's understated one, and such a kicker of a premise. With its over-the-top and incomprehensible finale, though, the movie is finally a confounding exercise in doing a lot without saying much of insight or worth.

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