Kajillionaire

By Joanna Langfield

Miranda July’s newest is deft, but disappointing.

Richard Jenkins and an underused Debra Winger star as the parents of Evan Rachel Wood, making a trio of crime bent grifters, a group accustomed to eeking out a living by grabbing whatever they can, including an arrangement to live in a leaking bubble factory that needs daily swabbing. When they hatch a plan to pull a lost luggage scam, Jenkins suddenly is wowed into bringing in another partner, a stranger he meets on a plane, played by Gina Rodriquez.

What could make the up until now consistently wary Father spill his beans? Well, it’s Gina Rodriquez, remember, who, as the maybe mysterious Melanie, brings this edgy and not particularly appealing family a jolt of energy, zest and a few shady ideas of her own. This effervescent actress also brings just about all of the same to the film, itself. She’s a knockout but, in the picture’s second half, when whatever charm or dysfunctional fascination there was segues into a more straightforward, serious and sad family drama, Gina becomes more of a backround player. It’s Wood who gets the focus and, as game as she is, and as mentally sorry as we feel for her abused young woman, we’re never totally emotionally engaged in her plight. For a film that’s ultimately about human connection, our disconnect is kind of a problem.