Oscar Isaac outstanding as sleazy insurance claim adjuster in Clooney's Suburbicon

by Alex Deleon

There are a few minor irregularities here ...

George Clooney has outdone himself with a superb satire of middle American suburbia in 1959. Matt Damon, all but unrecognizable except for the undeniable shape of the nose, disappears into the skin of a pudgy middle-class middle-aged  middle-American psychopath  on a sinister death insurance scam with sister-in-jaw Julianne Moore, true to life as ever as his partner in crime.

Best scene of many good ones cleverly linked together is the unwelcome visit of sleazy insurance claim adjuster Oscar Isaac  (the Armenian bero of The Promise) "sniffing out" improprieties in the claim on policy of deceased wife who was  actually murdered before the film began. 

 Quiveringly scintillating dialogue between Isaac and Moore and the subtle gathering of tension until a final blowout in the kitchen make this the most memorable single scene of this spine tingling All-American thriller diller.

An ongoing subtext of the film is the hyperealistic rampant racism of the local populace when a nice middle class Afro-American family moves in to this lily white community. Also intimations of closet anti-Semitism as a throwaway insert when a cop mistakes Lodge for a "Jewish name". I'm not Jewish -- I'm Episcopalian!" exclaims Damon in outraged self defense.

Kudos also to juvenile actor Noah Jupe  as the terrorized child who is a pawn in all the complex familial machinations that take place after his mother is snuffed by chloroform and he becomes the central pin cushion of all the ingroup intrigue. Coen Bros. collaboration on the script may account for some of the hairiness and over-the-top absurdity of the action but, overall  Suburbicon is an absolute winner that transports Mr. Clooney to the next level of savvy film directiorship. Bravo.

PS:

Beefed up toned down bespectacled Matt Damon may be heading for another Oscar nomination with this radical departure from his usual  clean scrubbed heroic image  Mr. Isaac for a supporting role Oscar mention as well. Industry trade paper reviews have been lukewarm so far but that should not keep commercial turnstiles from sizzling.

Matt Damon at Venice Cocktail  launch of Suburbicon