“Death of A Unicorn”
It takes a special kind of admirable madness to make a movie that subverts expectations (at least if you didn’t watch the Red Band Trailer) with a creature so wildly innocent and mystical as a unicorn. But if you’re going to go there, what is your way in? What is the hook?
In this case, it’s a father daughter trip to visit a rich family in the mountains at a gorgeous estate. Elliot is played by Paul Rudd as an allergy addled distant father obsessed with his work and his daughter Ridley is an aloof goofy twenty something who still mourns the death of her mother and is kept at a distance by her dad. There is clearly work to do here to repair the fractured relationship.
The purpose of the trip is to visit a dying patriarch named Odell who owns a multinational company that Eliot hopes to serve in a more financially beneficial position. Running late and driving down scenic tree shrouded roadways, their vehicle hits an animal. It’s not a coyote, a deer or even a bear.
Having passed signs threatening legal action should any harm come to the wildlife it puts father and daughter in a bit of a spot which cues up the rest of the movie. At first there is the shock. Then denial. Acceptance and finally a call to action.
The setup works really well as crazy as it is and so are the surprises. They regroup and continue to their destination. The father is trying to impress this rich family. Any talk of hitting anything, much less an animal that is not supposed to exist at all demands deceit, secrecy.
Odell is the dying patriarch played by the ever welcome Richard E. Grant and his wife Belinda is a deliciously snotty Téa Leoni. Their clueless son Sheperd is wielded to hilarious effect by an inventive Will Poulter. The rest of the cast, including Anthony Carrigan as a devoted assistant and a criminally underutilized Sunita Mani of “Save Yourselves” round out an incredible cast.
Without spoiling anything, the movie marches into humorously darker territory with mixed results. Emotional hooks in place, the movie does a nice job of building its mythology even as it escalates the crazy. The problem is not that the movie doesn’t entertain, it does, it just bears too many coincidences to keep the film set where it is for the whole time.
The violence, when it comes, is a lot of fun and the family dynamics of both the rich family and the father daughter duo that brought us here is enjoyable and light.
In the end, “Death of a Unicorn” is just enough to make the trip worth your while. The cast puts the movie on its back and dares you not to have a good time, despite it’s shortcomings.
**1/2 out of ****