This film received only mediocre reviews, but Robin and I liked it much better than the 73% Rotten Tomatoes critics/audience rating. It features an AAW performance by Matt Damon, and I think he even has a good chance of getting nominated! The ensemble cast is terrific and, in lesser hands, the movie wouldn’t have worked as well, but they really pull it off. Props go to the Director and Co-Writer, Tom McCarthy (“Spotlight”).
Bill Baker (Damon) has “f**ked” up his life. He is a “Redneck,” lives alone, and works as an oil rigger in Stillwater, Oklahoma – the home of Oklahoma State University. His wife is deceased and his daughter, Allison (Abigail Breslin), has served five years of a nine year sentence in a Marseilles prison for murdering her female lover, although she insists that she is innocent. He travels there to visit her occasionally, but their relationship is poor, as Bill has disappointed and lied to her again and again. Allison was primarily raised by her grandmother, but she has COPD and can no longer make the long trip.
The film is loosely based on the true story of Amanda Knox, an American college student studying in Italy who was convicted of murdering her roommate. She claimed innocence, new evidence eventually emerged, and she was released from prison.
Bill visits Allison in prison and she tells him that she has heard from a friend, that a man at a party said that he had stabbed and killed a woman and had gotten away with it! There was some unknown DNA at the murder scene, and Allison wants the judge to re-open her case based on this new information. Bill speaks to the judge who tells him she can’t re-open a case based on hear-say, and that Allison needs to accept her fate.
Bill, however, decides to try to locate this man. He lies to Allison and tells her that the judge will investigate this information. He wants to hire a private eye, but he wants to charge Bill 20,000 euros, which is way more than Bill can afford. The investigator tells Bill that he not only needs to find the suspect, but that he also must get a sample of the man’s DNA in order to compare it with the DNA found at the murder scene – two extremely difficult tasks.
Bill doesn’t speak any French, but he links up with a French Bohemian actress, Virginie (Camille Cottin), who helps him to translate. She is a single mother with a young daughter, Maya (Liloo Siauvand). He rents a room from her. The development of Bill’s relationship with Virginie and Maya is the most interesting and best part of the film. (Liloo steals the movie.)
Bill continues on his investigative trail to try to find the unknown murderer. Robin and I thought the film was going one way, but it takes an unexpected turn, which we thought was creative and satisfying.
The film belongs to Damon and he conveyed all kinds of conflicting emotions (anxiety, despair, passion, anger, longing for redemption, and others) while hardly even having to say any words. I don’t know how long “Stillwater” will “run” at the theaters, but I’d try to see it before it “flows” away.
