- Starring
- Willem Dafoe, Camila Morrone, Patricia Arquette
- Writers
- Rebecca Thomas, Jessica Caldwell
- Director
- Patricia Arquette
- Rating
- n/a
- Running Time
- 107 minutes
- Release Date
- n/a
Overall Score
Rating Summary
This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.
Gonzo Girl sees Patricia Arquette step into the directors’ chair for her directorial debut. It follows struggling and broke young writer Alley Russo (Morrone) who takes a wild and unpredictable job working as an assistant to novelist Walker Reade (Dafoe) whose wild reputation is the polar opposite of Alley’s. As a film, it unfortunately is a bit of a mess filled with tonal inconsistencies and some strange choices but is worth checking out for the two incredible lead performances from Dafoe and Morrone.
It’s no secret that Dafoe is one of the finest actors but his performances here may be his finest performance in the past decade. He completely disappears into Reade (or a stand-in for Hunter S. Thompson) and deliver one of his liveliest and most energetic performances. He’s a pretty unlikeable and at times despicable character for what he puts Alley through, but one can’t take their eyes off him. Meanwhile, Morrone more than holds her own against him and gives possibly her finest performance to date. The film allows her to show her range though it also helps that she’s probably the only likeable character. The entire cast does well with what they’re given despite being wasted as a whole as the film primarily focuses on the two leads.
Arquette inserts some nice stylistic choices as a director that puts audiences into the headspace of its leads. Starting off on a strong note, it loses steam as it goes on. While hard to talk about without giving anything away, its ending doesn’t feel fully earned following the lead up towards it as it is unclear what exactly it is saying or going for. Nevertheless, the film is pretty enjoyable throughout except for its final act which negatively impacts everything that came before it.
At the end of the day, Gonzo Girl may not be a homerun but it is solid enough debut for Patricia Arquette. For those interested in the film’s subject matter, it at least warrants a mild recommendation. And for those who happen to be fans of both lead actors, it is worth checking out somewhere down the line.
*still courtesy of TIFF*
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