[rating:4.5/5]
“What you’re about to see is…different.”
When writer/director Geoffrey Fletcher introduced his film “Violet and Daisy” to Savannah Film Festival attendees with those words, he wasn’t kidding around. Coming off the heels of his recent work as the screenwriter for “Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire,” this film definitely screams out to be seen as different. Still, there’s no doubt that the talent that won him an Academy Award is present here.
“Violet and Daisy” is the story of two teenage girls who happen to be assassins. It sounds like something out of a pulp comic book (or two), but the premise works thanks to Fletcher’s vision and the strength of its actors. The result is a mix of pulpy action, black humor and touches of sincere sentimentality that leave you pleasantly surprised.
Violet (Alexis Bledel) and Daisy (Saoirse Ronan) are enjoying a vacation from their regular job as hired killers. When their unseen boss calls them about another job, they initially refuse.
It’s Violet that convinces a reluctant Daisy to take the job, because they need the money. Why do they need the money? Because the girls’ favorite celebrity has released a new clothing line and they want to buy dresses. This is just one of many instances in “Violet and Daisy” that seems plainly silly and humorous, but works very well.
Bledel and Ronan give their characters an edge and a sort of twisted sense of innocence that works well for the film. It’s clear by her initial reluctance that Daisy is the more passive of the two, perhaps not yet used to the life she’s living. Violet is colder when it comes to the job, and it’s shown that she’s been at it longer than her friend. Of the two, Daisy is the standout character.
Ronan’s Daisy seems to come out of a Disney Channel original movie. She’s sweet, naïve and maybe a little ditzy, but she cares for Violet and is shown to be a good soul. Yet Ronan doesn’t forget the kind of character she’s playing. When Violet, later in the film, announces the “internal bleeding dance” and dances on recently killed corpses, Daisy is quick to join in on the gruesome fun.
That scene, a mix of teen party dance video and macabre homicide evidence tape, is a perfect illustration of the two sides to both these two characters and the film as a whole. For all that they appear to be, normal teenage girls; Violet and Daisy are also incredibly imbalanced murderers, which their new target quickly finds out.
Played masterfully by James Gandolfini, the girls’ new target (he is never named in the film itself), is not what they expect. Instead of showing fear or trying to fight back, this man welcomes Violet and Daisy with cookies and milk. It only gets stranger from there, if you can believe it.
If Ronan shines in her portrayal of Daisy, then Gandolfini is radiant as the would-be victim. He’s a father figure in the truest sense of the word, talking with the girls and being the medium through which the audience learns more about them.
Not a lot more – because as obvious as it might seem that Violet and Daisy want to open up, secrets are how they survive – but enough. In contrast to the girls’ hyper, almost bubbly personalities, Gandolfini’s character is subdued, and accepting of his fate. Though, surprisingly, he’s not accepting of the fate of his two killers.
As he interacts with Violet and Daisy, he tries to get them to open up, to at least trust each other enough to stick by one another. These interactions are where the film excels.
As good as the action is, as funny as the moments of black humor, the emotion and humanity that comes across when Gandolfini’s character makes Daisy promise to be the one who kills him — after having spent the most time with him and connecting with him — is what you will remember.
Yes, “Violet and Daisy” is different, and thank goodness for that.