TIFF 2024 Review: Riff Raff – “a missed opportunity.”

News Years Eve celebrations get interrupted for Vince and his family when a former criminal associate arrives seeks retribution.

An opening shot of someone walking out of cabin held at gunpoint is underscored by a rather playful voiceover belonging to D.J., the stepson of Vince and offspring of Sandy.  Flashbacks upon flashbacks occur to put the events and characters in proper context with the central conflict being between two former colleagues and hitmen clash when the son of one kills the son of the other.

In the truth, this is a story with an identity crisis as it wants to be a quick witted coming-of-age comedy and a violent gangster flick that is neither John Hughes or Quentin Tarantino.  When done right you get something like Grosse Pointe Blank but in this case the tone is jarring. The most interesting part is seeing the world through the eyes of nerdy obese DJ who is having girl problems and has a self-depreciating sense of humour.  The least effective part is the gangster storyline as it splats against the glass with a thud.  Would someone really hand back a loaded gun to a stranger after meeting each other under questionable circumstances?

Despite the presence of Ed Harris and Bill Murray, the true stars are Miles J. Harvey, Gabrielle Union and Emanuela Postacchini as the mother and pregnant future sister-in-law have plenty of good relationship advice to give to the heartbroken DJ.  There is something to be mined here that only gets to scratch the surface.  The violent actions of Bill Murray come across as flat punchlines rather than creating an atmosphere of prevailing dread.  Even though the character flashbacks are understandable, they undercut any moment for what is unfolding in the present day.  This is truly a missed opportunity as the script does not match the quality of the cast.

The 49th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5-15, 2024, and for more information visit tiff.net.    

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.