Geoffrey Fletcher's filmmaking debut, Violet & Daisy, is the summer's oddest, most original treat.
Imagine a script by Quentin Tarantino, directed by Wes Anderson - and you have an idea of just how deliciously surprising this film can be. It opens Friday (6/7/13) in limited release.
The opening scene sets the tone -- or, more accurately, prepares you for the radical, head-spinning shifts in tone that this film employs. The two title characters, played by Alexis Bledel and Saoirse Ronan, are initially seen dressed as nuns. Nuns delivering pizzas. Nuns delivering pizzas, which are a cover for the weapons they're carrying, to shoot the guys who are expecting pizza.
Because these girls are hired assassins. Daisy may only be turning 18 (Violet is her older mentor), but they're professionals.
But they're also girls, obsessed with the kinds of things some girls their age are obsessed with. Violet has parental issues (and bad memories of what happened to her previous partner). Daisy, meanwhile, has secrets of her own. They agree, however, that it's time to get out of the game and try something else.
Then, in a celebrity magazine, they discover that their favorite pop star has released a new dress in her designer line. They're both dying to own it -- but it's so expensive that they're willing to kill for it.
This review continues on my website.