A Big Bold Beautiful Journey Review
If you could relive every single moment of your life and had the chance to change it, would you? This question is what seems to be the idea behind A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, a film that’s both emotional as it is feverishly fanciful. Helmed by Kogonada, who’s collaborating with Colin Farrell once again after 2022’s After Yang, this film seeks to contextualize what it means to find love and purpose in this strangely beautiful movie. Albeit, though it makes itself clear that it’s a “performance for the truth” with its self-referential plot, Kogonada and his team confidently deliver this tale of woe, grief, and joy.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey follows two strangers, Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell), whose lives are slowly intertwined by weird circumstances. Renting and driving an unusual car that guides them to peculiar destinations, Sarah and David get to experience the adventure of their lives through reliving the past. Through life’s thick and thin moments and the search for a love that may (or may not) be real, the two must confront the struggles of their past while coming to terms with a bright, if uncertain, future.
The best way to describe A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’s plot is if it was like the concept behind Suzume was blended with parts of Lost in Translation. The film’s plot points are established through these unusually placed doors that lead to respective moments in Sarah and David’s lives. They’re all connected through this path that this HAL-inspired GPS takes the two on, but the film somehow finds a grounding through these “time capsules” that the two find themselves.
Each moment in time, despite their bizarre, almost ethereal, nature, really helps us to understand this process of retrospection that Kogonada envisions. Even though each timeframe does play out as foretold by Sarah or David, the chance they get to literally change their narrative satisfies that question of “what happens if we can affect our past?” The unique, dreamlike editing from Susan E. Kim and Jonathan Alberts is what truly elevates these scenes as their style helps piece this larger visual puzzle together.
Though, at certain points, a situation can feel somewhat forced, particularly with one timely confrontational scene. That moment, with Sarah and David seated at that table did have some nice visual humor, but felt somewhat formulaic in dialogue. However, every moment carries itself as aspects of feelings with respect. One of David’s moments stands out, most likely due to how whimsical the end result of his intervention plays out.
Although, at the core of A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’s story is essentially a play on classic romantic film tropes. From the unlikely pairing’s meet-cutes to the moment where Sarah and David’s relationship is nearly lost, the film knows that we’re truly in for the romance. Like any other romance movie, this film follows that all too familiar narrative structure to maintain that cohesion of pacing. It frankly points this way of thinking out with things like on-screen details that feel like they’re winking to fourth wall-breaks to the title drop in the dialogue happening four times in a row. Yet, it’s part of the character-driven metagaming of it all that sparked my intrigue.
The thing between Sarah and David is that they’re both completely opposite of one another, yet they fill each other’s void. Essentially, the film treats them as a yin-yang, with Sarah’s characteristics complementing David’s personality. Sarah just wants to enjoy the freedom that comes from a platonic relationship because she fears she’ll hurt others or herself if she gets too close. On the other hand, David seeks to please and pleasure others, but never wants to have that love because he somewhat devalues himself. Throughout each step of the way, Sarah and David truly have this empathy that makes them a couple you’d want to see accomplish their dreams in the end.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is a heartwarming and surreal retrospective of what it means to find oneself through Kogonada’s unique perspective. Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, and the cast do a wonderful job bringing this strong screenplay to life even if, at times, the film may feel too on the nose. Still, Kogonada has once again delivered another good romance movie that certainly charmed me.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey releases in theaters on September 19.
Rating: ★★★½
_
Christopher Gallardo is a freelance entertainment writer and critic. While not running The Reel Roller, Chris can be found writing reviews and breakdowns on all things films and TV. Outside of entertainment writing, he’s currently taking classes for a Bachelor’s of Science with a minor in Digital Media & Journalism. Plus, he loves Percy Jackson, animated films and shows, and Fallout! Follow Christopher on Instagram & X.