A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (2025)
Directed by: Kogonada
Premise: Two strangers (Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie) meet at a wedding. Mysterious forces guide them on a shared journey in which they visit each other’s pasts.
What Works: A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is a romantic fantasy. Two isolated people have their paths deliberately crossed by supernatural forces that come in the shape of a car rental company. The strongest aspect of A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is its whimsy and humor. The characters are put into a fantastic situation, they just go with it, and the audience is invited to do the same. This premise fast tracks a relationship. The two lead characters go through the process of discovering each other’s anxieties and family backgrounds; their journey has the same feel of meeting a partner’s family for the first time. The filmmakers approach all this with a sense of humor. The comedy makes the characters likable and keeps the movie from getting too melodramatic. Actors Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie carry the movie. The characters’ mutual attraction is evident from their first scene together and Farrell and Robbie are an appealing on-screen couple.
What Doesn’t: A Big Bold Beautiful Journey references the 1988 fantasy Big. It has a similar tone but the comparisons stop there. Big was fun and goofy but dramatized meaningful life moments. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is lightweight to a fault. Love stories require an obstacle keeping the lovers apart. The conflict of A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is vague. Farrell’s character hesitates at first but he’s obviously interested and Robbie’s character is determined to be single because she’s unable to be monogamous. It’s not an interesting conflict and it seems disingenuous. Farrell’s character is a bit lonely but he’s not lost in isolation the way so many people are nor does he demonstrate a meaningful struggle with self-confidence. The story traces his issues back to high school when he got rejected by his crush. That a handsome forty-something guy is struggling with love because he was turned down once in high school comes across a bit pathetic. Robbie’s character struggles with commitment and this is traced to the death of her mother. The two things are not really connected. The filmmakers are reluctant to dig into any meaningful character depth and the picture lacks any substance or emotional impact.
Bottom Line: A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is cute but superficial. The actors and the tone are likable but the filmmakers avoid any gravitas. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey puts on the pretensions of making a grand statement about life and love but there’s nothing to it.
Episode: #1066 (September 28, 2025)