On the Rocks review – Sofia Coppola changes lanes to inspired effect

Following the dark horror and historical weight of her Civil War drama The Beguiled, it would be fair to assume that the fluffier design of On the Rocks is for Sofia Coppola a kind of palette cleanser. The punny title and goofy poster seem to agree, suggesting broader comic antics, its female lead pulling one of those awkward “Can you believe I'm stuck with this guy?” expressions while sat aside her more aloof male co-star.

But appearances can be deceiving, and while On the Rocks indulges the template of a comic caper, it also functions as an intriguing, touching meditation on middle age, marriage, and motherhood. It still offers the pleasures of the more light-hearted jaunt, thriving on the back-and-forth chemistry of its leads, but look closer and the film is peppered with Coppola giveaways. A still shot of its lead slumped in bed as a Roomba vacuum bashes ineffectively against the furniture. A deeply felt and layered line delivery – “Hi, Dad…” – plucked right out of her other father-daughter drama Somewhere, suggesting years of unprocessed emotional pain.

Rashida Jones plays Sofia Coppola… I mean, Laura, a New York writer with a gorgeous apartment and beautiful family but a growing sense that being a wife and mother has stripped away her identity. She spends most of her time cooking and clearing up, dropping off and picking up her kids, and – in her own words – being “boring.” To make matters worse, she suspects her husband (Marlon Wayans) is having an affair with his attractive new assistant, which prompts her philandering father Felix (Bill Murray), who knows a thing or two about cheating, to take action. He hires a private detective, and later persuades Laura to join him on a stakeout as they track her husband through the twinkling streets of New York City in true screwball movie fashion.

This is, surprisingly, the first feature since Lost in Translation to reunite Coppola with her long-time muse Murray. If she wrote the role of that film’s jaded movie star Bob Harris especially for him, we can only assume she did the same here. Who else could play a deeply flawed man like Felix and still allow us to come to a place of understanding? And Murray is as good as ever, reciting worldly knowledge at every turn, habitually flirting with every woman he encounters; a relic of another world, sure, but charmingly so. In one particularly memorable scene, he manages to convince a police officer to let him off a speeding ticket, the moment working as microcosm of Murray's appeal and skill as an actor, comic performer, and – let's face it – national treasure.

There might be broader material here than we've come to expect from Coppola, but this is also a far sadder movie than its premise might suggest. While On the Rocks seems to be indulging the type of man that Felix is, it doesn't shy away from calling him out for his behaviour. At points a deep-seated realisation seems to hit – and we see behind the caviar and quips is a man trying to rationalise his behaviour in order to ease his guilt. It's a performance that befits the film itself: all fun and games on the outside, but concealing something deeper. And it's a testament to Jones, whose role as put-upon mother could easily have seen her overshadowed, that she proves such an excellent foil despite having to constantly roll her eyes, sigh, and pretend everything's fine. She loves her dad deeply, but can't quite forgive him for the past.

The film works as an effective love letter to New York, though somewhat more realistically than a film of this design might usually permit. At once glamorous, enviable, packed with low-lit cocktail bars and fancy restaurants, but also a little blandly drawn and on the familiar side. It's a version of the city that seems to acknowledge both Laura's privilege and the possibility that one can still feel lost and alienated when you no longer know who you are – even when your life is seemingly “perfect” (remember that very luxurious but somehow very sad hotel in Tokyo?).

There is something deeply melancholy about the way things eventually play out, even as we go from New York to Mexico and Murray serenades us on the beach, to the inevitable “happy ending.” A truly breezy movie wouldn’t play on your mind afterwards, but On the Rocks has an underlying sorrow that sticks. Something about its resolution feels quietly unsatisfying, like witnessing a compromise. One suspects Coppola intended the final scene to be read in multiple ways – and it really works. This is a film that grows more effective and meaningful the longer you let it bounce around inside your head.

If On the Rocks is also partly another movie about Coppola working through her relationship with her own heavyweight of a father, wondering how it's possible to live in the shadow of such a towering, revered figure, its effectiveness offers yet further proof that – as far as filmmaking goes – she really has nothing to worry about.

On the Rocks is now showing in UK cinemas. It will be released on Apple TV+ on October 21.