Julia Rabia (Lily Rabe) leaves her cosmopolitan life in Milwaukee to take on a one-semester job as a teacher at a high school in Owl, North Dakota. Giving her husband a break so he can concentrate on finishing his thesis, Julia quickly discovers that her temporary home is full of quirky characters and questionable goings-on. As she tries to fit in, Julia has to face her own issues and confront some demons in order to move forward with her life.
‘Downtown Owl’ is the directorial debut of Lily Rabe (‘American Horror Story’), who co-directs with her husband Hamish Linklater (‘The Big Short’). Based on the book by Chuck Klosterman, the film attempts to better unite the book’s various plots and characters into one satisfying narrative. Set in 1983, the film throws Julia into a fish-out-of-water scenario that could be her undoing or the making of her. On her first day at school she realises she has an oddball class of kids to contend with and that one of her peers may have impregnated one of the students. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Reluctantly Julia becomes fast friends with foul-mouthed fellow faculty member Naomi (Vanessa Hudgens) and spends her nights at Hugo’s, the local bar where she has even stranger encounters with the locals. Turning down numerous advances, Julia’s interest piques when she meets Vance Druid (Henry Golding), a mysterious cowboy with little to say who gives absolutely nothing away. She also forms a bond with the town’s elder statesman Horace (Ed Harris), who is bearing his own struggles, and reluctant high school quarterback Mitch (August Blanco Rosenstein).
To say there’s a lot going on in ‘Downtown Owl’ would be an understatement. With a colourful cast of characters, it’s hard for all of them to get the screentime they deserve. Julia, Horace and Mitch get the lion’s share of the story, with the rest of the characters relegated to supporting. The main throughfare is that Julia is a woman on the edge who has been suppressed most of her life. Owl opens her eyes to what’s possible, as she contemplates life away from her husband and entertains an affair with Vance. Through Naomi she experiences the kind of freedom she’s never known, but with that discovery comes a threat to Julia’s fragile mental state.
What ‘Downtown Owl’ does well is explore Julia’s character thoroughly. The meek and mild woman we meet at the start of the film, isn’t the same one trapped in a snowstorm by the end of it. Rabe throws herself into the character, as she does with all the characters she’s played in her career, and her central performance is strong. With an aptitude for comedy and the ability to convince in the emotional scenes, she gives a runaway performance here. The supporting cast is equally strong with Vanessa Hudgens giving a career-best performance in a role that’s a million miles away from what she’s done before.
Some of the other cast members are under-used. Jack Dylan Grazer who was wonderful in the ‘Shazam!’ films is given very little to do here as one of Julia’s students. The same has to be said for Rabe’s ‘American Horror Story’ co-star Finn Wittrock who has a juicy character but no material with which to play.
Translating ‘Downtown Owl’ into a coherent film was always going to be a tough challenge. Rabe and Linklater do an admirable job, even if the final product isn’t perfect. There’s enough humour to carry the film and the cast is universally excellent, rising above the material they’ve been given to work with. For Rabe’s directorial debut, this is solid fare and I look forward to seeing what else she delivers in the future.
Cast: Lily Rabe, Vanessa Hudgens, Henry Golding, Ed Harris, Finn Wittrock, Jack Dylan Grazer, August Blanco Rosenstein Directors: Hamish Linklater & Lily Rabe Writers: Chuck Klosterman (novel), Hamish Linklater (screenplay) Certificate: 15 Duration: 91 mins Released by: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Release date: 23rd April 2024 Buy ‘Downtown Owl’ now
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