150 Word Review: ‘Stillwater’ (2021)

Regular Joe du jour

Matt Damon confessed to using homophobic slurs during the press tour for Stillwater. That ill-advised interview overshadowed the movie’s release, which is too bad because it’s a pretty good flick about a roughneck from Oklahoma who travels to France to help his imprisoned daughter, who insists she’s innocent of the murder of her girlfriend.

Stillwater is a social drama and a fish-out-of-water story with a little true crime mixed in. Hollywood wants you to know Damon’s character is a bumpkin because he prays over his chili dog.

Is this normal in Middle America? Sure. Is it still vaguely condescending? Yes. Thankfully, the movie doesn’t spend much time on blue-collar porn and swiftly dumps our truck-driving, gun-owning hero in the middle of Marsailles, where he tries to free his daughter while falling in love. In Stillwater, life is brutal and surprising. Damon is a believable Okie. Unfortunately, his goatee is not.