Miss Meadows (2014) Review!!

Synopsis – A story centered on a proper elementary school teacher who moonlights as a vigilante.

My Take – Right from the opening scene our title character seems like she has just walked out of a Disney movie, wearing saddle shoes & tap dancing, until she’s rudely propositioned and threatened at gunpoint by a creep driving by, that’s when she whips a tiny revolver out of her well-accessorized purse and calmly shoots him dead! Well the opening shot itself nearly convinced me that this film is of my taste. Who wouldn’t like to watch a Marry Poppins like character go full on bad ass?

The film starts off funny, a bit dark, at times campy, but a very out there kind of cinema, until it gets sucked into a dilemma of which direction to proceed! The dark comedy (punctuated by the catchphrase “Toodle-oo”) doesn’t always come off, and the film making is more off-kilter than necessary, with capricious camerawork and pacing. The odd little spikes in approach make for something better than disposable indie satire, but it all still feels underdeveloped especially the confusing ending. Even with the romantic angle with the local sheriff (played by James Badge Dale) seems kind of forced & half written. Only if the director had kept her focus on the dangerous cat-and-mouse game of the title character with a recently freed child abuser (chillingly played by Callan Mulvey), the film would have felt a bit more classic.

I have to say my favorite thing in the film was Katie Holmes. This type of role you just do not expect from her and I hope she continues to do characters outside of her comfort zone because she certainly has the chops to bring them to justice. This is the best performance I’ve seen from her. Her past is slowly & deliberately revealed, just as she is methodical & deliberate in her hobbies of knitting, gardening, & being the best dressed vigilante (well of course after Batman) in film history. Her character is extremely well- formed & complex with a mind for deep philosophical thought & extreme literalism in conversation. She is fearless, flawed, & emotionally damaged, yet an absolute delight on screen! On the whole Miss Meadows, seems to bring the 1950’s back with saddle shoes, tap dancing, classic cars, classic dress, & classic values, but unlike its deadly, gun-toting heroine, this darkly satirical comedy misfires.