This Laundry is Dirty in

The Laundromat by Kathia Woods

The Laundromat is the latest offering by award-winning director Steven Soderbergh. It covers the Mossback Fonseca scandal. Insurance Fraud executed by a pair of Panama City Lawyers to take advantage of working-class people. Soderbergh has handled other serious subjects in his previous films; however, this time, he misses the mark.

The concept is excellent; the execution is horrible. Antonio Banderas and Gary Oldham portray the two Panama City lawyers Juergen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca. They are also the narrators of this film. Again great concept but poor execution.

There are many problems with this film. The first being the pace. It takes too long to get to the meat of this story. Don’t be surprised to find moviegoers nodding off.

The film focuses on three group of victims. Ellen and Joe Martin are an adventurous retired couple portrayed by Meryl Streep and James Cromwell. David Swimmer is Matthew Quirk, a boat tour owner, and the third part of the triangle are spouses Charles and Miranda, played by Nonoso Anozie and Nikki Amunka-Bird. In my opinion, the most exciting victims of the scandal. All three discover after life changing moments that the policy bought for security turns out being a liability.

None of the above stories evoke empathy from the viewer. We wanted to care more for these people however the film never gave us that opening.

The movie does a poor job of explaining how these people bought into something so fraudulent. It just shows the consequences. The narrators are supposed to connect the dots, but it feels more like ramblings than explanations. The viewer is confused if the two attorneys are operating a pyramid scheme or market manipulation. My next issue with this film is too many technical terms. I understand they wanted to keep the movie authentic, but the average film-goer doesn't know what a yield index curve is.

Another problem was Streep portraying a Latina. An unacceptable behavior, especially in this climate. I understand that her character was on a mission, but the costuming was not flattering, nor was the portrayal. Soderbergh did a great job of assembling a diverse cast but then included this buffoonery in the film.

So what we're left with is a long, boring mess — great idea poor execution for The Laundromat.

Scale: Blackface and caricature is inexcusable combined with a horrible pace makes this film a 5.

Diversity: I give this film a 7 for hiring diverse actors in major parts.