‘Raymond & Ray’ Review: A Southern Funeral Gone Wrong in All the Best Ways
Funerals have long been the source of familial drama throughout the history of cinema and Raymond & Ray gives writer-director Rodrigo García a prime opportunity to explore the complexities of brotherhood over the course of one uncomfortable trip to Richmond, Virginia. Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke star as the titular Raymond and Ray, who are a pair of brothers who not only share the same name, but the same pathetically awful father. While Raymond & Ray isn’t a particularly astounding screenplay, it does provide McGregor and Hawke with some delightful dialogue and unexpected scenarios—and it’s never a bad time when two talented actors get to chew up the scenery.
Raymond & Ray opens in the reverse of how it closes, with Raymond (McGregor) driving down rainy backroads to reunite with his half-brother Ray (Hawke) and relate the unfortunate news that their father has died. Raymond is down on his luck, headed towards divorce and driving on a suspended license after a DUI, which is one of the reasons why he’s hellbent on convincing Ray to drive with him to their father’s funeral in Richmond, even though they both hated the man. Their father’s death conjures up old wounds—and ones that very clearly never healed—as they’re forced to face his narcissism, cruelty, and general bad-dad vibes as they are forced to complete a series of last wishes for him.
What ensues is a comedy of errors in the darkest way possible, blending the familiar beats of a road trip comedy, with the sobering grief of death in the midst of estrangement. Their father might be dead, and years removed from their lives, but he occupies every second of their lives on screen. From the unwelcome reminders of who he was as a man—and father to more than just Raymond and Ray—to the outlandish request he left in his will that forces the half-brothers to dig their fathers grave, by hand, without assistance. Their father’s memory is as much of a character as the titular stars, larger in death than he was in life. Even in its predictability, Raymond & Ray delivers enough twists to keep its audience on the edge of their seats, uncomfortably waiting for the next awkward encounter to occur.
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Despite very clearly being a film born out of the restrictions of COVID-19, Raymond & Ray makes the most of its sparse cast. Raymond is given an unusual opportunity to escape from the burdens of his past with Lucia (Maribel Verdú) who happened to be a very close friend of his late father. Ray, on the other hand, finds a mutual appreciation for Richmond’s jazz scene in their father’s nurse Kiera (Sophie Okonedo).
Even in the midst of extreme emotional upheaval, Garcia manages to keep Raymond & Ray’s tone feeling extremely mundane. The world feels lived in, dingy, and almost pathetic, which bleeds into the film’s painfully average cast of characters. No one is compelling, yet that is what makes them compelling. Raymond and Ray are just two guys who are forced to face their father’s death with a set of brave faces and the acknowledgment that they have to face their paths: the good, bad, and the ugly of it all.
Raymond & Ray is a film that is deeply at odds with itself. As cold and hostile as it is, there is a degree of unexpected warmth and humanity that draws you in without reason. McGregor and Hawke fall into a familiar brotherhood that feels as though it has always existed, yet in the next breath there are moments where they feel like strangers walking side-by-side through life. The grief Garcia delivers is somehow as palpable as it is untouchable. And perhaps that discordant tone is a perfect homage to grief and the emotional journeys that Raymond and Ray embark on: jagged, uncomfortable, and tragic. While it is, by no means, a feel-good film, Raymond & Ray is undoubtedly a feel-something film that strikes at the heart from an unexpected puncture point.
Final Verdict: B+
