Marmalade

Grade: B

Marmalade took me back to the 1990s. The first third is such a charming, down-home quirky comedy in the vein of Happy, Texas – featuring a protagonist with a Gumpish Southern accent. The second act has dark humor and a fun romance to see unfold, as a couple preps for a bank robbery. Made me think of Pumpkin and Honey Bunny from Pulp Fiction, or a much less intense version of Mickey and Mallory in Natural Born Killers. And let’s just say the last third owes a huge debt to Primal Fear and especially The Usual Suspects.

Keir O’Donnell has a large filmography, but Marmalade is his debut behind the camera, as writer/director. I have never seen Joe Keery (Stranger Things, Free Guy, Molly’s Game) like this. He stars as Baron. The movie opens with him being arrested for a bank robbery, and telling his new cell mate, Otis, the story of how he ended up there. Otis is played in a highly effective multifaceted performance by Aldis Hodge (The Invisible Man, Hidden Figures, and a memorable Jim Brown in One Night in Miami…). We see Baron’s story play out in extended flashbacks, that eventually catch up to the present time.

Baron was a door-to-door postal worker, recently fired for refusing to cut his hair. The price of the medication his ailing mother needs has gone up practically overnight. He is hard-up for cash. At this time, almost on cue, in drives Marmalade. Where did she come from, Baron wonders. Passing through? On the run? Either way, they hit it off famously. A friendship sparks, then a romance, and then she is convincing him that they need to rob a bank. Just enough to take care of mama’s pharmaceutical requirements.

Jumping back to the present in the prison: Otis has an extensive rap sheet that includes multiple escapes. He knows how to get out. Baron wants out. He’ll let Otis have 100% of the money from the bank job; all he cares about is reuniting and riding off into the sunset with Marmalade, the love of his life. Camila Morrone plays the title character with such an enthusiastic, infectious free spirit. You will root for her, and Baron. She makes such an indelible handprint, so the twists and turns of the final scenes are especially jarring. They will make you rethink everything, and, knowing what I know now, I’ll say certain details from later are clues to why they were in there in the first segment. A few hours after seeing it, everything continues to marinate in my head. I’m still making my way through one of those “Ending Explained” articles.

In the end, Marmalade’s fun comes in mentally replaying the movie’s events, and trying to make sense of it – putting the puzzle pieces together, if you will. There’s an irony in getting so invested in the Baron/Marmalade love story, particularly Camila Morrone’s performance. You’ll find out why.

Grade: B