Joining the likes of The Post and Spotlight in recounting a journalistic investigation, Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat tells the story of the Panama Papers – the second of Netflix’s films premiering at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation from 2016, where a whole slew of documents leaked linking politicians, celebrities, drug dealers, and the wealthy to offshore finance companies that aided them in dodging tax, the film examines the role of Mossack Fonseca – the Panama-based law firm the case was built around – played such a large role in the operation. With Mossenka (Gary Oldman) and Fonseca (Antonio Banderas) essentially narrating, filling the audience in on terminology and the like, vignettes fill the gaps in giving us a better look at what went down.
I’m wary in using the word story; The Laundromat’s biggest flaw is perhaps that it lacks a narrative. It sets out with the purpose of informing its audience of the Panama Papers but is lacking an actual premise, in the way Spotlight or The Post do, it feels more functional than anything else. There’s little in the way of character development or any sort of real arcs that mean the whole thing feels absent of depth and purpose. The screenplay still does a good job of informing its audiences on the Panama Papers and the vignettes themselves are fairly entertaining as little snippet case studies. Pulling a page out of The Big Short’s book, the film breaks the fourth wall to dumb the terminology and situation down for audiences in an entertaining manner and there’s a great deal of humour to be found in how it approaches that.
The Laundromat boasts an impressive cast and everyone is great; Banderas and Oldman, as well as Meryl Streep, are the main players with cameos from David Schwimmer, Sharon Stone, Will Forte, Riley Keough amongst others but everyone looks like they’re having a lot of fun. Whilst it probably won’t draw any awards attention, the work brings an infectious exuberance to the table really adds to the whole film’s energy and style. It’s a slickly executed piece; Soderbergh knows how to visually craft a film and it’s technically proficient. The editing is cool and there’s a very snappy, stylish vibe to the whole thing. It’s a very polished, insightful endeavour. The story itself is just so crazy and fascinating and there’s enough punchiness and comedy to make The Laundromat a highly entertaining watch, albeit nothing too special.
The Laundromat was reviewed at the 2019 Venice Film Festival.
