There is very little about Riff Raff,the latest from director Dito Montiel and screenwriter John Pollono, to commend it. The film is bleak, mean-spirited, and simply not good. This cast is very malleable to comedy; many have contributed to some hilarious movies, but the script offers them nothing but one shameful joke after another.

Riff Raff follows a former criminal, Vincent (Ed Harris), on his blissful New Year’s vacation with his new wife, Sandy (Gabrielle Union), and stepson DJ (Miles J. Harvey). His vacation is thwarted by the presence of his biological son Rocco (Lewis Pullman), his ex-wife Ruth (Jennifer Coolidge), and his son’s pregnant girlfriend (Emanuela Postacchini). Oh, and a pair of dangerous men (Bill Murray and Pete Davidson) are hunting down his son and aren’t far behind. The film is a pitch-black comedy about familial dysfunction and the past returning to wreak havoc.

Despite A Promising Premise, Riff Raff Has Nothing Worth Enjoying

The tonal inconsistency makes the high-stakes moments feel like a joke. The actual jokes land like a solid brick, while the sweet moments generate more chuckles than they should. What discredits this film the most is the script and how derivative it is. Riff Raff feels like an idea inspired by another and isn’t fully formed.

Pullman and Harvey are fighting a losing battle; neither can overcome the script’s shallowness and the project’s overwhelming derivative qualities.

It doesn’t feel like it was written as an original concept, but born from a growing trend of ensemble comedies that use dysfunction and murder as the catalyst for family drama. Despite having a promising start, Riff Raff fails to live up to its potential and never even takes advantage of its stellar cast.

Riff Raff’s Fun Cast Struggle To Carry A Flimsy Script

The cast is the only thing that truly can pull us in. That is why Riff Raff skyrocketed to the top of my must-watch list. It is quite disappointing to watch Gabrielle Union be relegated to a prop; Jennifer Coodlegie is not nearly as effective as the creative team may have hoped for, and Ed Harris, Bill Murray, and Pete Davidson appear to be sleepwalking through this despite having the innate talent to make something out of nothing.

The only cast member who comes away with an ounce of credibility is Lewis Pullman, who is just electric and seems to belong in a whole different project. Miles J. Harvey is an absolute darling and deserves infinitely more. As he narrates parts of the film, we get a bit more from him, and he offers quite a few laughs and impactful moments. However, Pullman and Harvey are fighting a losing battle; neither can overcome the script’s shallowness and the project’s overwhelming derivative qualities.

In the end, Riff Raff is neither funny nor moving. The familial drama is poorly constructed, the characters are thinly written, the drama is laughable, and the jokes are from the bottom of the barrel. There is nothing to recommend this film despite a cast people would be interested in watching. No matter how endearing Harvey is or how engaging Pullman is, the film never rises to their level, and they are left struggling to carry a tissue-thin script that has nothing of substance to hold them together.

I don’t go out of my way to drag films, as there is so much time and effort put into every project, and a film of this caliber was likely made with the best of intentions. But intending to craft a pitch-black dark crime comedy is different from actually executing one well. And Riff Raff just doesn’t land.

Riff Raff premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Festival. The film is 103 minutes long and not yet rated.