Sundance Review: WELCOME TO THE RILEYS

Jake Scott may only have 2 feature full length films to his credit but don’t let that fool you… this guy is a champ. WELCOME TO THE RILEYS will roll into my top ten films of Sundance because of both the strong direction and great performances from this incredible cast.

Doug Riley (James Gandolfini) owns a plumbing supply company that does very well for him and his wife. Every Thursday night he plays cards with his friends and then goes to eat breakfast at a diner. The waitress that serves him is also his mistress whom he has been seeing for the past 4 years.

Louis Riley (Melissa Leo) is a stay at home house wife who does exactly that… stays at home. She doesn’t leave her house, not even to check the mail at the end of the driveway. She knows of the affair but to keep the peace she never brings it up to Doug. Doug is forced to go on a trip to New Orleans for a convention and after a visit to a strip club becomes increasingly interested in one of the young strippers, Mallory (Kristen Stewart).

In this particular strip club, not only are the dances for sale but also the girls. After Mallory offers to have sex with him for money he realizes that this girl needs some major help. It also doesn’t help that this girl looks identical to the daughter they lost a couple of years previously.

Doug decides that in order to help this girl he needs to stay in New Orleans. He makes her a proposition to move in and help take care of her. He drops the bomb to his wife that he wouldn’t be home for a while. This devastates her and she decides that the only way to win him back is to drive to New Orleans and get him.

I don’t want to ruin the rest of the film for you so that’s as far as I will delve into the plot. I will tell you that the three main actors in the film, James Gandolfini, Melissa Leo and Kristen Stewart all turn in amazing performances. It would have been very easy for things to go south in each of the roles but Jake Scott pulled out what could be one of the best performances of Stewart’s career and definitely my favorite of Gandolfini and Leo.

WELCOME TO THE RILEYS is a touching, emotional journey that you aren’t really sure where it will go, but leaves you happy with where it ends. Jake Scott does an amazing job of getting what he wants for each character and makes every scene raw and real. There is a lot of grittiness in the story and it fits in perfectly with the storyline. You shouldn’t be disappointed after this film.

Overall Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5

12 Comments

dale says:
January 28, 2010 at 2:40 pm

given that surprisingly fair review and hearing your recent interview with kristen, how's that hate you guys all seem to be harboring toward her prior to sundance commencement? do you still think she's a "wretch"? just asking.

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- Scott says:
  January 28, 2010 at 12:30 pm
  
  When have I ever called her a wretch or said anything less than favorable towards her? if you go back and read my review of Adventureland you will see that I am actually a big fan of hers.
  
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- Scott Hutcheson says:
  January 28, 2010 at 10:59 pm
  
  When have I ever said that Kristen was a wretch? If you go back and read my previous reviews for films she is in you will see that I am a fan of hers.
  
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  - naria says:
    January 29, 2010 at 3:02 pm
    
    yes i agree with you man, thanks for this review
    
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logicsays says:
January 28, 2010 at 11:51 am

of course you would credit the director for pulling out what you think “could be one of the best performances of stewart’s career” and not stewart herself, as if she is completely incapable of pulling such a performance all on her own. well, just for shizz and giggles or however you want to take it, i suggest listening to scott feinberg’s interview with melissa leo. in that interview, melissa divulged that kristen is so legit method the girl had to ask to redo this one scene for the movie cos she isn’t convinced with her own performance, regardless of how satisfied the director was already with the first shot. personal testimonies like that (and there are more out there from various highly regarded people she worked with) should be enough to actually give the girl enough credit (benefit of the doubt perhaps?) that she deserves in the acting world and not simply dismiss her for just being in an awful franchise, or how she handles the media blitzkrieg, or for whatever it is she does in the surface that ticks you to no end.

i have a feeling you still think of her as a “wretch” as the person before me commented, but at least you did not say she sucked in the movie, just to spite her. not that your opinions or anyone else’s for that matter are the-alpha-and-the-omega, i’m just sick of people who judges anyone at face value.

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Raphael Kriston says:
January 29, 2010 at 12:11 pm

with

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Sharyl Prevost says:
January 31, 2010 at 2:59 pm

Great plumbin information, we are a small company from the UK and just getting into this whole internet thing. Yes very late we know ;).

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Charlotte Shell says:
November 18, 2010 at 4:47 am

plumbing supplies should always come from reputable suppliers so always check their backgrounds “`~

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