Review: The Trouble With Jessica – “The cast is delightful to watch”

Clearly not up on my French desserts, I had never heard of a clafoutis before.  A crustless tart, often made with cherries, takes centre stage in The Trouble With Jessica.  I can only believe that writers James Handle and Matt Winn (who also directs) either love the sweet treat, or found giggles with the word clafoutis during the script writing process.  If I had a pound for every time it’s mentioned, I might have been able to help Tom (Alan Tudyk) and Sarah (Shirley Henderson) by buying their house. 

Due to some bad financial decisions, the couple is in desperate need to offload their home.  Thankfully they have a purchaser at the ready.  They invite friends Beth (Olivia Williams) and Richard (Rufus Sewell) over for one last dinner party.  Only problem is, they also bring along Jessica (Indira Varma).  Jessica recently had a best selling book, she’s a flirt, makes jokes in poor taste, and generally brings out the worst in everybody at the table.  Some of this might be due to envy, as the two couples see her as a free spirit living her life and not ‘tied down.’  But Jessica also isn’t afraid to speak her mind and bring everybody’s insecurities to the forefront. 

But, that’s not really the trouble with Jessica.  The trouble is what happens after dinner, and before the clafoutis is served.  And here is where this review is about to become a spoiler, because it’s difficult to discuss the film without revealing what happens about ten minutes in.  Jessica didn’t just come to Tom and Sarah’s house to try the infamous clafoutis.  She came there to die.  Before anyone can even dig into dessert they find Jessica hanging in the backyard. 

This is the hard thing about The Trouble With Jessica, since Indira Varma (Game of Thrones, Rome) really shines in this small role.  Her character is the most charismatic and interesting in the room, a source of conflict and intrigue, only to be taken away so soon.  We are left behind with four friends who should be calling the police, but instead make bad decision after bad decision.  Tom and Sarah are concerned that the attention drawn from a best-selling author dying in their home will make their buyer disappear.  As the clafoutis sits on the table, untouched, the four argue and plot as to how to make The Trouble With Jessica go away.  

The cast is delightful to watch as they navigate this largely unbelievable plot to relocate Jessica’s body.  And it is unbelievable since there is certainly no way in any reality they get away with what they do.  Yet for a film wanting to claim it’s a dark comedy it never really gets uncomfortable enough to warrant the ‘dark’ nor camp enough to really be laugh out loud funny. I mean, the clafoutis is really the biggest running gag.  If the filmmakers had leaned into either side with more determination, The Trouble With Jessica really could have popped.  Instead, it kind of just simmers as we watch these friends, often at opposite ends of the moral compass, debate their actions. 

The premise could do well as a stage play, since most of it happens in one location.  There’s a lot of possibility to really delve into the relationships of the characters, especially as it influences their decisions.  But the script doesn’t really dig as deep into the potential that exists.  

I think of films like Mass or 2011’s Carnage that harness the ‘four people in a room’ energy and are able to create riveting cinema, as good examples of how dialogue heavy, one location movies can be really impactful character studies and commentaries.  I get that The Trouble With Jessica isn’t necessarily in the same genre (though I’m not sure it fits neatly into a genre) but it could have been so much more dynamic.  Even in its handling of mental health, or the class structure it seems to want to critique, it never hits the mark.  

The Trouble With Jessica has its own troubles, but it’s still an entertaining watch if you can put aside your disbelief and temper your expectations.  The talented cast will largely get you through and are worth the investment.  At the very least, you’re likely to look up how to make a clafoutis by film’s end, and your next dinner party contribution will be sorted.  

The Trouble With Jessica is available in some theatres now and comes to digital May 20th.