Strong women become even stronger in “Widows.” They’re also caught up in a crime spree that makes the Grinch look tame. The all-star cast sat down with Deco’s Chris Van Vliet. This much awesomeness should be a crime.
They say anything men can do, women can do better — and they prove it in this movie. I headed to the Windy City to plan a heist with the stars of “Widows.”
Viola Davis (as Veronica): “Our husbands aren’t coming back. We’re on our own.”
After a police shootout leaves four thieves dead during a failed robbery attempt, their widows have to pick up the pieces. The problem is, the people their husbands stole from want their money back, and the wives have to follow in their footsteps to get it.
Viola Davis (as Veronica): “My husband left me the plans for his next job. All I need is the crew to pull it off.”
The movie is set in Chicago, and that’s where I sat down with Viola Davis and her husband in the film, Liam Neeson.
Viola Davis (as Veronica): “Now, the best thing we have going for us is being who we are.”
Viola and her team — consisting of Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo and Michelle Rodriguez, have a choice: pull off this heist, or get killed.
Elizabeth Debicki (as Alice): “Why should we trust you anyway?”
Viola Davis (as Veronica): “Because I’m the only thing standing between you and a bullet in your head.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Viola, you’ve played so many emotional characters, this one as well. After they say ‘Cut’ and you go home, how are you able to separate what’s going on there to what’s going on in real life?”
Viola Davis: “Vodka. I’m serious (laughs). No, yeah.”
Chris Van Vliet: “No, but yeah.”
Viola Davis: “I find it incredibly cathartic what we do as actors.”
Colin Farrell (as Jack Mulligan): “What I’ve learned from men like your late husband and my father is that you reap what you sow.”
Viola Davis (as Veronica): “Let’s hope so.”
The movie is directed by Steve McQueen, who won the Best Picture Oscar for “12 Years a Slave.”
Steve McQueen: “I think when people are put in such a difficult and desperate situation, they’ll do anything, especially women who are dealing with grief.”
“Widows” is a thriller, and that’s what it does — it thrills. When the heist scenes start to unfold, you can feel your heart beating out of your chest.
Chris Van Vliet: “Liam, so many of your characters have great skill sets, a specific set of skills, if you will, this one does as well. Do you think, with the skills that this character has, that you’d be able to apply any of these to real life?”
Liam Neeson: “No.”
Chris Van Vliet: “You can’t pull off a heist?”
Liam Neeson: “I’ve worked with some Navy SEALs and SAS people in Europe, and they’ve all said the same thing: Any sign of trouble in a bar or a restaurant, you check out where the door is and you leave.”
“Widows” opens in theaters this weekend — and don’t you kinda get the feeling that Liam is lying to us there? I want to feel like, if I was at a restaurant or bar and trouble broke out, that I could rely on Liam Neeson to save me and not run for the door.
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