This review was originally a part of our 2022 Toronto International Film Festival coverage.
“We come from chaos,” one brother says to the next in Raymond & Ray, the latest film from writer-director Rodrigo García. Raymond (Ewan McGregor) is the more steady brother with a slight tinge of rebellion in him, as we first meet him as he's driving to meet his half-brother, even though his license was revoked due to a DUI. On the other hand, Ray (Ethan Hawke) is a bit more free-spirited, yet on his way to a smoother path, as he’s several years sober, but still maintains an aura of wildness, and a general improvisation to go with the flow that likely comes from his years as a jazz trumpeter.
As the name of the film implies, Raymond and Ray didn’t have the best father, considering he decided to give his two songs slight variations on the same name. But these two brothers reunite when they find out their father has died, and upon arriving at the funeral, discover that their father’s final wish is that his sons dig his grave and bury him. This is just the first of many twists Raymond and Ray’s father has in store for them, proving that maybe they’re right: they do come from chaos.
But even though that might be the case for these two brothers, Raymond & Ray is fairly standard indie dramedy fare. Raymond & Ray fits right into García’s usual tone with these types of films, a sort of style that is too light to be effective, even though the themes can be extremely dark. Raymond & Ray makes sense alongside recent García efforts like Albert Nobbs and Four Good Days that are just…fine, the type of film that dissolves immediately on the eyes, leaving you knowing that you watched something, but you’ll be damned if it left any impact whatsoever.
That’s because Raymond & Ray is extremely general, right down the middle, exactly what you expect type of dramedy that doesn’t really have much unique to say. García’s script feels like countless other indie films, with comedy that is never too funny, and drama that is never too moving. García also relies far too much on reveal after reveal after reveal, as Raymond and Ray’s father has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. While we know that he would often pit these two brothers against each other, there’s no real reason to believe he would throw so many twists and turns into his own funeral, as a last attempt to mess with his children, other than that the script needs these moments to either add levity or moments of personal contemplation.
But even though Raymond & Ray has two actors who can usually enhance a basic script, neither McGregor or Hawke are asked to do anything that stands out. McGregor is essentially playing a watered-down version of the type of man exploring his past that we’ve seen in Big Fish or Christopher Robin, but with not nearly enough to do, but watch the machinations of his father’s plans from beyond the grave. Meanwhile, García seems to be writing around what we already know Hawke can do, as his jazz trumpeter character can’t help but remind of his work in the Chet Baker biopic, Born to Be Blue.
Raymond & Ray at least has a handful of solid supporting roles that liven this story a bit. Lucia (Maribel Verdu) plays her father’s partner, and her dynamic with Raymond is one of the best aspects of the film, while Ray’s new friendship with Kiera (Sophie Okonedo), his father’s nurse, does show us a new side to Ray. But without spoiling Raymond & Ray’s many reveals, the film also features quite a few supporting characters that begin to feel like little more than one-note jokes than actual people.
But García’s script and decent-but-unremarkable directing doesn't do this general idea any favors. It’s a shame, considering that García was one of the most frequent directors on Six Feet Under, and even handled the episode “The Room,” about two brothers trying to realize that they might never truly understand the father that they recently lost. While that episode is an emotional and poignant episode (written by Christian Taylor) about the understanding that our time with the people we’re close to is short and that we never get that time back, Raymond & Ray doesn’t have nearly that level of depth. Instead, García’s latest film is a predictable, completely fine, but uneventful dramedy that never quite finds a way to dig itself out of mediocrity.
Rating: C-
Raymond & Ray is available to stream on Apple TV+