Riff Raff (2024)

Riff Raff crams Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Harris, Bill Murray and Pete Davidson into one Maine vacation house and never decides if it’s a family comedy or a crime movie. It lands too grim to be funny and too goofy to be tense. College-bound DJ just wants a quiet holiday with his mom Sandy and stepdad Vincent. Then Vincent’s son Rocco barges in with his pregnant girlfriend Marina and his mother Ruth, who is Vincent’s ex-wife. Rocco is in deep trouble, with two gangsters, Leftie and Lonnie, on his trail. Coolidge gets the best stretch, describing the night those two came knocking at her door. The family squabbling has spark, and every cut back to the gangsters drains it. Critics loved the cast and wanted more fun, giving it 56% on Rotten Tomatoes. It made $1.93 million worldwide. A 4.4 because a cast this good deserved a sharper script. $452.09 says an uninvited cousin rings your doorbell over the holidays and you check whether Bill Murray is waiting in the car.

What works: The cast is a pleasure to hang out with, and Jennifer Coolidge gets the strongest scenes as Vincent’s ex-wife Ruth.

What doesn’t: The tone lurches between family comedy and grim crime story, so it’s rarely funny enough for the first or tense enough for the second.

Who it’s for: Fans of the cast who don’t mind a holiday comedy that keeps tripping over a crime plot.