Love for Dolly Parton has become a major part of films these past few years. We had Dumplin’ in 2018, which Parton wrote additional music for, and this year we have Liongate’s Seriously Red, about a character who finds herself while employed as a Dolly Parton impersonator.
From the get-go, it’s clear why Red (Krew Boylan) chose Dolly as the person she wanted to impersonate. Besides loving her music, she adores Dolly’s look and how she’s just unapologetically herself. Red has a hard time in her own skin, so being Dolly makes her feel good about herself. The thing is, Red believes she isn’t good at anything except being Dolly. She gets fired from her job, hasn’t had luck in her relationships, and has to room with her best friend Francis (Thomas Campbell) so she can get away from the nagging ways of her mom.
The beginning of the movie, where the characters are introduced and the entire premise is set up, is honestly a bit of a slog to get through. Red’s doing all this quirky things that are supposed to come off as humorous, but it doesn’t really allow us to relate to her character. It’s not until she gets hired to go on tour as a Dolly Parton impersonator does the movie find its legs a little. The music performances are great. Boylan and Danny Webber, who’s impersonating Kenny Rogers, have such great chemistry together. The moment they start singing “Islands in the Stream” together, viewers will become more invested. It’s also a bit of a treat to see Rose Byrne as an Elvis impersonator. She’s such a great comedic actress, and it’s wonderful to see her kill it even in a minor role.
However, can Red and Kenny have a real relationship if they’re always in character around each other? Kenny wears his persona so tightly that Red feels she can’t see anything else beneath, but she’s also the same. They live together, yet they’re in costume all the time. It’s difficult to take off these personas, especially since they get so much love and adulation while they’re in them. Soon, Red finds herself at a crossroads. Should she choose the road that Kenny’s embraced, and just become fully Dolly, or strip it off and learn to love Red instead?
The problem with the film is that the moments of dress-up and fantasy are staged so well, and the real life scenes just aren’t as compelling. Every time Red and Kenny are together, they sparkle. As viewers, we know we’re supposed to root for reality, for Red to learn from Dolly but not be her, but we’re just unable to because real life just doesn’t resonate as much. There’s so much excitement in the set pieces for the music components, and I wish more had gone into making the real life components work better. The closest we get to that is Boylan’s scenes with Byrne, where we see her insecurities and vulnerabilities out in full display.
Seriously Red just ends up being a seriously mixed bag.
Review screener provided.
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