Drowning Mona

Directed by Nick Gomez, Drowning Mona follows various small-town residents, including Danny DeVito’s Wyatt, Neve Campbell’s Ellie, and Jamie Lee Curtis’ Rona, as they react to the death of Bette Midler’s universally hated title character. Filmmaker Gomez, armed with Peter Steinfeld’s screenplay, delivers a watchable yet entirely forgettable comedy that remains pitched at a level of middling mediocrity from start to finish, and there’s little doubt, certainly, that the movie’s decent-enough atmosphere is due almost completely to the efforts of a stacked cast – with DeVito, Campbell, and Curtis’ solid work matched by such eclectic periphery players as William Fichtner, Casey Affleck, and Mark Pellegrino. (Will Ferrell’s small role as an exceedingly oddball funeral director remains an obvious bright spot within the proceedings, ultimately.) And while the mystery behind what really happened to Mona is hardly as compelling or engaging as Gomez has intended, Drowning Mona‘s relatively easygoing vibe, coupled with an appropriately brisk running time, ensures that it never quite becomes as tedious or tiresome as one might’ve feared.

**1/2 out of ****