What would you do if your crappy father charged you with digging his grave in his will? Grab a shovel or tell the funeral home to fire up their own backhoe?
In Rodrigo Garcia’s Raymond & Ray, Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor decide to give it a go with the shovels, uncovering family secrets, reconnecting, and marinating in humane dramedy goodness. It turns out the real grave we dug was the friends we made along the way? Wait, that can’t be right.
The Apple+ release is Garcia’s debut as a feature director after cutting his teeth as a writer for the absolutely phenomenal In Treatment and other television series. The film also stars Maribel Verdu and Sophie Okonedo, as well as excellent character actors like Todd Luiso and Vondie Curtis-Hall.
In a way, Raymond & Ray looks like the kind of movie that would have gotten a massive reception back in the 1990s. It was also a surprise on a deeply personal level for Mike Ryan when he reviewed the film at TIFF. McGregor and Hawke look fantastic here, brimming with half-brotherly chemistry that should make everyone question why they’ve never starred in a movie together before. Even after this trailer, it’s fair to say that the public should petition for an extension of the McGregor/Hawke buddy team-up universe.
Raymond & Ray hits theaters October 14th and Apple+ October 21st.