EUyeshima Review of Jerry and Marge Go Large

Jerry and Marge Go Large (2022)

Bening and Cranston Propel an Unexpected Lottery Tale

[7/10 · 27 October 2023]

This 2022 character-driven caper comedy was more entertaining than I had expected it to be primarily because director David Frankel and screenwriter Brad Copeland respect and admire the smalltown Michigan couple at its heart. As played sharply by Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening, the title characters are a newly retired couple who take advantage of a loophole in the Massachusetts state lottery. Instead of being spurred by personal greed, they're motivated to improve their town and share the winnings with their neighbors. Bening, in particular, springs to life at the prospect of finding new purpose in their lives and unconditionally accepts every mathematically-driven challenge Cranston throws at them. The rest of the cast led by Rainn Wilson and Larry Wilmore perform well even though they veer a lot Into "Fargo" territory. My one disappointment was with the predictable fate of the snot-nosed Harvard whiz-kid villain played by Uly Schlesinger, but then it's not supposed to be a revenge comedy.