Woman of the Hour (United States, 2024)

October 22, 2024
A movie review by James Berardinelli
Woman of the Hour Poster

Woman of the Hour is the based-on-a-true-story tale of the so-called “Dating Game killer” whose appellation resulted from his appearance on the 1970s TV show, The Dating Game. As directed by Anna Kendrick, Ian McDonald’s screenplay does a good job with the Dating Games scenes and the tense, creepy sequence that follows but it founders in establishing a wider canvas. The movie has trouble with point-of-view – we’re never sure whether this is supposed to be the story of the killer, Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto), or his would-be-victim, Sheryl (Anna Kendrick) – because the film doesn’t commit to either. The movie stumbles through the pre-gameshow scenes and the production can’t figure out how to end things; Woman of the Hour peters out in an anticlimax.

Kendrick, who is making her directorial debut, said she was attracted by the film as a way to present what could have been a straightforward procedural from the perspective of the victims. Although this is true of the movie during its lengthy midsection, the early scenes and denouement lose that quality, becoming more about the attacker than his prey, who lack the screen time to be more than nameless notches on his homicidal totem pole. During these sections, Alcala is by far the most interesting character. Although this is not necessarily the case when he’s sharing the stage (literally) with Sheryl, that segment represents only about half of the total running time.

Woman of the Hour uses its first half-hour to introduce the two principals. When we first meet Rodney, he (briefly) seems like a nice guy. A photographer with a trusting demeanor, he is taking pictures of an attractive young woman. Kendrick provides a close-up of Daniel Zovatto’s face and, before the camera’s gaze, a transformation occurs. His features harden. His warm, limpid eyes grow cold. And then he pounces. In one of the most horrifying aspects of the ensuing murder, he gives mouth-to-mouth to the victim once she has stopped breathing so he can drag out the killing. Meanwhile, aspiring actress Sheryl is going through the humiliating process of undergoing try-outs for producers who are more concerned about her small bra cup size than her acting ability. (According to Kendrick, some of these incidents are based on her real-life audition experiences.)

The Dating Game brings Sheryl and Rodney together. She is there at the behest of her agent, who thinks it might be a good way to gain some exposure. He is there farming another victim. The host, Ed Burke (loosely based on Jim Lange and played by Tony Hale) is condescending and, mid-way through the taping of the show, Sheryl ditches the prepared questions she has been given to ask the three romantic candidates and substitutes her own. This exposes contestant #1 as a moron and contestant #2 as a misogynist. But Rodney, contestant #3, stays cool under pressure.

The Dating Game episode is loosely based on the real-life occurrence but Woman of the Hour milks it for full effect. Kendrick builds the tension and continues to ratchet it up during an after-show get-together the two have where Rodney’s true nature begins to emerge. That’s followed by a chilling walk across a deserted parking lot with footsteps echoing in the darkness. This is easily the best thing that Woman of the Hour has to offer. It’s also where the production falls into trouble, at least from a narrative standpoint. To say it fails to stick the ending would be an understatement.

Another thing that doesn’t work as intended is the introduction of the character of Laura (Nicolette Robinson), an audience member who recognizes Rodney as having been involved in the death of one of her friends. Traumatized by seeing him on stage, she flees the taping in search of a producer but is rebuffed by a security guard and the police. According to the filmmakers, Laura is a “combination character” representing various whistle-blowers who tried to alert authorities about Rodney over the years but weren’t taken seriously. In the movie, she feels out-of-place with her piece of the story shoehorned into the overall narrative.

Woman of the Hour’s length is wrong for the content. Either a mini-series or a shorter film would have been more apt, depending on the focus. An argument could also be made that this subject would have been better served with a documentary presentation. The real-life incident, which is little more than a footnote in the overall story, feels too slight to be used as the skeleton of a motion picture.  It’s a promising debut for Kenrick behind the camera and Zovatto is excellent in front of it but it’s hard to shake the incomplete feeling that accompanies a viewing. Netflix’s decision to go direct-to-streaming (with no limited theatrical release) is appropriate since it lowers the bar to a level that Woman of the Hour is able to clear.







Woman of the Hour (United States, 2024)

Run Time: 1:35
U.S. Release Date: 2024-10-18
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Thriller
Subtitles: none
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

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