Allison Janney can't fix 'Breaking News in Yuba County'
Stop “Breaking News in Yuba County” after 20 minutes or so, and you might think you’re watching a disturbing commentary on loneliness in an age of narcissism. After her birthday is forgotten by everyone close to her, Sue Buttons (Allison Janney), who heartbreakingly had to buy a cake for herself, discovers her husband’s (Matthew Modine) infidelity … seconds before he drops dead. But she reports him missing, perhaps because this sad Kentucky woman (who works the phones in a customer service center and hasn’t respected in years by her superficial half-sister, played by Mila Kunis) has never seen “Gone Girl” and assumes these cases end up well, or, in actuality, because she is so desperate for attention that she pulls the cord that maximizes the opportunity. Which is to say: not the one that would justifiably earn people’s support because she lost her cheating husband but the one that puts her at the center of a mysterious disappearance that she hopes lands her favor from a local TV personality (Juliette Lewis).
Like I said, that’s some heavy, vulnerable stuff. But “Breaking News in Yuba County” shares its main character’s instability until it falls apart completely, failing to mix broad attempts at humor with startling violence. Where the Coen brothers have nailed the delicate touch required for a crime caper that’s both funny and infused with menace, director Tate Taylor (“The Help”) handles this with the precision of an infant fingerpainter merging colors.
It’s unfortunate because the script by Amanda Idoko glances micro and macro fractures that come from selfish agendas. Janney, an Oscar winner for “I, Tonya,” is so good at moving among Sue’s extreme states of mind that you swear her face has changed at various points in the movie. A few of the recognizable cast members (Jimmi Simpson, Wanda Sykes, Ellen Barkin) ground things with humor and appeal; a couple (Regina Hall, Kunis) are miscast and hung out to dry by Taylor; and one (Awkwafina) brings down every scene she’s in.
To an extent, “Yuba County” writes itself into a corner anyway, setting up an obvious lie by a bad liar and waiting to see how long it will take until she’s found out. That this seemingly very small town splinters as a result shows the volatility of an isolated community and how much damage dishonesty can do before anyone figures out the truth. And, perhaps most tragically, why someone might prefer to stick with the fake version.
C+
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