Herzog's Chaplin Sisters Soap Opera Disappoints Critics

Werner Herzog's new fictional feature 'Bucking Fastard' is a disappointing dud that wastes its formidable leads, according to a review in The Guardian. The film stars real-life sisters Rooney and Kate Mara as eerily synced twins, inspired by the true story of Freda and Greta Chaplin from York.

Herzog's movie transplants the Chaplin sisters' story to Ireland. The Mara sisters play weirdly interdependent siblings named Jean and Joan Holbrook. Their lives are sent into loopy directions following a court case for harassing a neighbour, a detail drawn from the twins' real 1980s legal troubles.

A Wasted Cast and Concept

The review states that the women's lives are theoretically poignant and fascinating, and the Mara sisters are capable performers. However, the characters they are given to play are essentially just silly. The film is described as pointless and aimless, making itself up as it goes along and losing its way line by line.

Orlando Bloom plays a roguish neighbour who breaks the women's hearts, with Herzog imagining them as a short-lived throuple. Domhnall Gleeson appears as a caring social worker who takes their case after they move away from the scene of their sexual resentment and legal shame. The film's title is a spoonerism shouted out by the characters during their trial.

A Baffling Narrative Turn

Eventually, the Holbrook sisters live with an aunt in the country. There, they bafflingly conceive a desire to extend a tunnel found in a hillside cave. They believe it will take them from Ireland to the supposed utopia of Orkney. The review notes a sort of entertaining touch of Jules Verne in the outcome of this plotline.

Despite this eventful story, the film is also described as dull. When it finally fades to black, the review finds it difficult to credit how inconsequential and throwaway the entire experience has been.

The Documentary That Might Have Been

The critic suggests that perhaps Herzog could have made a fascinating documentary about the real Chaplin sisters while they were still alive. Instead, 'Bucking Fastard' is presented as a missed opportunity. The review concludes that the film systematically wastes the audience's time as well as the talents of its cast, offering only a few laughs amidst the disappointment.