In Breaking News in Yuba County, a reverse Gone Girl of sorts goes into effect; when an unappreciated wallflower of a woman realizes pretending her husband is missing will give her the attention she’s so desperately craved, she goes to the police and appears on the news, milking every moment. Things get out of hand quickly, however, when it turns out that her husband was involved in some shady stuff – and her little white lie might have bigger implications than she ever imagined.
The Gist: Sue Buttons (Allison Janney) wants more. She’s the kind of woman who walks around the grocery store repeating affirmations like “your story matters” and “you are important”, and when the bakery spells her name wrong on her birthday cake, she doesn’t put up much of a fight. She hopes that her husband Karl (Matthew Modine) has some kind of surprise in store for her birthday, but just like her sister Nancy (Mila Kunis), the date seems to have slipped his mind, too. After following Karl to a motel, Sue discovers he’s cheating on her with a woman named Leah (Bridget Everett), and Karl keels over mid-thrust. Sue threatens to get Leah in trouble for killing her husband “with her vagina”, and after she’s gone, Sue buries Karl’s body (and a bag of $3 million dollars belonging to some shady people he’s involved with) at the motel playground.
The next day, Sue goes to the police station to report Karl missing, but she’s brushed off by Detective Harris (Regina Hall), as it hasn’t been a long enough time to report him missing yet. Desperate for some kind of validation, Sue turns to her news producer sister, Nancy, and goes public with her lie. Sue soon begins receiving all the attention and sympathy she’s dreamed of, even if the cops are a little skeptical of her story. While Sue puts on a big show, Karl’s brother Petey (Jimmi Simpson) does his best to negotiate with the owners of that $3 million Sue accidentally buried, Mina (Awkwafina) and Ray (Clifton Collins Jr.), whom he believes responsible for Karl’s apparent abduction. Things only get more complicated (and dangerous) as the truth threatens to come out, raising the stakes higher than Sue ever imagined.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Breaking News in Yuba County definitely wants to be in the same league as flicks like I Care A Lot, Buffaloed, Flower, and other dark comedies, but the script never quite gets there.
Performance Worth Watching: It’s a little baffling just how easily Breaking News in Yuba County manages to waste all of its performers, pushing them to places I didn’t even believe possible. Even Janney isn’t her usual dazzling self, stumbling through her poorly written character as best she can. Perhaps the most memorable here is Regina Hall, who always brings a little special something to each of her roles and gives us a detective somewhat worth rooting for (even if the film doesn’t really know what to do with her).
Memorable Dialogue: None.
Sex and Skin: There’s some motel sex played for laughs early on in the film, but not much else.
Our Take: I don’t often find myself at a total loss when it comes to little indies like this, but Breaking News in Yuba County truly does something remarkable, proving that even the most star-studded of casts can’t save a sloppy script and lackluster directing. There were so many moments I stopped and wondered “what is she doing in this movie?” as yet another top-tier performer appeared only to be wasted within a matter of seconds. A cast this stacked deserves so much better than Breaking News in Yuba County, a bizarrely mean-spirited, tonally inconsistent mess of a movie that doesn’t really have a central message or motive in mind.
There’s certainly something interesting to be said about white women weaponizing their tears and our obsession with these kinds of tragic cases, but I’m not even sure that’s what Breaking News in Yuba County is trying to discuss. I’m not sure Breaking News in Yuba County is really trying to discuss anything. It attempts to be funny and then proceeds to smack the laughs right out of you with its brutal violence, and the strangely mismatched score only makes the whole thing weirder. I really wanted to sink my teeth into a solid satire, but that is not what Breaking News in Yuba County is. Instead, we’re left with something utterly empty, a disappointing waste of some of our best performers (and a waste of time for us as viewers).
Our Call: SKIP IT. Not even a cast including heavyweights like Allison Janney, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall can save Breaking News in Yuba County, a sloppy, mean-spirited attempt at dark satire.
Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines, hogging the mic at karaoke, and thirst-tweeting. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.
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