Films about the money market and financing are an absolute bore to me and I have never understood the reasoning behind why filmmakers would want to align themselves with such scripts. However, when Zoey Deutch and Tanya Wexler are on your side, it is a completely different story. Buffaloed is a quick and simple yet fantastic look at this world of money that is never stretched out beyond what it's worth. Wexler is able to make a perfect little companion piece to other films such as The Wolf of Wall Street or The Big Short while making sure this one is much easier to digest. There is a lot of this film's substance that I would not normally enjoy but when it is carried by the extraordinarily eccentric and scene-stealing Deutch, it is difficult to not enjoy yourself. I did find some of the direction a bit lacking and much of the script to rely on financial terms and lingo but regardless, I never stopped enjoying this fast-paced and quirky movie. If a filmmaker can craft a story all about finances and debt collection and not make me want to shoot myself, then it must be an absolute hit.
Getting thrown in jail for ticket scalping is a strange thing for a teenager to go through but Peg Dahl (Zoey Deutch) is no stranger; growing up with a moneymaking mindset while having an unbreakable charisma is her specialty. As she gets out of jail and gets back in her old ways, she finds out that she has a large debt to pay and gets involved with debt lord Wizz (Jai Courtney), eventually becoming his competition in the small town of Buffalo. This script, written by Brian Sacca, is where I must admit I was most worried about this film from the very start. I have never enjoyed movies that delve deep into money or finance and while I am sure some much more capable and responsible people can derive enjoyment from them, it is nearly impossible for me. There is just nothing in the world about money that could make a story interesting. Perhaps it was because Deutch's character Peg breaks the fourth wall and practically teaches a class throughout the film about what she is doing, but I found this movie incredibly easy to understand and follow along with. This is very rare for these kinds of films and I found myself genuinely interested in the business that Peg was conducting. The way that the story builds is also excellent and the use of minimal characters to tell Peg's story was a very smart choice. And despite the film's short, 95-minute runtime, I actually cared for each one of the supporting characters because of how well they were each written. Each had their own personality, none of them were outright stereotypes, and the dynamic between Deutch and the rest of the cast was actually believable. And hell, I may have even learned a thing or two.
While the film itself is written decently well and provides a plethora of comedy and drama brilliantly blended together, the real standout is the performance from Zoey Deutch. She is such an amazingly talented actress that holds her own throughout this film like one could never believe. She is typically cast in films as a supporting character and I am just really hoping that this film gets a bit more attention so that audiences can see and appreciate just how stupendous Deutch is as a lead. Buffaloed definitely would not have carried its charming, indie spirit without her and she brings a whole other level of energy to telling this story. However, this film is not really anything special when it comes to its technicals like cinematography or editing. I found a lot of the choices to be fairly standard and its visual storytelling very limited. Wexler's direction also became noticeably weak towards the second half of the film. While plenty was going on in the lives of these characters, I could never exactly tell what this movie was building towards. I did, however, really enjoy the comedic route that Wexler took for its ending and thankfully, it was enough to keep me distracted from realizing how little it developed until the actual end of the film. While I did not feel as much anticipation for this film's climax as I had hoped, Deutch absolutely steals this story and provides a spunk to her character that's even more likable than protagonists of similar films.
Buffaloed is an incredibly solid film that is able to stand on its own in the seemingly popular film genre of money laundering and debt collection. I genuinely really enjoyed this film and seeing one of my favorite, up-and-coming actresses in the lead role only helped to enhance the experience for me. Deutch is an absolute superstar and while some may argue she carried this whole film, I was still impressed by Wexler's storytelling and her ability to actually keep me invested (pun intended).
My Rating: ★★★★
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