Veronica Mars

Welcome back friends!  I hope the summer of blockbusters has been treating you well!  I am picking things up for this month and I am so excited to hear your thoughts and hash things out among an environment of fellow critical thinkers!

So I have been raiding Redbox and my first pick was Veronica Mars (Thomas 2014).  Although I saw the film in theaters, I was so excited to see it again and I even convinced my parents to sit down and watch with me!  So to really get all us Marshmallows in the mood, enjoy the theme by the Dandy Warhols and read on!

**Cue summary and spoilers**

I am a huge Veronica Mars fan from the TV series and this movie did not disappoint me.  After the monumental kick starter that gained the film a ton of notoriety, this film had a lot riding on it for a lot of people.  Picking back up from where the series left off (can we talk about a cliff hanger with a million unanswered questions?!?!), Veronica Mars follows the teen detective sensation ten years after she has retired her stun gun and put down her camera lenses and spy gear to gather dust.  Veronica has moved out of the state and has graduated from college and law school near the top of her class.  We catch her in the middle of a job interview in which she addresses her risky sex tape from season three.  We see she is still with longtime boyfriend Piz who has planned for his parents to fly to New York to meet Veronica for the first time.

A scandal centralized in Veronica’s hometown of Neptune, California, catches Veronica’s eye on TV as she learns a fellow classmate turned superstar, Bonnie de Ville, was found dead in her house.  Found passed out next to de Ville is her boyfriend, none other than Veronica’s ex beau Logan Echolls.  Soon enough, before Veronica’s follow up interview with a law firm, Logan calls Veronica requesting her help.  Veronica flies out to Neptune leaving behind promises to Piz of her speedy return.

Upon her arrival to Neptune, Veronica and Logan (dressed to the nines in his Naval uniform) pick up their infamous flirtatious banter seamlessly.  She is reunited with her dad, Keith, and witnesses first hand the worsened corruption that has overtaken Neptune’s sheriff’s department.  Wallace and Mac also make appearances trying to persuade Veronica to attend the Neptune High ten year reunion while she is in town.

Logan hires Veronica to help him sort through all the lawyers hoping to represent him in the Bonnie de Ville case which is getting more and more hopeless.  Sheriff Lamb is convinced of Logan’s guilt and videos of  Logan and Bonnie’s more intimate parts of their relationship are mysteriously being leaked which further incriminate him.  Logan takes Veronica to a bar under the premise that this is goodbye, but he really wants her to meet a potential suspect in the form of an obsessed fan of Bonnie’s (Ruby Jetson) who has been stalking Bonnie for months and sent Logan emails expressing her love for him and her relief that now they can be together now that Bonnie is out of the picture.

Veronica, suspicious of Ruby, sneaks into her apartment to get information off of her computer.  When the police are called, Veronica is arrested for breaking and entering, but the charges are dropped when Ruby insists Veronica meant to only prank her.  In exchange for lying to save her from trouble, Ruby requests a date with Logan under Veronica’s supervision.  Ruby insists on going to the most popular club in Neptune and Logan is heckled with press as Veronica is heckled by guys trying to hit on her.  Veronica confronts Ruby about the email to Logan expressing relief at Bonnie’s death, but Ruby has an airtight alibi for the night of Bonnie’s death.  Veronica receives a call from the law firm she was interviewing for in New York and she is awarded the position but must start within a few days.

The next day, Wallace and Mac come over with a video of Bonnie and her best friend in high school, Susan Knight, singing a duet at the talent show.  Susan ironically is also dead from a boating accident in high school.  Wallace and Mac then convince a reluctant Veronica to visit their high school reunion that night.

At the reunion, we revisit some classic characters from the series including Veronica’s rival Madison Sinclair, Gia Goodwin, and biker gang leader Weevil Navarro.  Veronica is shocked to see that Weevil has abandoned his gang life in favor of one with a wife and children.  Madison begins a slideshow of all the students who have passed away from their class at Neptune High, and Veronica has an epiphany when a picture of Bonnie and Susan is shown next to the boat Susan died on.  Veronica runs to tell Logan that the boat, named “Serendipity” mimics the tattoo Bonnie had and some of Bonnie’s lyrics on her new CD are revealed to be more about drowning than meets the eye.  Veronica is convinced something happened on that boat the night Susan died and perhaps that information is what killed Bonnie too.

During her absence, Piz arrives to surprise Veronica right when her infamous sex type is aired for the whole reunion to see as a prank.  Logan, upon seeing the tape, starts a fight and Piz, Dick, and Wallace jump in to help.  To break up the fight, Veronica makes the sprinklers go off so everyone must evacuate the building.  Madison starts bullying and yelling at Veronica, and Veronica punches her in the face.  Veronica, Piz, Wallace, and Mac then go to an after party to cool off.  Veronica’s real intentions are to gain some insight into what happened the night Susan died.  She sticks close to the people who were on the boat that night: Dick, Gia, Gia’s fiancé Luke, and Lou “Cobb.”  After talking to all of them individually, Veronica gets suspiciously similar answers from all of them that detail all the kids got drunk on the boat and passed out.  When they woke up the next morning, Susan was gone and everyone assumed she fell over and drowned.

Meanwhile, on his way home, Weevil sees a car surrounded by his old biker gang.  He approaches the car, asking the woman inside if she needs help but in her panic, the woman turns and shoots Weevil with the gun she was anxiously clutching.  Light shines on the woman’s face and reveals her to be Celeste Kane, one of the richest (and thus most protected) women in Neptune.

Piz flies back to New York, but upon the news that Weevil has been shot, Veronica rushes to the hospital with her dad and is determined to talk to some of the gang kids about what happened.  Sheriff Lamb is insisting that Celeste Kane says Weevil threatened her with a gun the police found at the scene in Weevil’s hand (one that has obviously been planted by the corrupt cops).  Keith insists Veronica leave the case alone and go back to her life in New York.

Veronica keeps on Susan’s drowning and tricks Sheriff Lamb into sending her the police file on Susan’s case.  Veronica goes to visit Logan and while Dick is looking through a slideshow from the reunion, Veronica notices in the picture of the boat Susan was last seen on, compared to the police photo, the anchor was missing the morning after Susan’s death.  Veronica then concludes that Susan was tied to the anchor and dropped into the ocean.  Another video is released on the Internet of Bonnie and Logan recognizes the video is coming from where Bonnie used to prop up her tablet.  A similar tablet was given to James Franco, who Veronica gets a quick interview with and convinces his assistant to bribe whoever is streaming the videos to meet up with her.

Veronica meets with the person releasing the videos from the tablet cameras who turns out to be none other than Vinnie Van Lowe, a rival private investigator, who admits to setting up the cameras and gives Veronica all the footage form Bonnie’s tablet.  The last bit of footage shows Gia with Bonnie’s tablet sending a text to Logan (which convinced him to go to Bonnie’s house) after Bonnie was already dead.

Veronica then supposes that Gia drove to Bonnie’s the day she died and left a window or door open for her fiancé to sneak in, kill Bonnie, grab her tablet, and give it to Gia while the two made a very public appearance at a club giving them an airtight alibi.  Veronica goes to Sheriff Lamb with her theory, but he is convinced Logan is guilty and is not interested in any other theories.

Met with so much enticing adversity in the case, Veronica calls Piz and says there is too much going on for her in Neptune for her to leave now.  Piz, disappointed at her excuses to delay her return although she promised to meet his parents who flew out specifically to see her, thinks it would be better for them to call it quits.

Later that night, Keith tells Veronica her job called and said that because she is dodging their calls and delaying coming to work, they have decided to move on without her.  Deputy Sacks then calls Keith with promises of information about the corruption of the department under Sheriff Lamb.  Keith meets Sacks in a car parked in an alley, but when they noticed they are being watched, Sacks gets spooked and begins to drive away.  Soon after, their car is hit and Keith is rushed to the hospital.  Veronica learns Sacks was pronounced dead upon the arrival of the ambulance.  Logan carries a sleeping Veronica home and leaves a note for her to call him when she wakes up.  Veronica wakes up before Logan can leave and they begin to kiss and get intimate.

The next morning, Veronica is more determined to prove Gia and Luke are guilty to keep her mind off of her dad.  Veronica sends flowers to Gia’s apartment with a recording device inside it and sets up outside the apartment to conduct surveillance.  Veronica calls Gia with spliced audio tracks of Bonnie’s voice which shakes Gia up considerably.  She makes a call and Veronica alerts Logan who is keeping track of Luke.  Logan reports that the call could not have been to Luke as Luke is otherwise occupied in a bathhouse.  Confused, Veronica then sees Cobb enter Gia’s apartment to listen and comfort her.  The two then go into Gia’s bedroom to sleep together.

After Cobb leaves, Veronica decides to confront Gia.  On his way home, Cobb is approached by an old man who is applauding his sexual encounter with Gia as the old man claims he heard the whole thing on the radio.  Suspicious that someone was watching them, Cobb goes to his apartment and finds a radio station that picks up on Veronica’s surveillance audio and listens to Gia and Veronica’s conversation.

Veronica confronts Gia about stealing the tablet and shows Gia the video of her sending the text to Logan that would put him at the crime scene.  Gia reluctantly admits that when the group of friends went on the boat years earlier, they approached Cobb for a drug hookup.  He agreed, but only if he could join as well.  All the teens got high and drunk and Susan started freaking out about a baby she gave up for adoption, so she went below deck.  Bonnie found her later barely breathing.  Cobb assures everyone that this has happened before and she will be fine, but Bonnie checks on Susan later to find her dead.  Cobb then came up with the idea to tie Susan to the anchor and drop her into the ocean, but while everyone was dumping Susan’s body, Cobb was taking pictures that he has used to blackmail everyone with ever since (all except Dick who passed out hours earlier and had no idea of Susan’s condition).  Cobb then moved across the street from Gia to keep an eye on her and uses her for sex in exchange for his silence.  Gia walks to the window as she desperately tells Veronica that Cobb will not even let her have curtains.  Cobb, perched on the roof of the next building, shoots Gia through the window.  Veronica hides and calls the police, but Gia quickly dies.

Cobb storms into the apartment looking for Veronica.  Veronica texts her dad one last time saying she loves him and then thinks to distract Cobb by calling Gia’s phone.  As Cobb turns at the noise, Veronica tases him in the leg and uses her pepper spray to gain some time for her escape.  She runs to the building’s exit, but finds Cobb locked the door.  Veronica hides again and eventually knocks Cobb out with a gold club.

Cobb is then arrested for Susan and Gia’s murders and Logan is let off the hook.  Cobb killed Bonnie because Bonnie was threatening to come clean about what happened with Susan and was not taking Cobb’s blackmailing routine any more.  Logan returns to his duties in the Navy, but promises Veronica that their love can withstand his time away.  Veronica broadcasts the recording she took of Sheriff Lamb when he ignores Veronica’s evidence from earlier and Lamb’s future as Sheriff is shaky.  Keith is recovering in the hospital while Veronica takes over his position at Mars Investigations until he is back on his feet.  She meets with Weevil who learns about the planted gun and as he leaves, Weevil rides off with his old gang again.

Veronica has thus decided to stay in Neptune and work at Mars Investigations with Mac as her assistant.  In her final thoughts, Veronica admits that she has accepted who she is  and cannot run from it any longer.

**Whew!  A lot of twists and turns in true Veronica Mars style!  So analysis time…**

Technically, this film was pretty cool.  The film incorporated a lot of technology into its plot line in a way that made sense and was easy to follow.  The text messages and calls on various cell phones were shown on the screen in lieu of doing close ups on peoples’ phones.  This was a wonderful, innovative, and efficient idea on the part of the film.  Thank you from an audience point of view and future films, take note.  It can be frustrating to do a shaky close up on a phone that is dominantly full of white-noise-looking static.  Sometimes the shot is too short and you fail to get all the information.  Even my parents caught on to the blurbs that would pop up on the screen during phone calls and text conversations which is saying something because these are the people who missed half of any thrills offered by Paranormal Activity because they missed the doors shutting and shadows moving.

The plot is not only moved along by the texts, but by the radio and TV announcements.  Veronica hears about Bonnie’s death from a TV announcement and gets even more information about Logan’s involvement from the radio broadcast she hears in a cab.  Allotting for technology in the film in obvious ways laid everything out for the audience in a manner that could not be missed and was realistic.  There is no use trying to ignore technology in modern films so incorporating it in such a unique, yet real way was refreshing.

The use of lighting in the film was also very interesting.  In key moments, like when Logan calls Veronica asking for help and when the two are finally together for a solid future, they are shown in shadowy silhouette.  Logan’s call to Veronica may be in shadow because Veronica is now retreating back to the “darkness” of Neptune and the unknown of how things will be with Logan once they are reunited.  Once they figure everything out and their relationship is solidified, they are once again shown in shadow to give them their classic, romantic ending and yet Logan’s position in the Navy pushes some fear and mystery into their relationship.  For them, their relationship and time with each other while they are apart will exist purely in memory–like shadows.

Continuing with shadows, the film mimicked film noir in its lighting.  The colors of the film are deep and saturated with plenty of darkness and shadows everywhere.  Shadows mask peoples’ faces giving the indecisive, conflicted look to everyone.  The filth of the town shows on everyone as they appear almost dirty.  The corruption is spreading as the shadows deepen on everyone.  The film thus has that grungy feel commonly seen in film noir with the quick, witty banter of the 1920s femme fatales with a woven mix of modern humor and technology .

One shot that caught my eye really encapsulated Veronica and Keith’s relationship as less of that of a father-daughter and more of that of partners.  Before I dive in, let me explain that my parents’ biggest complain about the movie from a maternal/paternal point of view, was that Veronica threw away her prosperous life in New York and Keith did not do more to convince her to go back.  He had his occasional disappointed moments, but failed to really push her.  I explained to them that Keith and Veronica have a relationship more about equality than parent-child.  Perhaps because of Keith’s status and fall from status as Sheriff, Lily’s death, or Veronica’s mom’s alcoholism and abandonment, there could be many reasons that spurred Veronica to be more independent than your average teen.  Therefore, Keith and Veronica are not necessarily estranged, but fail to consistently connect with the typical father-daughter dynamic.  They have witty, mature banter and Veronica is always in and out of the house without permission or explanation.  The two are constantly trying to protect each other from something but in more of a sneaky, sacrificial way than a familial allegiance way.  The shot that caught my eye to represent this relationship, was one when Keith and Veronica are driving around town before they witness the deputies harassing kids.  The camera is posed in the back seat of the car and we are looking out the windshield with Keith and Veronica.  It was very reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde (Penn 1967), thus communicating that Keith and Veronica are more partners in crime reunited, than daughter visiting her father.  Both of these shots are surprisingly hard to find pictures of, so I apologize.  Otherwise I would be able to support my theory more!  If I find any, I will edit the post and put them up.

In regards to Veronica as a female role model and heroine, there is a lot to be discussed here.  First of all, Veronica is obviously a strong female lead.  She is independent and sassy and never seems at a loss for words.  She knows how to handle herself and even in a pinch, she relies only on herself.  She gives up her outward, potentially phallic weapon in the form of her stun gun, and instead punches her female foe, Madison in the face.  She is maturing in a weird way in that she has moved beyond male-centered weapons to defend herself against Madison.  Although when she is trying to escape Cobb, she must resort to her stun gun defense once more.  She needs the extra aid to deal with the male presence, but not the female.

Throughout the whole film, Veronica is consistently dodging men’s sexual advances on her.  While their attempts at seduction mixed with her blunt dismissals provide adequate comic relief, they are also consistently pointing out her femininity.  We cannot forget she is a female.  What is nice is we do not hate her or judge her for the attention she gets, but some may.  For example, when Veronica becomes frustrated with the creepy guys hitting on her, Ruby mocks her sarcastically while saying something along the lines of, “Oh are too many guys hitting on you?  Poor thing.”  The film and the story never forgets the novelty of Veronica’s femininity.  While her strength is made all the more novel because she is a woman, she is still subjected to the (admittedly poor portrayal) of men’s sexual advances.

Veronica also never fails to forget her femininity herself.  She changes her clothes to portray her retreat into her hard-edged self which turns out to be appealing to Logan.  She also uses her sexual prowess to get information from men who the film portrays as weak to the female aggression, come ons, and advances.  For example, Veronica tricks Sheriff Lamb into giving her confidential police information by pretending she is an alluring newscaster.  Lamb breaks the law for just the hope and chance that a female may be advancing onto him.

What is nice and empowering is Veronica did not dress in a way to emphasize her sexuality in the film and she is presented as a normal, relatable character.  We do not judge her or her decisions because we have the opportunity of seeing her thought processes first hand.  We may not agree with her, but we know she is a flawed hero and we also know (like Veronica accepts at the end), that those flaws are okay.  Running from them does not make them go away.  Veronica’s last speech about how she has been rolling around in the mud so long, that when she washes it off, she does not recognize herself and more importantly, does not like what she sees, let’s us see that even if Veronica is a female that makes mistakes she would rather it be that way.  She is not racked with guilt about Piz or New York and she is happy not running and is happy “being an addict” to her life as she puts it.  Emphasizing this even more is the quick Buffy reference (for those who caught it!!!!).  Upon his surprise arrival to the reunion, Piz is shocked to see Veronica’s sex tape being broadcasted and replies, “You weren’t kidding.  Neptune really is on a Hellmouth.”  I personally love this comparison between Buffy and Veronica because they are so similar, yet reside in different realms.  Both are in California, both have made mistakes with their love choices, yet ultimately end up (sort of) with the secretly self sacrificing bad boy who they never thought they would end up with.  Both are also haunted by broken families and death follows them.  A pointed and accurate comparison on Rob Thomas’ part!  Bravo!

The sex scene with Logan and Veronica was also refreshing in that neither character is exploited.  This is a confusing, tender moment for the two of them and what is means is more important than what we are shown sexually.  We actually see more skin on Logan’s part than we do Veronica’s and it is original for Hollywood standards.  Another pop culture reference that mimics Veronica’s wishes to find out who she is, what she values, and how she functions in society as a female is that of An Officer and a Gentleman (Hackford 1982).  When Logan meets Veronica at the airport in uniform, Veronica asks if Logan is going to carry her through the airport like the famous scene from this film.  An Officer and a Gentleman is all about doing things at your own pace and finding your integrity.  The film showed Veronica integrity and respect in their portrayal of her and refuse to expose her and exploit her sexually even in her weakest moment where it would be the easiest.  Although Logan does carry her through this scene, Veronica is rejuvenated and able to regain her drive to impact the world.

The parting thought I will leave you with is what about Veronica’s choice to stay in Neptune?  Was she choosing her old life over her new one?  Or was this really all about Team Piz versus Team Logan?  Can we reconcile Veronica as a strong female hero if she gave up a potentially successful career where she may have been happy (we cannot know for sure) for a guy?  My parents liked to point out that the time and money commitment that would be realistic for Veronica’s move and schooling, made it extremely shocking that Veronica gave up that life.  They said they felt it was out of her character and they mirrored Keith’s disappointment.  I personally was always Team Logan, so I was pretty happy with the outcome!  But what are we to make of Veronica’s choice?  What does it mean for her as a character?