The Laundromat
Netflix | Release Date: September 27, 2019
5.5
USER SCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 68 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
23
Mixed:
35
Negative:
10
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User Reviews

User scoreBy dateMost helpful
4
eagleeyevikingOct 21, 2019
While "The Laundromat" starts at the right foot, it soon devolves into a wildly disjointed mashup of unrelated scenes.
1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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4
amheretojudgeOct 19, 2019
A heist? More like robbing you in front of your eyes. And by you, I mean you. Reading this.

The Laundromat The director Steven Soderberg is famous for sugar coating a bitter script into a magical bean. That's sort of his resume. He directs.A heist? More like robbing you in front of your eyes. And by you, I mean you. Reading this.

The Laundromat

The director Steven Soderberg is famous for sugar coating a bitter script into a magical bean. That's sort of his resume. He directs. And just as some famous directors (only directors) he relies, obviously, a lot on the writer. Unfortunately, tonight's not the night for Soderberg. That is not an excuse or defend for the director. I am not lawyer-ing for him, since he chose to work on the script with a big star in his pockets. I am defending him for I am with him, completely on his work. Usually while reading a script, something clicks and you see those words in a certain way. Hopefully, no one has ever seen.

Now you want to put your personal spin on that storyline and characters that will hook the audience lickety split. And if I was in his seat, I would too struggle a lot to hone this based-on-real-events crisis. But then maybe that's why he is Soderberg and I am.. Anyhoo, this brings back to where we started. The film doesn't stay true to anything. It never reaches the "Oh! This is that kind of a film" moment. And when it does and it does, late, right before the last act. It is clearly too late.

Despite well edited so called "small talks" and hilarious scenarios, the film doesn't capture the humor as it needed to. It is referred to, as being a wannabe Adam McKay's The Big Short, but it actually isn't. McKay's bibliography might as well be thrown out since it's not going to be useful for anyone but him. His unique touch is not Midas but a McKay's touch. The gold that Soderberg digs here had a wrong map, motivation and might I dare, even the hosts. And I mean, every actor present in The Laundromat.… Expand
1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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0
Ko09iju7Oct 20, 2019
It is sad to see these actors end once respectable careers, peddling their pitiful political agenda. #1 Movie is Boring #2 Meandering #3 Story line suggests an agenda, but doesn't clearly state the case. Bad, Bad Movie.
1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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8
ChelseaVicNov 1, 2019
Nicely and mischievously done. clever script as the revelation about the writer and director indicates.
1 of 1 users found this helpful10
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6
FilmreactiviewOct 18, 2019
THE LAUNDROMAT
Unfocused plot execution makes it a mess!
Release October 18th, 2019 on Netflix Audience REACTIONS at its North American PREMIERE:
1 of 3 users found this helpful12
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1
mark7787654Oct 5, 2019
Meryl Streep, a very talented actress needs to just make movies and quit trying to cram her personal political beliefs down the audience's throat. Very disappointing in this movie.
1 of 3 users found this helpful12
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4
BHBarryOct 24, 2019
“The Laundromat” stars Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas and a host of other “A List” actors in cameo roles that I’m sure all of them wish they had never filled.
This movie, written by Scott Burns and directed by Steven Soderbergh,“The Laundromat” stars Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas and a host of other “A List” actors in cameo roles that I’m sure all of them wish they had never filled.
This movie, written by Scott Burns and directed by Steven Soderbergh, is simply not a good film and ranks among Ms. Streep’s lowest endeavors, almost equaling her disasterous participation in Mamma Mia (except here at least she doesn’t sing).
In an unnecessary and very patronizing narrative, Messrs. Oldman and Banderas talk and walk us through the film as they explain to the audience the basics of economics and the skill of creating and maintaining off shore corporate entities. Mr. Oldman in particular, portraying a German born lawyer with a bad hairpiece, is an annoying distraction as he wanders in and out of the accent he has so much difficulty in trying to maintain. Both Mr. Oldman's make-up person and dialect coach should have been replaced since neither did their job well. This, coupled with so many other flaws, adds to the viewer’s general discomfort. To make matter worse, there are many inconsistencies and plot problems in the film all supporting the fact that it simply does not work. I give the film a rating of 4.0 and suggest that the writer and director “clean up” their act (pun intended).
Since the film is concurrently being exhibited both on Netflix and theatrically, I suggest streaming it in order to save lots of time and expense.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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3
PdfortuneOct 19, 2019
Too much story to tell well in an hour and a half. Soderbergh is a pretty weak director, and proves it again. A lot of great actors, but the stories that make the whole aren’t in depth enough to satisfy. The end gets political, but feelsToo much story to tell well in an hour and a half. Soderbergh is a pretty weak director, and proves it again. A lot of great actors, but the stories that make the whole aren’t in depth enough to satisfy. The end gets political, but feels out of place.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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5
tropicAcesOct 20, 2019
Incredible cast and nice color palette, but aimless and gets more and more on-the-nose and in-your-face as it goes; the final shot of the film in-particular actually made me angry.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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4
migdalorguyOct 26, 2019
So many possibilities, such a poor result. I was really rpoting for this movie. I was disappointed. A truly stellar cast, a clever approach to the topic. But it totally fails to deliver more than a milquetoast slap on the wrist, and doesn'tSo many possibilities, such a poor result. I was really rpoting for this movie. I was disappointed. A truly stellar cast, a clever approach to the topic. But it totally fails to deliver more than a milquetoast slap on the wrist, and doesn't inspire the deep anger it should.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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4
JLuis_001Oct 30, 2019
It wastes its cast and wastes the story.
It tries a lot to be like The Big Short but the satire is not adequate at all because it's not funny and also fails to be as scathing, insightful, and smart as that film was.
Sometimes things don'tIt wastes its cast and wastes the story.
It tries a lot to be like The Big Short but the satire is not adequate at all because it's not funny and also fails to be as scathing, insightful, and smart as that film was.

Sometimes things don't work out but this is a sad waste coming from Soderbergh.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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10
mbhiiiSep 19, 2021
This film is about a complicated form of corruption degrading all our lives in varying degrees. Making that at all intelligible and even, to some extent, an enjoyable production, deserves the highest rating, in part for art, and the rest forThis film is about a complicated form of corruption degrading all our lives in varying degrees. Making that at all intelligible and even, to some extent, an enjoyable production, deserves the highest rating, in part for art, and the rest for raising consciences of those of us otherwise in the dark.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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4
Mauro_LanariOct 21, 2019
(Mauro Lanari)
Soderbergh's glaciality can be as searing as a fire inferno or as fruitless as a sterilized area, and a single image from the last episode of the apocalyptic "The Knick" (2015) is more thrilling than this acrobatic financial(Mauro Lanari)
Soderbergh's glaciality can be as searing as a fire inferno or as fruitless as a sterilized area, and a single image from the last episode of the apocalyptic "The Knick" (2015) is more thrilling than this acrobatic financial policy pamphlet. It recalls the drift of Abel Ferrara, who relegated himself from the philosophical-theological vein to that of the Pasolinian-type civil commitment.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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8
HollywoodGleeNov 27, 2019
Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brokovich, Magic Mike) reunites with writer/producer, Scott Z Burns (The Informant, The Report) in The Laundromat, starring three-time Oscar-winner, Meryl Streep, as Ellen Martin. MartinOscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brokovich, Magic Mike) reunites with writer/producer, Scott Z Burns (The Informant, The Report) in The Laundromat, starring three-time Oscar-winner, Meryl Streep, as Ellen Martin. Martin is enjoying a wistful vacation with her husband when a tragic boating accident on Lake George happens. Martin is bereft yet manages to keep a positive outlook as she engages in meetings with her lawyer to discuss her financial options regarding her husband's life insurance and wrongful death settlement.  Martin plans to use the settlement money for a down payment on a condominium overlooking the Las Vegas strip. Actress Sharon Stone makes a cameo as a pent-up, high strung, real estate agent who delivers a searing blow to Martin's plans. Bewildered and befuddled, Martin sets out to discover whom and what is behind these financial shenanigans she's encountering. All roads eventually lead to a Panama City law firm, Mossack Fonseca, and two lawyers, Jurgen Mossack, played by Oscar-winner Gary Oldman, and Ramon Fonseca, portrayed by Golden Globe nominee, Antonio Banderas.

 

 

The film is adapted from Secrecy World by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter
Jake Bernstein and is based on true events emanating from a 2016 journalistic whistleblower release of 11.5 million documents, known as the Panama Papers, containing pages of dubious and nefarious transactions designed to protect and enhance the wealth of the world's richest people. Hats off to Soderbergh and Burns in taking a very dark subject and turning it into comedy. Allowing Oldman and Banderas to portray Mossack and Fonseca in comedic characters enables the subject matter an easier digestion.

 

 

Oldman and Banderas provide an abundance of comic relief with voice-over narrations and appearing on-screen as the dapperly-dressed legal counselors. The duo attempt to justify their actions as they hilarious provide background information on how our financial system came to into existence and what all people have in common - money. Their explanations as to why they did what they did involve vignettes in China, Africa, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands and wind up ending in Panama as they ultimately reveal the various and sundry illicit and absurd actions such as bribery, murder, and tax evasions the super-wealthy engage themselves in to support the world's financial system and protect themselves from losing wealth. Streep delivers an exceptionally solid performance as Ellen Martin and manages to deliver the finest moment in the film without missing a beat.

The Laundromat follows a number of films dealing comedically with the dark matter of our current financial system. Adam McKay's 2015 Oscar-winner The Big Short (Best Adapted Screenplay) and Martin Scorsese's 2013 AFI Movie of the Year, The Wolf of Wall Street readily come to mind. Yet, Soderbergh captures a moment in time without most audience members realizing what is taking place on-screen. And, like Scorsese and McKay's work, The Laundromat artfully and skillfully provides an exquisite commentary on more than just the current state of our world's financial system. Hint: It's in the details. One of the year's most important films. Highly recommended.… Expand
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4
ehuismanApr 19, 2020
Honest in its intentions, but poor in execution, The Laundromat lets a lot of stardom go to waste. The extravagant portrayal of tax evasion undercuts the seriousness of this problem, turning both perpetrators and victims into caricatures.Honest in its intentions, but poor in execution, The Laundromat lets a lot of stardom go to waste. The extravagant portrayal of tax evasion undercuts the seriousness of this problem, turning both perpetrators and victims into caricatures. What sticks is how eager its makers are to push their unsubtle ideology onto their audience, climaxing into Streep's finale rant on campaign financing laws - which has very little to do with the problem at hand. Because these views are so aggressively communicated, they are ultimately not communicated at all.… Expand
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5
JayDaviesJul 21, 2020
Good performances from Gary Oldman & Antonio Banderas but really just an all over the place film. Feels like it’s trying to imitate The Big Short just a little too much. Defnntely some wasted casting in Meryl Streep, David Schwimner, JeffreyGood performances from Gary Oldman & Antonio Banderas but really just an all over the place film. Feels like it’s trying to imitate The Big Short just a little too much. Defnntely some wasted casting in Meryl Streep, David Schwimner, Jeffrey Wright and James Cromwell. It was fine, just fine, it’s ok for a Netflix Original but no one really needs to go out of there way to see it. Nuff said

5/10 Jay x… Expand
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3
NickTheCritickApr 18, 2022
The premises for this film may well be good but Soderbergh lingers too long and ends up making a film that is too light, self-complacent and a little superficial. A film that reminds me of McKay's.
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