Coup!
Written and Directed by Joseph Schuman and Austin Stark
Starring Peter Sarsgaard, Billy Magnussen, Sarah Gadon
Runtime 98 minutes
In theaters August 2

by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

Coup! hardly needs the exclamation point in its title as this lukewarm comedy about class warfare is more tedious than exciting. Moreover, the satire is as broad as the performances.  

This film, written and directed by Austin Stark and Joseph Shuman, takes place in 1918 America, when the Spanish Flu is causing everyone to quarantine. Jay Horton (Billy Magnussen), a muckraking journalist whose columns criticize President Woodrow Wilson, is living in “absolute isolation” with his wife, Julie (Sarah Gadon), and their two young children in his Egg Island estate. With him is his small “staff”—he graciously does not call them “servants”—including Mrs. McMurray (Kristine Nielsen), Mrs. Tidwell (Skye P. Marshall), and Kaan (Faran Tahir). 

Enter Floyd Monk (Peter Sarsgaard), the new cook, who is really a cuckoo in the nest. Monk is less inclined to follow the rules that Jay and Mrs. McMurray both painstakingly lay down for him. In fact, Mr. Monk practically twirls the mustache he clipped in the film’s opening sequence—which also features him kissing a dead body—as he single-handedly alters the lives of anyone who gets in his way. 

Coup! soon becomes a game of one-upmanship between Jay and Monk. Jay forcefully requests that Monk does not use his pool; and Monk finds every opportunity to swim in it. (If the film was really nasty, Monk would piss in it). 

First Monk encourages Mrs. Tidwell and Kaan to ask Jay—who ironically, writes about being on the workers’ side—for more money and better living conditions. Then Monk starts charming Julie and the children, who enjoy Monk’s penchant for fun and misbehavior. Meanwhile, Jay is busy inflating his ego; Upton Sinclair (Fisher Stevens) has called him effusing praise.

The sole conceit of this film, then, is that the crafty Monk will get the best of the pompous Jay, and the humor stems from watching Jay slowly lose his mind along with his job, his home, and his family. But the comedy is largely uninspired, with step and repeat scenes of Jay wanting Monk to leave and Monk staying and causing more disruption. What comes across best is the reckless ambitions of both men. Jay and Monk each defraud others to get what they feel they deserve. The parallels between them are more interesting than their antagonism. 

Much of Coup! is setting up Jay to do what he adamantly refuses in order to survive. When food becomes scarce, and Jay, a vegetarian who denounces the taking of any life, insists he will go hunting for meat, Monk makes the kill and gives Jay the credit to save face with his family. Jay is too blind to see the trap being set, so of course, it comes back to humiliate him at the worst possible moment. But even seeing how the pieces will fall into place, it still is not particularly funny.

The mugging of the actors can only provide so much charm. Billy Magnussen makes the priggish Jay comical—when he thinks his columns are saving lives—or as he becomes unhinged and starts to go mad. But a scene where he jumps nude in the pool after hitting rock bottom lacks the emotion Jay feels. Sarsgaard, for his part, delights in being mischievous. It is fun to watch Monk being disrespectful of Jay or Julia, refusing to stand when either enters the room, and he has no conscience about corrupting the children with gambling or seducing Jay’s wife. 

Overall, the comedy feels muted, and the film have been more raucous, or farcical as a real tension develops between the guys. There is a reason, eventually revealed, why Monk is seeking revenge on his employer, and it justifies Monk manipulating everyone and everything he can. But curiously, viewers may find themselves rooting for Jay, not Monk—a fatal flaw for a film about class struggle.  

Coup! is more toothless than ruthless.