Bucking Fastard review – Herzog’s starry twins soap provokes a syncing feeling

Werner Herzog, a filmmaker renowned for his distinctive and often challenging cinematic vision, has delivered "Bucking Fastard," a fictional feature that, despite its intriguing premise and stellar cast, is largely deemed a critical disappointment. The film, which premiered at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, draws inspiration from the peculiar true story of Freda and Greta Chaplin, identical twins from York, UK. These sisters gained notoriety in the 1980s for their uncanny ability to speak in unsettling unison and for a highly publicized court case involving the harassment of a neighbor. Herzog transplants this narrative to Ireland, reimagining the Chaplin twins as Jean and Joan Holbrook, portrayed by real-life sisters Rooney Mara and Kate Mara. The Mara sisters, known for their versatile performances in films like Rooney's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and Kate's "House of Cards," lend their considerable talents to these comically interdependent characters whose lives are depicted as spiraling in "loopy directions." Despite moments that elicit laughter, the review characterizes "Bucking Fastard" as a "dud," a film that "systematically wastes the audience’s time" and the actresses' abilities. The narrative's aimlessness is a central criticism, with the reviewer feeling as though the film "making it up as it goes along, losing its way, line by line, scene by scene." The plot further involves Orlando Bloom, an actor with a diverse career spanning the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise and "The Lord of the Rings," as a roguish neighbor who becomes entangled with the Holbrook sisters, with Herzog imagining their relationship as a "short-lived throuple." Adding another layer to the drama is Domhnall Gleeson, an Irish actor recognized for his roles in "Star Wars" and "About Time," who plays a caring social worker. Gleeson's character attempts to guide the sisters toward less dysfunctional lives after they relocate from the scene of their "sexual resentment and legal shame." The film's title, "Bucking Fastard," is revealed to be a spoonerism, a playful linguistic error, that the real-life Chaplin twins uttered during their trial. This detail underscores the film's focus on the twins' peculiar nature, but ultimately, the review concludes that "Bucking Fastard" is a "silly, pointless drama" that fails to resonate, a rare misstep from the otherwise unique Werner Herzog.