Father’s Day is a few months behind us now, but Sofia Coppola’s new feature — the story of silver fox Felix (played by Bill Murray) and his down-to-earth daughter Laura (Parks and Rec sweetheart Rashida Jones) — is sure to bring up your daddy issues all over again.
On The Rocks has the father-daughter duo borrow a kind of buddy-cop dynamic, as the pair team up to spy on Laura’s husband (played by a dashing Marlon Wayans) and find out just what he is getting up to during his increasingly suspicious business trips. During an in-conversation with the cultural non-profit 92Y back in April, Sofia Coppola (who both wrote and directed the film, naturally) described Marlon’s character as “a successful businessman who is travelling a lot and has a beautiful assistant.” You better not try anything funny with my girl Rashida, pal.
Bill Murray’s character, whom the auteur filmmaker characterises as a kind of “sophisticated playboy”, stokes his daughter’s suspicions with his own frankly lecherous POV. “It’s sort of the clash between the two generations and her being a young woman and he’s a gentleman of another generation,” she explains. “It’s kind of the clash of how they look at relationships and also how your relationship with your parent affects your relationships in your life.”
While the exact release date is still up in the air, On the Rocks is slated to premiere in October 2020 in theaters and via Apple TV+ .