A Bit of Marshmallow: The Veronica Mars Movie

After seven long years, we finally got another chapter in the life of Veronica Mars, snarky detective with a hidden heart of gold. The Veronica Mars movie hit screens and computer screens simultaneously on Friday, 14 March (also, notably, Pi Day), to what turned out to be rather mixed response from long-time fans (who call themselves ‘Marshmallows’) and a disappointing box office performance. Two things need to be evaluated when it comes to Veronica Mars: was it a successful movie? And was it a successful experiment in crowdfunding a film production?

When Rob Thomas and friends first took to Kickstarter to ask people to crowdfund a production of Veronica Mars, they set their goal at two million, and blew through it on the first day. As the millions piled up, so did ambitions for the scope of the film, and so did attention from other filmmakers as well as critics. Crowdfunding, some argued, could be a funding model for the future…or it could represent a disaster for filmmakers and studios in a world where people might contest their roles in the production of a film and studios could let directors take the risk for films rather than taking it on themselves.

In a distribution agreement with Warner Brothers, Veronica Mars got publicity and limited release on some US screens after it was completed, in what effectively would be a win for the studio. If the movie flopped, it wouldn’t have invested that much, and thus wouldn’t have much to lose. If it did well, and/or boosted sales of the television series it was based on, Warner Brothers would be sitting pretty; and prepared to make a possible sequel.

If box officer numbers remain where they are, Veronica Mars won’t break even. If there’s a sudden uptick in sales, it could become a sleeper hit; but for that to happen, Warner Brothers probably needs to increase advertising and get the film out on more screens. With a limited number of places to see it, it’s not as readily accessible as other films, even though it can be downloaded and viewed that way. Moviegoers in the US are traditionalists, and they want their big screen experience. The simultaneous theatre and digital release was a gamble, and it may not pay off.

Was the movie itself a success? Veronica Mars brings viewers into the Veronica of the future, a self-confident attorney about to land a high-powered job in New York, living with her boyfriend Piz, creating a life for herself. She’s far from Neptune, California, and she’s left her old life behind…or so she thinks, until an ex calls her up, asking for help with a murder accusation. She’s drawn right back into life in Neptune as she uncovers a complicated mystery that runs well into the past and has entangled a large chunk of the police force in a network of bribes, kickbacks, and corruption.

Veronica sits at a crossroads in the film, faced with the choice of turning her back on Neptune (as her father urges her to do, wanting her to get out of the town and make something of herself) and slipping under the temptingly seedy waters of her hometown. Her eventual choice probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to filmgoers, and it also sets the film up for a sequel—albeit, one that doesn’t seem very likely.

Newcomers to the franchise seemed to enjoy the movie, and I noted that many people on Twitter talked about wanting to watch the TV series or give it another try after seeing the film. Marshmallows, however, seemed unsure about how to feel.

Veronica Mars had numerous inside jokes and references which became more and more apparent with each re-watching, creating an essentially endless scroll of comforting familiarity for fans that also rewarded them for being loyal followers. Viewers not as familiar with the franchise didn’t seem to feel excluded or bothered by these references, which is a sign of an artfully inserted bit of fan service; Thomas was evidently able to hit the sweet spot of tipping his hat to fans without alienating newcomers. Thomas also clearly knew where long-term loyalties lay in terms of the love triangle that lies at the centre of the television series, and made sure that Veronica ended up with the ‘right’ boy at the end.

Yet, there were missteps in the film. It included much less class commentary than the original television series, which was a crying shame, especially given the times. Veronica Mars came out right before the real estate crash and subsequent recession, making it a particularly incisive, sharp, and necessary indictment of class issues because it rode the crest of the wave, highlighting that these issues have always been present and weren’t brought about by the recession. The film, however, contained few references to class and seemed to be more about fame and popularity, and the classmates who never left Neptune and turned into tragic people trying to relive their glory days.

This made many of the characters feel one-dimensional and dull, which was beneath Thomas; historically, even Veronica’s enemies were at least creative and had depth. The only characters who had really undergone growth and change were Veronica and Logan, who, not coincidentally, were also the stars of the drama. Veronica’s father seemed much the same, Wallace was trapped as the high school basketball coach, and Mac had become a computer programmer at Kane Software.

In essence, no one had really changed, and rather than being a real projection into a life ten years in the future, Veronica Mars was more like a sad parody of any number of other films about pathetic high school reunions. Given that the film itself was a reunion of sorts for the actors, it’s a pity they didn’t have a stronger and more complex script to work with; instead, Veronica Mars was in many ways a very mundane mystery veneer layered over a love story.

The one place where Veronica Mars showed some gusto was in two very brief moments: one when Veronica and her father encountered racial profiling and stop-and-frisk in the streets of Neptune, and they talked about gentrification and the new sheriff, and another when Weevil was shot by Celeste Kain and then framed as a gang member. Neither storyline really seemed to go anywhere, though; though the sheriff’s office was depicted as corrupt, it became more about stymying Veronica (as usual) than about the deeper flaws of an agency that exploits and abuses the community.

Did I like it enough to watch it again? Yes. But this Veronica Mars didn’t hold a candle to the first two seasons of the television show, which were transcendent, brilliant, and incredibly well-developed.