Riff Raff

With significantly more talk than action, Riff Raff has difficulty ramping up its tension or escalating its stakes.

It doesn’t help that the lost-soul eccentrics are so unsympathetic in this dark crime comedy-thriller from director Dito Montiel (Empire State), which squanders a top-notch ensemble cast with a labored script that’s only intermittently edgy or amusing.

For the most part, it’s a domestic drama, set during the holidays, about secrets tearing apart an already dysfunctional family. It takes place primarily at a secluded house in the Maine woods during a seasonal getaway for a precocious teenager (Miles Harvey) and his widowed mother (Gabrielle Union), along wih Vincent (Ed Harris), the older man she’s since married.

They are interrupted by an unannounced overnight visit from Vincent’s estranged son, Rocco (Lewis Pullman), and his pregnant girlfriend (Emanuela Postacchini), who seem to be fleeing some kind of trouble with Vincent’s caustic ex-wife (Jennifer Coolidge), who arrives unconscious.

“I’d sell my left tit for an Advil and a cup of coffee,” she barks once she finally comes to, serving to inflame an already discomforting reunion for which the irascible Vincent isn’t eager to play referee.

Skeletons gradually emerge from the closet amid a maze of cloudy motives, shifting loyalties, and violent outbursts, with distrust simmering beneath the surface.

It turns out Rocco had a recent run-in with ruthless criminal Lefty (Bill Murray) and his young sidekick (Pete Davidson), who have a history with Vincent he’s been trying to escape. A second, even less welcome, reunion seems inevitable.

The film tends to rely on quirks and caricatures rather than meaningful character depth, and in the process never provides sufficient incentive for emotional investment in these misfits thrown together by a combination of fate, fractured relationships, and past misdeeds.

The screenplay by John Pollono (Stronger) features a couple of dandy twists in the final act, although it struggles to maintain a consistent tone or deeper moral complexity.

Murray and Davidson supply a welcome burst of energy into the otherwise dreary proceedings, while Harris and relative newcomer Harvey generate some intriguing dynamics through the lingering guilt and hostility.

Mostly resembling warmed-over Tarantino, Riff Raff occasionally sparks to life yet winds up muddled and inconsequential.

Rated R, 103 minutes.