Post by Fickle81 on Oct 5, 2005 19:41:01 GMT -5
Let me start out by saying that this is NOT the masterpiece that everybody is saying it is...not by a long shot. In fact,its probably my least favorite film that I've seen in theaters this year.
Firstly,this film was mis marketed...its not a thriller by any strech of the imagination...not in structure,not in anything. Its a drama film with brief spurts of violence and sex. Now thats out of the way,lets move on.
Its a good thing I decided to let the movie sink in before I wrote the review,because if I wrote it right after seeing it,I would have given it a 3.5/5. The movie has a lot to say at all,but due to its mis mal marketing,I found it overall to be quite bland...the movie can say or make all the social commentary it wants to,but if it doesn't do a good job of entertaining me,there ain't gonna be much love there for what the movie is trying to communicate.
Having said that,I did like the interesting mix of the brief intense violence with the movie's dramatic nature. I also got a hoot out of William Hurt's character who provided me with a few Frank Booth moments. I found Tom Stall to be a very sympathetic character which Viggo portrayed very well. Acting is on the ball in thie film/
Now for the technical flaws...in the very beginning,what was the point of having the guy drive up to the motel office when it was a few mere feet away from where the car originally was?
There was one instance of editing that I didn't approve of. It starts with Tom closing up the store and being picked up by his wife to go have some private sex,which ends in them napping late at night in bed...then it goes to their son hanging out with his supposed girlfriend when its still night...finally we have Tom back in the store closing up for the night,when the two robbers come in and shit hits the fan. I know thats not what the intent was,but I'm not gonna just assume that the robbery attempt happened the next night...I don't want to. There should have been some kind of day scene to fill the void...maybe Tom coming in to work and talking to his co workers about his previous night's sexual experience...SOME kind of day scene needed to be in there to better structure the timeframe.
Ed Harris's character was too nice and cordial for somebody who wanted payback on somebody for taking his eye with barbed wire...nuff said.
There were also a couple of bits of uneeded/redundent dialogue. The main example is when Tom/Joey got to his brother's house and said "nice house",then when they pulled up front he says "nice gate"...no shit? You just got done saying it was a nice house,so what makes you think the gate wouldn't be nice too?
I'm giving this film a 4/5...but barely
4/5
Firstly,this film was mis marketed...its not a thriller by any strech of the imagination...not in structure,not in anything. Its a drama film with brief spurts of violence and sex. Now thats out of the way,lets move on.
Its a good thing I decided to let the movie sink in before I wrote the review,because if I wrote it right after seeing it,I would have given it a 3.5/5. The movie has a lot to say at all,but due to its mis mal marketing,I found it overall to be quite bland...the movie can say or make all the social commentary it wants to,but if it doesn't do a good job of entertaining me,there ain't gonna be much love there for what the movie is trying to communicate.
Having said that,I did like the interesting mix of the brief intense violence with the movie's dramatic nature. I also got a hoot out of William Hurt's character who provided me with a few Frank Booth moments. I found Tom Stall to be a very sympathetic character which Viggo portrayed very well. Acting is on the ball in thie film/
Now for the technical flaws...in the very beginning,what was the point of having the guy drive up to the motel office when it was a few mere feet away from where the car originally was?
There was one instance of editing that I didn't approve of. It starts with Tom closing up the store and being picked up by his wife to go have some private sex,which ends in them napping late at night in bed...then it goes to their son hanging out with his supposed girlfriend when its still night...finally we have Tom back in the store closing up for the night,when the two robbers come in and shit hits the fan. I know thats not what the intent was,but I'm not gonna just assume that the robbery attempt happened the next night...I don't want to. There should have been some kind of day scene to fill the void...maybe Tom coming in to work and talking to his co workers about his previous night's sexual experience...SOME kind of day scene needed to be in there to better structure the timeframe.
Ed Harris's character was too nice and cordial for somebody who wanted payback on somebody for taking his eye with barbed wire...nuff said.
There were also a couple of bits of uneeded/redundent dialogue. The main example is when Tom/Joey got to his brother's house and said "nice house",then when they pulled up front he says "nice gate"...no shit? You just got done saying it was a nice house,so what makes you think the gate wouldn't be nice too?
I'm giving this film a 4/5...but barely
4/5