Oh Empathy...

Code 46(dir. Michael Winterbottom)
Wonderland and 24 Hour Party People were near-masterpieces in my mind so I was definitely taken aback with A Mighty Heart with it's excruciating blandness(I'm starting to feel I might have overrated it with my ** rating). This film, unfortunately, doesn't take me back to the esteem I had for him prior to seeing that Angelina Jolie Oscar baiting extravaganza. It is quite bland much like that film, but it's not nearly as painful to watch since it doesn't reek of being a vanity project for any of it's lead actors and doesn't strive to be "socially important" by being "topical." This film has some fleeting moments of brilliance, but as a whole, it's a pretty frustrating experience. The biggest problem lies with it's two lead actors, who aren't bad, they're just bad for each other. Since this story is a romance, chemistry is crucial and while there are some glimpses of it throughout, there's just not enough of it to make the film truly engaging. It's sci-finess wasn't really all that interesting and the story dwells on it consistently because if it didn't, you would start to wonder why it's even a sci-fi movie. It's story reminds us of Blade Runner with it's forbidden love in a futuristic society theme and if you compare the two, Blade Runner easily comes up on top with it's beautifully extravagant imagining of the future and a romance that actually has chemistry. I say it's better than average but not by much.
**1/2 out of ****