The Wrestler(dir. Darren Aronofsky)
Maybe I spoke too soon when I declared this would probably be my favorite film of the year and if I learned anything from last year(and this year as well) is that you can't judge a film by its trailer. So when this movie turned out to be a disappointment, it was perhaps unsurprising. The film's major problem outside of Aronofsky's intentional downsizing his role, at least visibly, is the script. The characters outside of Randy are pretty much cardboard cutouts including his moody and bitchy estranged daughter played by Evan Rachel Wood almost too well and Marisa Tomei's stripper with a heart of gold. Even Randy is something of a joke with the script constantly positing him as something of a saint that wears spandex with young children and essentially everybody involved in the wrestling district being enraptured with him along with his disinterest in T&A during his repeated strip bar visits(he's just there to drinkkk man). Since he's such a great guy, we're supposed to feel really bad when he has to work behind a deli counter instead of being involved in wrestling events where he gets stapled and torn the hell up by barbed wire. Also, all the drama that is generated within the film comes across as a screenwriter's hollow attempts at drama as we're treated to a predetermined fucked subplot with his estranged daughter that I'd immediately write off if it didn't contain one of the best moments of the film and some relationship drama due to Marisa Tomei's character's policy of not dating customers. The crucial heart attack itself is also something of a plot contrivance. Mickey Rourke can be disarmingly sweet throughout the film and I'd understand the praise he's been receiving if he was given some better material.
** out of ****
Showing posts with label average. Show all posts
Showing posts with label average. Show all posts
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Oh Starting Out in the Evening...
Starting Out in the Evening(dir. IDK IDC)
REVIEW PENDING...
** out of ****
REVIEW PENDING...
** out of ****
Friday, May 23, 2008
Oh Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull(dir. Steven Spielberg)
REVIEW PENDING...
** out of ****
REVIEW PENDING...
** out of ****
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Oh Michael Clayton...
Michael Clayton(dir. Tony Gilroy)
A life of a lawyer is a life of excitement or at least that's what this film leads you to believe. Michael Clayton is essentially about a man who opens his eyes to the corrupt system that he has been employed to maintain and similar to Gilroy's most well-known previous work as a screenwriter, The Bourne series, he rebels against this system that made him who he is. You could interpret the film as a parable for us, apathetic Americans, to rise up to the man, but the film lacks the political furor of a Redacted and is just too tastefully made to arouse anyone to action. This interpretation also makes the film's resolution appear to be even more insulting because of its swift and painless ease. Clayton's delayed reaction to the happenings in his environment also seems flat-out foolish due to his intimate proximity to it. It's understandable for Americans living in their cozy homes to be apathetic about the war in Iraq, but if they were there in the middle of the shit, I'm sure they'd wake up and smell the coffee way quicker than this supposedly intelligent attorney. It was ultimately an underwhelming liberal fantasy.
** out of ****
A life of a lawyer is a life of excitement or at least that's what this film leads you to believe. Michael Clayton is essentially about a man who opens his eyes to the corrupt system that he has been employed to maintain and similar to Gilroy's most well-known previous work as a screenwriter, The Bourne series, he rebels against this system that made him who he is. You could interpret the film as a parable for us, apathetic Americans, to rise up to the man, but the film lacks the political furor of a Redacted and is just too tastefully made to arouse anyone to action. This interpretation also makes the film's resolution appear to be even more insulting because of its swift and painless ease. Clayton's delayed reaction to the happenings in his environment also seems flat-out foolish due to his intimate proximity to it. It's understandable for Americans living in their cozy homes to be apathetic about the war in Iraq, but if they were there in the middle of the shit, I'm sure they'd wake up and smell the coffee way quicker than this supposedly intelligent attorney. It was ultimately an underwhelming liberal fantasy.
** out of ****
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