This movie was a huge "meh". In terms of style, it's an exact copy of Juno except at night, and Michael Cera's even in it. That's not a bad thing per se, as I loved Juno, but it keeps the movie from feeling even remotely fresh. It's also incredibly ironic in that it feels like they're trying to turn the "indy" label popular. The story is decently interesting but suffers from "who would act like this?" syndrome, and the jokes fall flat. It's entertaining, but there's nothing you can really take out of it, which makes it barely even worthy of a rent.
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This is really on the borderline between four and five stars. On the one hand, the acting is brilliant and the story is captivating. I never lost interest and was always wondering what would happen next, and the revelations about Kate Winslet's character were elegantly handled.
On the other hand, this movie suffers from something that has always annoyed me greatly in storytelling: when two characters don't communicate for no justifiable reason, when just talking a little bit would clearly improve both of their lives considerably. It's just plain stupidity from both characters, and is in my opinion a sign of lazy writing. Obviously, the end result is a touching story, but it comes at the cost of frustration while watching the movie.
Apart from this, and the filmmakers' obvious love of excessive on-screen nudity, this remains one of the best movies this year. It will make you think for days.
On the other hand, this movie suffers from something that has always annoyed me greatly in storytelling: when two characters don't communicate for no justifiable reason, when just talking a little bit would clearly improve both of their lives considerably. It's just plain stupidity from both characters, and is in my opinion a sign of lazy writing. Obviously, the end result is a touching story, but it comes at the cost of frustration while watching the movie.
Apart from this, and the filmmakers' obvious love of excessive on-screen nudity, this remains one of the best movies this year. It will make you think for days.
Maybe it was because I was expecting a mediocre movie, but I rather liked this. It captures the essence of the plot and of its results perfectly, although in a rather dramatized fashion (Hitler is clearly depicted as subhuman, creepy music and all). The cinematography was rather good, the acting was very good (Tom Cruise was great), the music was great, the costume design was wonderful and the story was captivating.
It got some criticism for being lacking in terms of action, but this is a primarily political story and adding crazy gunfights would have diluted the incredible tension and doubt that surrounds the characters' actions. This is actually what surprised me most about the film: despite knowing exactly how everything ends, it still kept me on the edge of my seat. Great work there.
All in all, while this isn't Oscar material, it's still a great movie!
It got some criticism for being lacking in terms of action, but this is a primarily political story and adding crazy gunfights would have diluted the incredible tension and doubt that surrounds the characters' actions. This is actually what surprised me most about the film: despite knowing exactly how everything ends, it still kept me on the edge of my seat. Great work there.
All in all, while this isn't Oscar material, it's still a great movie!
I was a bit reluctant to post this one considering the title and themes, but I figured I might as well. This actually wasn't half bad. The usual random nudity and overzealousness in regards to sex is present as in most movies of this kind, but it manages to sometimes be rather cunning and not skew too far off the moral path. The ending is a feel-good and morally sound one, but at its core, it is not something you can expect to happen in real life (everything ties up too nicely). In that sense, you can't really take anything tangible out of this other than entertainment. It's better than a normal teen movie, which isn't saying much, but if that's the kind of movie you feel like watching, I'd definitely recommend this one.
Morally, this is a very unique and thought provoking movie, but it is also quite odd in that there is no actual conclusion. Everybody makes of it what they want to make of it, and although I can see how some people would dislike this, I was really intrigued. The acting and writing were both superb (I especially liked Seymour Hoffman for being both genuinely lovable and genuinely untrustworthy at the same time) and the cinematography and sound were both good. I also liked the pacing, as the movie kept its calm, quiet, slow atmosphere without feeling overdrawn or dull. A very good movie that provides the grounds for some interesting soul-searching and interpretation.
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- I watch a ton of movies and TV Shows and play a ton of games, which is rather unproductive. So, I have decided to review as many things as I can, to at least get something that might be useful to others out of it. Sorry if I end up bashing a movie you like, as I'm in critic mode when I write here. In reality, I can enjoy every movie, even zero star ones! Hope you enjoy the site!
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