![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Movie catch-up
So, I'm not dead, and I will probably be spamming a bit to get caught up.
First off, I actually saw more than one movie in a six-month period, so here's my commentary.
Getting the problems with the movie out of the way first...
1) It was TOO LONG. Now I normally prefer movies that take time to actually build up the conflict and piece together a plot, but looking back, the same story could have been told with half an hour less time. Seriously.
2) Piggybacking off the first one, there's a difference between a twisty thriller and a plot that ties itself into pretzels. Jackman and Bale's characters are constantly trying to one-up one another, but then the movie keeps trying to one-up itself. It reaches a point where you get tired of the twists. I liked Nolan's Memento because the big twist WAS the final twist - here, you get to what you think is the final twist and, oops! no, there's something ELSE. In fact, I think the only reason I actually figured out the final secret ahead of time (although I initially dismissed it as being way too easy) is because the movie spent so damn much time throwing out silly twists.
3) The flashbacks to Colorado took up too much of the movie; seriously, aside from the bits with Tesla, there was too much time spent watching Angier and Borden reading and writing in diaries.
What I liked:
1) The whole cast was awesome. Seriously, neither Borden (Bale) nor Angier (Jackman) are likable at all near the end - you reach a point where you can't believe what these two will stoop to, especially Angier - but I couldn't stop watching. I just had to find out how it would end, and that was in no small part due to the intensity of both of the leads. Bale and Jackman keep you watching, and Michael Caine - who plays one of the most sympathetic characters who's actually in on most of it - keeps you caring.
2) Watching how they set up the tricks, the misdirection and invention behind them, was fascinating. I might rent it again just to review the mechanism behind the disappearing bird trick to get a better idea of how it worked.
3) Now while I complained about an overabundance of twists, I will say that before it became overkill, the turns and misdirections were just FUN. Especially since the plot, like the magic tricks, is all about misdirection. We're never lied to by the movie. It just distracts us from other things. Heck, the very first shot hints at one of the major secrets of the film.
And more recently, but with less spoilers because spoiling the ending would be cruel. And I don't want to spoil it because I really, really liked the film a lot more than I expected to:
I'm purposefully not mentioning the ending of this film at all because knowing how it ends will seriously affect one's emotional reaction to it.
So the only thing I didn't like about this film was the waste of Queen Latifah. Seriously, her character didn't get that much to do, and I'm seriously wondering if they didn't cut out a LOT of her scenes. You'd think that she'd get a lot more mileage out of playing the beleaguered writer's assistant, since just handling Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson) and just keeping her on task must be a herculean effort at best.
That aside, the premise of Stranger Than Fiction attracted me more than anything. I'm not a big fan of Will Ferrell, really, only in small doses, but I just liked the idea too much to allow the casting to put me off. And I'm glad I went. This has to be the first Will Ferrell film that has ever made me cry.
Ferrell plays it straight as Harold Crick, a harmless, lonely guy who suddenly falls head-over-heels for a baker (Maggie Gyllenhaal, who's just adorable) and, partly as a result of the sporadic narration, starts to actually live his life and come out of his shell. Of course, it's not easy; at one point, taking the advice of a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman) on how to break out of the story, Harold starts marking up points towards comedy and tragedy and concludes that his life is the latter.
And, of course, when he realizes WHO the author is and that she always kills her main characters off, he doesn't want to die. We don't want him to die. Will Ferrell's most appealing when he's vulnerable. What makes him really appealing is that he's just crushed at the tragedy of his life - and then goes to turn it around instead of wallowing in it. Bizarrely, the wrecking ball that hits his apartment by accident (because the construction workers didn't check the street number) turns out to be something of a blessing. So just when Harold is really starting to make something of his life, to come out of his shell, of course it would be cut short - such is the nature of a great tragedy. But Harold's not going to accept that.
A lesser movie would have spent an hour with Harold desperately trying to track down Karen, but the movie's too smart to put that off and Harold is too smart not to figure out how best to find her. I was relieved when it didn't devolve into a series of insane and potentially slapstick attempts to get a hold of her and cut right to the chase.
The film doesn't really bother to explain HOW Karen could be writing about a real person unknowingly and affecting his life, which works for the better. Although Karen does wonder about it herself, asking her assistant "How many people do you think I've killed?" after meeting Harold and breaking down in stunned shock at coming face to face with someone who she thought was a creation of her own imagination.
Which sets up a question, and the end of this review because I'm not touching the ending: Is it right to sacrifice Harold for a meaningful death, for a masterpiece of tragedy?
I complained about the length and pacing of The Prestige earlier, and Stranger Than Fiction also moves at a sedate pace and is nearly as long. Yet the latter never gets bogged down as the story within a story within a story unfolds. If you're the type to cry at movies, you'll probably tear up near the middle. If you're the type to get hungry, eat before seeing it. I came out of the theater seriously craving a cookie.
Anyway. Need to wake up.
First off, I actually saw more than one movie in a six-month period, so here's my commentary.
Getting the problems with the movie out of the way first...
1) It was TOO LONG. Now I normally prefer movies that take time to actually build up the conflict and piece together a plot, but looking back, the same story could have been told with half an hour less time. Seriously.
2) Piggybacking off the first one, there's a difference between a twisty thriller and a plot that ties itself into pretzels. Jackman and Bale's characters are constantly trying to one-up one another, but then the movie keeps trying to one-up itself. It reaches a point where you get tired of the twists. I liked Nolan's Memento because the big twist WAS the final twist - here, you get to what you think is the final twist and, oops! no, there's something ELSE. In fact, I think the only reason I actually figured out the final secret ahead of time (although I initially dismissed it as being way too easy) is because the movie spent so damn much time throwing out silly twists.
3) The flashbacks to Colorado took up too much of the movie; seriously, aside from the bits with Tesla, there was too much time spent watching Angier and Borden reading and writing in diaries.
What I liked:
1) The whole cast was awesome. Seriously, neither Borden (Bale) nor Angier (Jackman) are likable at all near the end - you reach a point where you can't believe what these two will stoop to, especially Angier - but I couldn't stop watching. I just had to find out how it would end, and that was in no small part due to the intensity of both of the leads. Bale and Jackman keep you watching, and Michael Caine - who plays one of the most sympathetic characters who's actually in on most of it - keeps you caring.
2) Watching how they set up the tricks, the misdirection and invention behind them, was fascinating. I might rent it again just to review the mechanism behind the disappearing bird trick to get a better idea of how it worked.
3) Now while I complained about an overabundance of twists, I will say that before it became overkill, the turns and misdirections were just FUN. Especially since the plot, like the magic tricks, is all about misdirection. We're never lied to by the movie. It just distracts us from other things. Heck, the very first shot hints at one of the major secrets of the film.
And more recently, but with less spoilers because spoiling the ending would be cruel. And I don't want to spoil it because I really, really liked the film a lot more than I expected to:
I'm purposefully not mentioning the ending of this film at all because knowing how it ends will seriously affect one's emotional reaction to it.
So the only thing I didn't like about this film was the waste of Queen Latifah. Seriously, her character didn't get that much to do, and I'm seriously wondering if they didn't cut out a LOT of her scenes. You'd think that she'd get a lot more mileage out of playing the beleaguered writer's assistant, since just handling Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson) and just keeping her on task must be a herculean effort at best.
That aside, the premise of Stranger Than Fiction attracted me more than anything. I'm not a big fan of Will Ferrell, really, only in small doses, but I just liked the idea too much to allow the casting to put me off. And I'm glad I went. This has to be the first Will Ferrell film that has ever made me cry.
Ferrell plays it straight as Harold Crick, a harmless, lonely guy who suddenly falls head-over-heels for a baker (Maggie Gyllenhaal, who's just adorable) and, partly as a result of the sporadic narration, starts to actually live his life and come out of his shell. Of course, it's not easy; at one point, taking the advice of a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman) on how to break out of the story, Harold starts marking up points towards comedy and tragedy and concludes that his life is the latter.
And, of course, when he realizes WHO the author is and that she always kills her main characters off, he doesn't want to die. We don't want him to die. Will Ferrell's most appealing when he's vulnerable. What makes him really appealing is that he's just crushed at the tragedy of his life - and then goes to turn it around instead of wallowing in it. Bizarrely, the wrecking ball that hits his apartment by accident (because the construction workers didn't check the street number) turns out to be something of a blessing. So just when Harold is really starting to make something of his life, to come out of his shell, of course it would be cut short - such is the nature of a great tragedy. But Harold's not going to accept that.
A lesser movie would have spent an hour with Harold desperately trying to track down Karen, but the movie's too smart to put that off and Harold is too smart not to figure out how best to find her. I was relieved when it didn't devolve into a series of insane and potentially slapstick attempts to get a hold of her and cut right to the chase.
The film doesn't really bother to explain HOW Karen could be writing about a real person unknowingly and affecting his life, which works for the better. Although Karen does wonder about it herself, asking her assistant "How many people do you think I've killed?" after meeting Harold and breaking down in stunned shock at coming face to face with someone who she thought was a creation of her own imagination.
Which sets up a question, and the end of this review because I'm not touching the ending: Is it right to sacrifice Harold for a meaningful death, for a masterpiece of tragedy?
I complained about the length and pacing of The Prestige earlier, and Stranger Than Fiction also moves at a sedate pace and is nearly as long. Yet the latter never gets bogged down as the story within a story within a story unfolds. If you're the type to cry at movies, you'll probably tear up near the middle. If you're the type to get hungry, eat before seeing it. I came out of the theater seriously craving a cookie.
Anyway. Need to wake up.
no subject
no subject