THE REVENANT
Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Screenplay by Mark L Smith and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Based On The Novel By Michael Punke
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio; Tom Hardy; and Domhnall Gleeson
A frontiersman named Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s is on a quest for survival after being brutally mauled by a bear.
It is over 2:30 minutes and it is exhausting!!! It is gorgeous!! It is violent!!!
Let me break it down for you with no spoilers.
Well lets start with the actors!!!
DiCaprio Four Oscar Nominations!!
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
The Aviator
Blood Diamond
The Wolf Of Wall Street
(Wait a minute how did he not get nominated for the Departed???!!!)
Zero wins!!
This performance has to be the one. The winner. If not, I do not know what he has to do. In fact this may be the best performance by a lead actor this century. This performance as Hugh Glass is extraordinary. As you can tell by the trailer DiCaprio's character is mauled by a bear (An excruciating 5 minute scene that has you hiding your eyes). Then left for dead, and at that point he brings you in to a journey that is painfully excruciating to watch. The camera is up against his face and it becomes almost a silent film as we follow him on his journey for revenge. I wanted him to just pull out his cell phone and call Uber!!!
Now we come to Tom Hardy. I have said on past blogs that Tom Hardy is one of the best actors in the world. Don't believe me? Watch this. Here as Fitzgerald, he embodies this trapper who has no sense of right and wrong which makes him so dangerous. Just sometimes a look or a grunt can send chills off the screen. His problem here is DiCaprio's performance is so good he may be lost in that big shadow at Oscar time for a best supporting actor nomination. I hope not. He already was ignored for a Golden Globe Nomination.
And real quick note. Another fine performance by Domhnall Gleeson as the loyal Captain Andrew Henry. Lets see: Brooklyn; Ex Machina: Starwars The Force Awakens; and now this, yes he has had a very good year.
Now for the film itself.
Inarritu gives us the most realistic film you may have ever seen about frontiersman. As usual it gives you the Inarritu touches we are used to with as few cuts as possible, in fact as the camera switches scenes into the trees sometimes it is dizzying. He makes every shot realistic by showing the beauty of the frontier and at the same time he shows us how unforgiving it is.
Faults?
Editing. Inarritu does have an ego (We all have heard stories of how excruciating it was for the actors while filming this movie in the snow), and at 2 hours and 30 minutes I am sure someone told him to cut it down a bit. Especially some of the moments while Dicaprio's character was making the hike alone, which definitely could have been left on the cutting room floor..
One of my problems with Inarritu and it may be his ego again is he cannot just let a film end with a clean ending. Here, like Birdman, he has to throw in some mystical odd thing to make it all deeper. It is not necessary. Now I did not read the book maybe he was just following the book. Still at the end I thought..That Is Inarritu being Inarritu.
I do not know if this is a fault or more of a warning, but this film is very violent. With many scenes that may have you turning your head away, from arrows shot into a head. Limbs cut off. Scalping. Animals being cut open. This film is more violent then The Hateful 8. So beware if you plan on seeing it.
Well I did my best with out spoiling the film for you. I give it 4 1/2 out of 5. This is a hard film because I may not want to see it again, and movies that I love I can watch over and over again. Maybe I just need some time and space away from it. It is one of those movies you say to people: "It is really good. Beautiful. But very hard to watch!"
MY WORST FILM OF 2015: RICKI AND THE FLASH!!!!!!!!!!
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Screenwriter Diablo Cody
Starring Meryl Steep; Kevin Kline; Rick Springfield; and Mamie Gummer
A musician, (Streep) who gave up everything for her dream of rock-and-roll stardom returns home, when her daughter is going through a tough time..
There had to be a place in time while making this film that Jonathan Demme thought.."UHOH!!"
I bet the studio kept thinking "Yeaaaaah But We Have Streep!"
Meryl Streep. I know it is Streep!! So miscast.
Diablo Cody. I know it is Diablo!! How did she write something so bad and corny. It is missing Diablo's quickness and her bite.
They try to throw an umbrella around this thought process of...if a man (Jagger) can leave his family to pursue a music career? What can't a woman? No!!!!! You can do both!!!!! Jagger was successful over a long period of time. Ricki was literally a flash in the pan. There is no reason she cannot do both. And it does not make Jagger right either he can do both. UGH!!!!!!! Look up Pat Benatar!! Carole King!!! They did both!!! I wonder if that angle was added to the film to try to fix things by giving it a meaning. To make Ricki look like less of a jerk. Fail.
There is a break up, played by Streep's real life daughter Mamie, she was so unpleasant. Now I saw her this year in one of my favorite films The End Of The Tour. She was on the screen for that film for maybe 15 minutes. She did a better job in that 15 minutes then was she did through out this whole mess. Here she is just plain annoying.
Streep as Ricki was unpleasant and cannot sing and it was hard to watch. Of course they thought...well it is Streep, we got her, she can do anything. AAAAAHHHH, NO SHE CANNOT!! Close to cringe worthy.
In fact other than Kline everybody in Ricki's family is unpleasant.
It is fun to watch to watch Rick Springfield, but I don't get his characters attraction to Ricki and they had absolutely no chemistry.
Then throw in a corny awful ending, involving a wedding.
This film is hard to even sit through, just bad.
4-HOT PURSUIT
Directed by Anne Fletcher
Screenplay by David Feeney and John Quaintance
Starring: Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara
An uptight police woman (Witherspoon) tries to protect the widow of a drug informant as they race through Texas pursued by many a bad guy.
So much went wrong here. Bad jokes. Bad plot twists that are just ridiculous. A grating Sofia Vergara. I am wondering if Sofia Vergara is a one act actress. Playing the same part over and over again. And if that is true her one act is getting old, it is not funny anymore. Reese Witherspoon, at one point she dresses as a boy. This is not funny and it almost feels cringe worthy. I could go on and on giving you scenes that were suppose to be funny and just fall flat. This is a mess.
The strange thing is the funniest moment did not come from the leading ladies it came from Jim Gaffigan as a righteous farmer.
During the credits they show us outtakes from this film. The outtakes show many laughs between the two leads, sadly it seems they had more fun making the film then I did watching it.
The Number 4 Worst Film Of 2015 Hot Pursuit.
3-SISTERS
Directed by Jason Moore
Screenplay by Paula Pell
Starring Amy Poehler and Tina Fey
Two sisters decide to throw one last house party before their parents sell their family home.
I had three films that were in the top three all along and I kept switching them, I could not decide what should be number one. So tonight I etch in stone...or Laptop ...or blog.
This film is shockingly bad. Shockingly not funny. Shockingly unrealistic. Shockingly irritating.
Lets watch a bunch of 30..something...40 something adults act annoying and throw a party.
Soooooooooooo many jokes fall flat.
Bright spots? The second time this year John Cena shows up in a comedy (Trainwreck) and gets many a laugh. In this film he gets the only laughs.
This film is really bad and I wanted to walk out half way through. Then out of desperation they try to throw in the I learned to be a good mother card. No!!!
All year long I kept blogging this is the year in film for women. So many good movies with women in the lead. Then this which came at the end of the year. So bad and sad.
Not even worth a look on home video when it comes out.
Number 3 Worst Film Of 2015 Sisters
2-GET HARD
Directed by Ethan Cohen
Screenplay by six writers
Starring: Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart
When multi-millionaire James King (Ferrell) is found guilty for fraud and is sent to San Quentin, he turns to Darnell Lewis(Hart) to prep him before he goes to jail.
Boy as you can tell by my list it was a bad year for comedy. Think about it. Only Amy Schumer succeeded. Many of these failures at comedy were big time actors like this one. I mean you have Ferrell and Hart. How can it go so wrong???!!
The film was criticized for racist material. I did not see that. I think the film leans more toward a white person being oblivious and clueless because he seemed to work and live behind walls.
Six writers. I mention that because six writers were involved and this film did not have many laughs, which is shocking. It was more cringe worthy than funny. One scene at a gay diner, I think that is what it was, was just hard (no pun intended) to watch, it was not funny, and borderline homophobic. It was lazy writing with waaay to many coincidences and a rushed ending that seems like it was thrown together.
The film came across as lazy and two actors picking up a check while having some fun together.
SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE
Directed by Leslyle Headland
Screenplay by Leslyle Headland
Starring Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie
A good-natured womanizer (Sudeikis) and a serial cheater (Brie) form a platonic relationship that helps reform them in ways, while a mutual attraction sets in.
You know where this is going in the first 5 minutes. That is okay. I can be a sucker for a charming love story. The problem here is the getting there part. Sudeikis is annoying as hell. He is much too old to play this part, or to be behaving like this. He is 40!!!!! Brie, I did not watch Community, this is the first time I have seen her and she comes across as cute. Lainey is a school teacher and seems to like children...but beyond that she is just has no personality or no likable traits. So there, as a viewer you are left with, two unlikable people talking about sex, and that is suppose to be funny, but it almost seems odd and creepy.
Well it had the ending that I thought the film would be heading to, but that is not enough. 1 1/2 stars out of 5 for Sleeping With Other People. Ugh I just spent two days on this awful story.
THE WALK
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Screenplay by Robert Zemeckis and Christopher Browne
Based on the book by Philippe Petit
Starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Charlotte Le bon
Twelve people have walked on the moon, but only one man - Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - has ever, or will ever, walk in the immense void between the World Trade Center towers. Guided by his real-life mentor, Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), and aided by an unlikely band of international recruits, Petit and his gang overcome long odds, betrayals, dissension and countless close calls to conceive and execute their mad plan.
I really loved the documentary Man On A Wire. I just thought because of that, this film was unnecessary. Boy was I wrong!!!!
Loved it!! Petit, played wonderfully with pure body language by Levitt (not as much dialect), is a character meant for the movies. He is big. His personality is big. His dreams are big. He is wacky, I mean you have to be wacky to pull off this stunt.
A wonderful performance by Le Bon as Annie, who I have not seen before, but she is adorable and never questions his sanity. She is his perfect mate and incredibly you believe her.
Zemeckis makes this a fun watch. It is almost like a heist film that ends with a maestro on a wire conducting a one man orchestra, that being Petit. Also in the bigger picture it is the love and the beauty of the towers and the sadness that they are gone.
Faults...two big ones I think. I think Levitt is very good but why not a French actor?! Levitt's broken French is slightly distracting. Yes I know it is suppose to be broken English but it feels off. Also, we spent 2 hours with these characters why not finish with an updates on them,,,where are they now?
4 1/2 out of 5 for The Walk. I was sad that this film did not do well on the big screen, trust me worth a look at home
SICARIO
Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Screenplay by Taylor Sheridan
Starring: Emily Blunt; Josh Brolin; Benicio Del Toro
This is a very hard film to review. I always say...no spoilers here...so I will give it my best shot.
The "War" on drugs. We hear it on TV all the time. This film shows us that...it is a freaking war on drugs. Yes this is a thriller and a little bit of a mystery, but all in all it is a war movie, or maybe an old style western. It asks the question how far do you go to get the bad people?! Do you break laws? What bad guys do you have to get into bed with to get even the worst of the worst guys? It is also political, yes okay some people want open borders. Okay....but what about the drugs that are being run into the US? What to do? This film show us the difficulty of such a "war on drugs".
The screenplay by Sheridan is wonderful with a slow build. The direction by Villeneuve is very close to perfect with lighting and pace and grit...you, as a viewer, almost feel the heat and dirt coming off the screen.
Emily Blunt is getting a lot of props for this role. She is good here, but it seems she often does not have a lot to do except watch and question until the climatic ending. I think Brolin is fantastic!! Del Toro as Alejandro is amazing. You are constantly questioning WTH is he here for??!! He is quiet and always watching, speaking real quiet. Supporting Actor Nomination candidate I hope.
4 1/2 stars out of 5 for this slow building, maybe upsetting story, of how far do we go to get the head of the snake.
THE VISIT
Directed by M Night Shyamalan
Screenplay by M Night Shyamalan
Starring: Kathryn Hahn; Olivia Dejonge, Ed Oxenbold; Deanna Dunagun, and Peter McRobbie
A single mother sends her children to Pennsylvania to visit their grandparents. Then things go ....strange.
This film does not work without fantastic performances:
Dunagun and McRobbie as the confused and odd grandparents. Fantastically strange.
Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbold as the brother and sister who come for their first visit to meet their grandparents. They are a brother and sister who get along real well, which is rare in cinema, directors and screenwriters always seem to want brothers and sisters to clash. This was refreshing. In fact the film is seen through DeJonge's camera lens. She sees herself as a future director. She uses this visit to record and narrate and do interviews trying to find out more about her family history (of course families always have secrets). I found this reason to always be filming to be believable. Also, they are good kids, even though their grandparents are acting real odd, they still show respect to them and try to be patient.
M.Night's best picture in years!! The trailer is deceiving. The trailer comes across as a horror film, it is more of a mystery suspense film (I fear people will think it is a horror film and feel they have seen this before and not go). What works here, as noted before, the acting, and the slow build of suspense in this isolated house. This film is also layered with a lot of humor which has not been seen in many of his past films (He lightened up a bit), highlighted by Oxenbold's character, he is hilarious.
Here comes the caps...YES AS ALWAYS IN HIS FILMS THERE IS A TWIST!!!!! AND IN THIS ONE....IT IS HUUUUUUUUUUGE!!! IT COMES ABOUT AN HOUR IN...AND I WAS IN THE THEATRE AND MY HANDS WENT IN THE AIR AND COVERED MY MOUTH AND SAID OH CRAP OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!! IT MADE THE WHOLE THEATER GO NUTS!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!
Now the film rolls along nicely until that twist. Then these kids start doing stupid things that drive you nuts. Like even doing nothing. At that point the film dropped a couple notches.
4 out of 5 stars for this fun...odd film. Yes there are some holes in the plot but you can see past them. DO NOT READ OTHER REVIEWS BECAUSE THEY MAY HAVE SPOILERS!! Plus, like I always say..critics are sheep and beating up M Night is a common thing to do. Do not read those critics...this film is scary fun At 93 minutes it is a nice surprise and does not overstay it's welcome. It is interesting that M.Night used his own money to produce this and took 2 weeks to edit the film by himself. He was not going to let anybody else get their hands on it.
THE PERFECT GUY
Directed by David Rosenthal
Screenplay by Tyger Williams
Starring Sanaa Lathan; Michael Ealy; Morris Chestnut
After breaking up with her boyfriend (Chestnut), a professional woman (Lathan) gets involved with a man (Ealy) who seems almost too good to be true.
Okay he is too good to be true , you can see that from the trailer.
Let me got the positive out of the way: I felt all the characters never acted like idiots, which you get often in these types of films. You end up hollering at the screen when the woman decides to take psycho boyfriend back. Here Lathan's character, Leah, shuts the door when Ealy's character, Carter, shows violence. I like that during the movie Lathan mostly does everything smart.
However there are many a problem with this film:
Ealy. I thought it was interesting that they cast him in this role. He is known throughout Hollywood as one of the nicest guys, so the casting of him against type makes it believable that she would get sucked into his charm. However, when Carter, Ealy's character, becomes stalkerish, and puts on a menacing face, it looked like he was trying too hard. I laughed often at this weird menacing look with his head down and his eyes looking up. At one point the Inspector Renkin (played wonderfully by John Getz) said that Carter is just like a robot. I wanted to stand up and say: "Yes he played one in the TV show Almost Human and he was great"! Ealy was just miscast here. That is not saying he is a bad actor in fact I think he is a really good actor, I mean Streep was miscast this summer in Riki And The Flash. It happens.
So okay what we are left with? After that fight scene, which we see in the trailer, we get...Ealy watching...Lathan going through her day to day life while looking scared. Ealy watching...Lathan living her life. Then there is that big finale we know was coming, but it feels like it has been done before. All this just makes it an okay movie.
A couple last notes: Morris Chestnut is on the poster but is barely in the film which is wrong. Plus the biggest sin is you have one of the greatest actors of all time in Charles S Dutton in this movie and only use him for 5 minutes!!!! You have Charles S Dutton!!! You do some rewrites to get him in the movie more!!!
2 1/2 stars out of 5. Right down the middle. I think it would be a fun film to watch when it is available for home viewing but on the big screen...you have seen this film before.
7-SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE
Directed by Leslyle Headland
Screenplay by Leslyle Headland
Starring Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie
A good-natured womanizer (Sudeikis) and a serial cheater (Brie) form a platonic relationship that helps reform them in ways, while a mutual attraction sets in.
You know where this is going in the first 5 minutes. That is okay. I can be a sucker for a charming love story. The problem here is the getting there part. Sudeikis is annoying as hell. He is much too old to play this part, or to be behaving like this. He is 40!!!!! Brie, I did not watch Community, this is the first time I have seen her and she comes across as cute. Lainey is a school teacher and seems to like children...but beyond that she is just has no personality or no likable traits. So there, as a viewer you are left with, two unlikable people talking about sex, and that is suppose to be funny, but it almost seems odd and creepy.
Well it had the ending that I thought the film would be heading to, but that is not enough. Pass this one by.
Number 7 SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE
6 OUR BRAND IS CRISIS
Directed by David Gordon Green
Screenplay by Peter Straugham
Based on the Doc by Rachel Boynton
Starring: Sandra Bullock; Billy Bob Thornton; Anthony Mackie; and Juaquim De Almeida
An American woman, Jane (Bullock) well-versed in political campaigns, is sent to the war-torn lands of South America to help install a new leader (De Almeida) but is threatened to be thwarted by a long-term rival (Thornton).
This film is not good. In fact it borderlines on real bad.
The script is boring. The cast almost looks bored as they seem to move slow, almost sleep walking through the scenes. Yes it is boring but also...I did not care. I did not care about anyone in this film. Plus, watching a campaign? I can watch that on TV. I try to avoid doing that!!! Politics can be dirty and I know that. I don't care enough to watch it on the big screen.
Now the end. No spoilers here. However we already know politicians who make promises on the campaign trail, often cannot fulfill those promises. I think we are suppose to think that Bullock's character has an epiphany after seeing certain things. I again did not care.
Pass this one by.
Number 6 OUR BRAND IS CRISIS
5-PAN
Directed by Joe Wright
Screenplay by Jason Fuchs
Starring Hugh Jackman; Levi Miller; Garret Hedlund; Amanda Seyfried; and Rooney Mara
12-year-old orphan Peter (Miller) is spirited away to the magical world of Neverland, where he finds both fun and danger, and ultimately discovers his destiny -- to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan.
This film is a mess.
It is dark, starting with an orphanage and then an island of kids looking for pixie dust or something.
It is just a mess, dark for kids and boring for adults. The story is awful. Jackman looks like he stepped out of some broadway show singing in a costume that is as ridicules as his character. He even breaks out in Nirvanna song. Yes you read that right, him and children singing Nirvanna music. This is a bad story and a bad look. The director Joe Wright (maybe he was trying to be anotherr Baz Luhrman} who last directed the awful Anna Karenina, seems to have become all style and no story, and here the style is too dark. He should never be given a boatload of money to spend again, maybe he is better, aka when he directed Pride And Predjudice, with films on a smaller scale.
This was a 2015 big budget bomb.
Here we go with the worst of 2015. Movies to avoid at home!!!
10!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TOMORROWLAND
Directed by Brad Bird
Screenplay by Brad Bird; Damon Lindelof; and Jeff Jensen
Starring: George Clooney; Britt Robertson; Raffey Cassidy; Tim McGraw; and Hugh Laurie
Brad Bird....(Incredibles and Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol) missed here and should be kind of ashamed that he let Disney misrepresent a movie, and he has to have some pull at Disney. Shame!
The Tomorrowland in the posters is only in the beginning and later on you see it and it is much different. You want to take your children? Go ahead if you want them to see police officers get disintegrated into dust. Or let them try to figure out the plot which is way over their heads and they will get bored because the last half hour is a lecture on what the film is about. Adults you want to see this? Be prepared for really bad green screen work and be prepared to be lectured because what this film is all about is an agenda to tell you how lazy and fat you are and how the world is coming to an end soon because of that.
I detest this movie. The only reason this is not higher on the list is because Britt Robertson and Raffey Cassidy give wonderful performances.
The 10th worst film of the year TOMORROWLAND.
9!!!!!!!!!!!!
A WALK IN THE WOODS
Directed by Ken Kwapis
Screenplay by Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman
Based on the book by Bill Bryson
Starring: Robert Redford; Nick Nolte; and Emma Thompson\
Bryson (Redford), after a funeral, decides life is fleeting away so he decides the best way to connect with life is to hike the Appalachian Trail with one of his oldest friends Katz (Nolte). Much to the chagrin of his wife Catherine (Thompson).
I had many other movies going through my head while watching this. Wild, thinking they are going for a challenge by hiking a trail. Wild was much better. Marigold Hotel, facing the mental struggles of getting old and what to do with the time that is left. Marigold Hotel did it better. Sideways, two friends on an adventure (In fact one scene reminds you of Sideways, involving a pair of underpants). Sideways did it better.
This film just lays there. It just cannot find its tone. The conversations are boring, and often have no connection to the plot. I did not read the popular book, but people rave about it, which makes me think they could not decide how to fit all of that book into a film in less than two hours. The screenwriters failed. They did not start walking until 45 minutes in (as opposed to Wild which started right away and then showed us flashbacks on why she is taking the trek).
The look!!!!!! Baaaaad green screen work. I just do not understand, how we get beautiful pictures from the trail in the credits but the decision was made to use a green screen during the filming. Maybe they spent all their money on the stars.
Nolte, coming off a fine performance in Run All Night, is badly miscast here. Not for a minute did I believe he could do this for over thirty days (or even a day).
The 9th worst film of the year A WALK IN THE WOODS.
8!!!!!!!!!
IT FOLLOWS
Direction and Screenplay by David Robert Mitchell
Starring: Maika Monroe
A high school students life gets turned upside down after a sexual encounter. Jay (Monroe) finds herself plagued by strange visions and the inescapable sense that something is following her, or chasing her that only she can see. She gets help from friends as they try to figure out how to stop the visions before they catch her.
So now I get to It Follows. Critics were going nuts over it. So I was pulled in.
What the heck was this?! I cannot explain to you how boring this film was!
I did not think the, whatever they were, chasing Jay were scary.
The ending was blah.
I was stunned that critics loved it.
I was watching trying to figure out what they loved. The grainy look, like Halloween films? The actress Monroe?
I started this blog as sorta the antisnobbby critic. This film is one of the reasons. I sometimes wonder if critics are sheep. In which, maybe the top 3 critics love a film and the rest of the "lower rung" critics follow them and say they like a film, so they do not feel less or not as bright or not as astute as those more popular critics. Well no matter what the sheep say, do not waste your time.You will thank me.
YOUTH (gets released on a larger scale on the 8th of January)
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Screenplay by Paolo Sorrentino
Starring Michael Caine; Harvey Keitel; Rachel Weiz; Paul Dano
A retired orchestra conductor is on holiday with his daughter and his film director best friend in the Alps when he receives an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip's birthday.
Pretentious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was sucked in by the trailer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By the sheep that gave this fantastic reviews!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The film goes on and on and on (I left during the credits and somebody was singing...so for all I know it could still be going on). I wanted soooo bad to like it.
This film can suck you in with little bright spots and then it leaves a subject and introduces a new character. Then it moves on again. Then you are sucked by something humorous and then it breaks away to imaginary actors. It has absolutely no rhythm. At one point Jane Fonda come in like she came in from another movie or stage playing Norma Desmond (And no she does not deserve an Oscar Nom for 5 minutes of crazy on screen). Don't worry about her character however... like a lot of the characters in this film...it is not important. They move on and on and on to someone else. I am thinking Paolo was trying to be quirky, but it all fell flat.
Good Points:
The spa looked beautiful.
Word is spreading for a Oscar for Caine. I disagree, I do however think it was Rachel Weiz's best performance in years!
When Caine and Keitel are walking and talking and Caine and Dano are walking and talking it seems pleasant enough.
There are a couple really good moment and some funny moments. Out of the 120 minutes....that will be about 10 minutes.
So we come to critics again. How can this film be getting such good reviews? I go back to the sheep factor. They cannot and will not go against the grain. They think this is so deep and smart it has to get a great review, like all the other critics/buddies write. They forget.....people pay to go to the movies!!!!!!!! They want to be entertained. They want to learn something. They want emotion!! Most moviegoers, not all, don't care about how deep it is with imaginary actors on a hill. Per example: We see over and over again a husband and wife eating and not talking. It is funny at first and then after seeing that scene over and over again it is sad. And then we see this old couple having sex against a tree. And that is the last we see of them. I am sure there is a deep meaning there but....I did not care!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted it to focus on Weiz or Dano.
2 out of 5 stars ...with the two stars being for Weiz and the 10 minutes of entertainment. This is the type of film that gives art houses a bad roll your eyes name. Go to an art house and support small films!! Go see Brooklyn. Room. Carol. Skip this one and watch when it come to home viewing if you must watch. It is a shame, because there is something here about looking back and longing for youth, but this got bogged down by a pretentious script.
As always thanks for your time from the shadows.
Now if you had the misfortune of seeing this here is how I will fix this boring arty mess because I wanted it to work:
Harvey Keitel's movie can go. That along with his film workers and Jane Fonda.
Dano's Hitler can go.....yes he dressed as Hitler.
The couple who do not talk needs to be seen only once.
The pee jokes can go...they got no laughs
The heavy rock star can go with the tattoo on his back
The guy who floats (yes you read that right)
With all this gone. You have an Hour and a half film about two friends (Keitel and Caine) an actor (Dano) a daughter (Weiz)...all staying at a spa for a week and talking about life changes and getting old and longing. Like Before Sunset series. Trust in the actors. Throw in more humor like this line that was in the movie: Weiz-I am great in bed I do not know why he left me. Caine: I know Weiz: How do you know. Caine: Your my daughter. Lines like that were funny. Or a funny video of a modern singer which was ridiculously funny. In other words fine a tone!!
