The Reader
Instant drama, just add nazis. This seems to be the formula this movie is working around. I'm pretty sure this is also the reason it won an award since Kate Winslet's performance is nothing more than average. Of course, the acting still stands out since "average" is way too high a bar for this film to touch.
I honestly don't know why this movie recieves such good press, since it's so spectacularly dull. One of the problems is that every single character lacks any kind of attachment to anything. It's one thing to have one character who's detached and alone in the world, but when your entire cast is this, it makes it hard for the audience to make any kind of connection or care themselves.
The film also suffers from all kinds of pacing issues, as it takes a little more than 1.5 of its 2 hours to find any sort of stride. This hurts the film even more since you don't really get attached to the characters, so waiting more than half the movie to find out why things are happening feels a little like waiting for the bus: the only gratification you receive is the relief at no longer waiting in the cold.
While this movie is clearly intended to be an emotional drama with touching elements, it fails at every single turn. Watching it, there are many times you know you're supposed to feel something... but you don't. Kate Winslet's performance isn't particularly moving or gripping and things take so long to happen the emotional impact invariably dies along the way.
Another problem i had with this movie is in its fumbled attempts at a setting. While the movie itself takes place after wwii, it uses the holocaust to try and prop up the plot. The main problem with this is that the movie doesn't try and create any emotional response in doing this, but just simply expects it. What's worse is the choice of the holocaust is horrifyingly arbitrary. The holocaust itself is not important to the plot and the situation's not explored enough for it to even matter. The only reason the holocaust seems to be used at all is because you, as the viewer, are supposed to just feel instantly saddened and/or angry by it, yet conflicted due to your knowledge of Kate Winslet's character. This in turn is clearly meant to allow you to identify with the conflicted male lead (Ralph Fiennes) and hence better understand his non-response that follows. But you won't, because the emotion isn't evoked, only expected. This is not just hackish, it's offensively hackish. One wonders if the usage of other historical wrongs would be just as "acceptable" to the audience. I'm going to go ahead and assume no... with very good grounds.
Now, you might think i'm callous for saying all that, but you're wrong. History in itself is not dramatic (at least, not in the sense you want for a story). It's the characters interactions in history that make the drama (and it takes all kinds). You can't simply evoke the holocaust and expect emotion in the audience... yet that's exactly what this movie does!
(Cue angry comments and accusations of antisemetism).
At any rate, i look forward to the time when we, as a society, can move beyond the holocaust as the sole source of human drama in history. I'm sure the flood of 9/11 movies are only a few years away.
Ultimately, while i don't want to spoil the plot, i don't really think it's anything special. Kate Winslet does an ok job; too bad the rest of the film can't quite hold her up a little higher.
Now i'm left with a bit of a conundrum myself: do i use a horribly tasteless joke for my "rating system" or just leave it off with a letter grade? Well, since i'm probably being cursed at by any number of overly-sensitive people already as an insensitive racist jerk, i'll keep my rating simple:
D for dull. See why i'm only doing one picture now? As i wish writers would realize sooner than later: not everything is better with nazis!
Next up, Pixar's Up.
Pixar's UpDispite the pic, this movie is not a disaster. In fact it's quite a touching film about dreams and moving on in life. It challenges the viewer to reflect on their own lives and think about what's really important to them, just as the main character, Carl (Edward Asner), of Up. It's kind of sad that a movie marketed to children (but aimed at everyone) evokes more emotion than The Reader, which is clearly aimed at adults. Also, less nazis.
Well Up is certainly everything The Reader is not, it's certainly nothing special. The problem is, it just doesn't stand out - at least compared to other Pixar films.
A large degree of the plot is derived from the hastily thrown up setting that shows that Carl was once happily married, but after the death of his wife had fallen into a seemingly never-ending state of depression. Despite the rushed nature of it, the intro is actually done quite well and establishes Carl as an identifiable character who has simply never learned to move on with his life. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of all the characters in the movie.
While most of the background characters are given strong characterizations and motivations for their actions, the main villain of the movie seems to have been left out. Not only does he lack any real motivation for hating the heroes (apparently, he's just gone nuts - that's even the movies explination), the entire reason he and the heroes are put at odds to begin with is because of the inclusion of a mysterious "monster" that serves no other purpose than to be a point of contention.
Now, i admit this is just nitpicking, but it's one of those things that really bugs me. Why is it that villains today are written with the sole idea of them being mindlessly evil? Is it really that hard to think of adequate villain motivation that doesn't just amount to "crazy and violent"?
To be fair, Up's primary story is interesting and the villain's purpose is just to add some conflict to what would otherwise be a linear trip. It's still worth a mention, though.
Anyway, it's a good film, just not a great one. I personally found WallE to be a much more enjoyable film on the whole with much more touching scenes. Also, 3D adds nothing (except perhaps dickish-level piracy protection - STOP MAKING US PAY MORE FOR YOUR PARANOIA!). Save your cash and watch it in 2D.
My rating? 99 (of 140) luftballons: B.
It's better if it's not C.
No comments:
Post a Comment