Arthur Newman (2012)
8/10
It's not as simple as it seems ... *spoilers*
11 February 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This movie was almost too much for me. I couldn't go through it at once. I had to stop it around 20 minutes before the end, and continue three days later. No, it wasn't scary, no it wasn't too sad, it wasn't bad, and it wasn't too special, either. It seemed shallow on the surface, but getting deeper and deeper as you peal the layers of the main characters - Wallace/Arthur and Charlotte/Mike. They were too dysfunctional, yet too perfect for each other. It is sometimes weird how not opposites, but similarities attract. And that attraction is much stronger, although with a string of weirdness. It's a way of approving yourself, finding comfort and finding accomplice in being yourself ... Two reasons made me stop. Firstly, the conflict in me caused by the depressive tone of the movie versus the fact that I liked Wallace and Charlotte and on some level justified their actions, especially Wallace's. And second because I knew they have to get apart. That was the only answer. That was the right thing to do.

However, I was happy to see growth in both characters at the end, and the stable and rightful personality of Wallace overpowering his weaknesses and momentary confusion, as well as influencing Charlotte to find that better person in herself.

I didn't really like Anne Heche's character. She was cold, dull and in a way stuck to a routine. Although Wallace seemed boring on the outside, he wasn't with Charlotte. He was daring, funny and passionate. He was in the here and now. Minus the crimes they did, Wallace deserves such kind of relationship.

I'm giving this movie an 8/10. It made me think, it made me re-think some of my personal stuff, it made me more grateful for what I have, even if only for an hour and a half, it made me realize that you can become whoever you want to become, but you can never escape from yourself.

Line that will stay with me: "It's a lot easier to love a dead man, isn't it?"
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