5 stars for realism, acting and simplicity... -5 stars for story, or lack thereof and confusion.
I am okay with movies that sometimes not a lot happens in them, but having some sort of edge, like a tone, or something that is enjoyable, like funny characters, dialogue etc. E. G. Lost in Translation. Even Days of Heaven was enjoyable with very little happening.
This is very Sean Baker'ish and Noah Baumbach. A slice of life, and while I like Sean Baker's films, he always seem to miss adding SOMETHING, ANYTHING, to spice it up a bit. Although Baumbach does the same type of films, he seems to do a better job and making his films (for the most part) interesting. My biggest issue with Hollywood films is it's all action/effects/violence etc, and my biggest issue with Indie films its all characters and relationships, and very little happens. Such as the instant case.
You basically have to guess what is going on or infer a bunch of things, which is fine to some extent, but I don't want NO answers either.
While the acting was phenomenal and everything was approached in a very realistic way, which is rare in movies, I found myself really frustrated with Peter Sarsgaard's performance, which was likely due to poor direction. He couldn't even remember 5 minutes in the past of what happened in a movie, but then other times his memory was crystal clear, like he had been married, his wife died etc. But had no memory of other things, like he remember Sylvia, but didn't remember the waitress at the cafe he goes to all the time. That was very confusing. It was not well thought through.
The other confusing part if I had no clue who was who and what their relationships were, and although I eventually figured out some, others were still unknown by the end of the film.
I don't think there was enough for them to start their relationships.
At least thank god for no DEI cast. Refreshing to see a movie that reflects reality within the world they are showing. Also thank go for no fancy camera movements and annoying score, but a nice diegetic film. It makes it feel so much more real.
Overall they could have added more events to make it more interesting, they don't need an action packed Marvel movie, but a little something would have made this better.
Watch but keep all these notes in mind.
I am okay with movies that sometimes not a lot happens in them, but having some sort of edge, like a tone, or something that is enjoyable, like funny characters, dialogue etc. E. G. Lost in Translation. Even Days of Heaven was enjoyable with very little happening.
This is very Sean Baker'ish and Noah Baumbach. A slice of life, and while I like Sean Baker's films, he always seem to miss adding SOMETHING, ANYTHING, to spice it up a bit. Although Baumbach does the same type of films, he seems to do a better job and making his films (for the most part) interesting. My biggest issue with Hollywood films is it's all action/effects/violence etc, and my biggest issue with Indie films its all characters and relationships, and very little happens. Such as the instant case.
You basically have to guess what is going on or infer a bunch of things, which is fine to some extent, but I don't want NO answers either.
While the acting was phenomenal and everything was approached in a very realistic way, which is rare in movies, I found myself really frustrated with Peter Sarsgaard's performance, which was likely due to poor direction. He couldn't even remember 5 minutes in the past of what happened in a movie, but then other times his memory was crystal clear, like he had been married, his wife died etc. But had no memory of other things, like he remember Sylvia, but didn't remember the waitress at the cafe he goes to all the time. That was very confusing. It was not well thought through.
The other confusing part if I had no clue who was who and what their relationships were, and although I eventually figured out some, others were still unknown by the end of the film.
I don't think there was enough for them to start their relationships.
At least thank god for no DEI cast. Refreshing to see a movie that reflects reality within the world they are showing. Also thank go for no fancy camera movements and annoying score, but a nice diegetic film. It makes it feel so much more real.
Overall they could have added more events to make it more interesting, they don't need an action packed Marvel movie, but a little something would have made this better.
Watch but keep all these notes in mind.