I don’t buy the intro. She’s a psycho…and she’s not even an INTERESTING psycho…just a weird, moody, freaky-annoying one. I mean, I guess chemistry is debatable, but it seems like the only reason she pursued him and anything happened at all is cuz it’s in the script and she’s an actress.
She’s a good movie example of a real-life type I’ve met before, and you probably have too: weird and freaky and chaotic and random and eager-to-fck because without those things you’d see what else was inside the very attractive outside shell. Namely, dull nothingness.
And since she’s treated as the heroine and example of how to live a wonderful, “free” life, she (and by default, this movie) is championed by those who, deep down inside, fear they’re just as dull and shallow as she is…and/or random scumbags that like to do whatever they want without regard for anyone else and then fall apart when the time comes for something called “responsibility”.
I guess I’d be incredibly emotionally impressed if I, for a second, believed any aspect of their relationship. But I’m either too smart, not smart enough, or not weird enough. Oh well. I do admire the ending, though. I’d even call it brave and moving, if I cared about either character.
But it IS visually impressive…VERY impressive. And the sequences become more elaborate and more intelligent and more humorous as they go on…for a while. Then they crest and fade away, like a wave you thought could NEVER reach you…and it comes close, a lot closer than you thought it would…but in the end, you were right, and it quickly dissipates and is gone.
It’s challenging…a thought-provoking, in-your-face demand of self-evaluation. In that sense, and as an exercise in artistic and visual mastery, it’s brilliant. But it’s too mechanical and unbelievable, in the sense of how it actually plays out, to be anywhere near the masterpiece its legions of admirers hail it as.
To see something that’s closer to how I feel about this movie but that’s far too clever for me to be able to concoct, see ‘Depeche Mode – A Non-Puppy Perspective’. Focus on the attitude in grudgingly awarding a decent grade, not the words. You can almost feel the dismissive venom dripping off the screen.
Inspirational Quote: “I assume you fcked someone tonight. Isn’t that how you get people to like you?”
Grade: B
5/3/14: I prefer character interaction over studio mastery, and the main characters don’t “interact”. They stand near each other at times and repeatedly fail to sell the relationship at all. Grade: B-