Post by Capo on Feb 8, 2009 16:53:26 GMT
Interesting, but rubbish.
I warmed to this as it went on, but its obnoxious opening was too much. It takes relish in making expletives into a kind of verbal slapstick, and Farrell's timing is way off. The (knowing) irony is that it's about an impossibly boring town in Belgium that also happens to be a nice plug for the city's architecture; I found myself wanting more of those tranquil shots of the river and cathedral.
If the plot is a more violent Waiting for Godot that makes the most of its thin non-event narrative, I suppose it's quite original in tone, but the juxtaposition of humour and gravity, depth and gimmick is only half successful. I found the recurring digs at the dwarf offensive; that Jordan Prentice agreed to be in the film matters little - it's still offensive.
By the conclusion, I'd warmed to its style somewhat, and found myself laughing at the matter-of-fact way in which it's revealed that Jimmy has had his head blown clean off. Somebody in front of me turned and asked, "Why are people laughing?" But for much of the film thitherto, the laughs are at the expense of the dwarf, and his sudden, gruesome death is muddled in tone. Perhaps that's the point. I found the film hollow.
Fiennes is a hoot; even before we've seen him, the phone conversation is hilarious. That we even care for him by the end of the film is testament to the actor's skills and charm.
I warmed to this as it went on, but its obnoxious opening was too much. It takes relish in making expletives into a kind of verbal slapstick, and Farrell's timing is way off. The (knowing) irony is that it's about an impossibly boring town in Belgium that also happens to be a nice plug for the city's architecture; I found myself wanting more of those tranquil shots of the river and cathedral.
If the plot is a more violent Waiting for Godot that makes the most of its thin non-event narrative, I suppose it's quite original in tone, but the juxtaposition of humour and gravity, depth and gimmick is only half successful. I found the recurring digs at the dwarf offensive; that Jordan Prentice agreed to be in the film matters little - it's still offensive.
By the conclusion, I'd warmed to its style somewhat, and found myself laughing at the matter-of-fact way in which it's revealed that Jimmy has had his head blown clean off. Somebody in front of me turned and asked, "Why are people laughing?" But for much of the film thitherto, the laughs are at the expense of the dwarf, and his sudden, gruesome death is muddled in tone. Perhaps that's the point. I found the film hollow.
Fiennes is a hoot; even before we've seen him, the phone conversation is hilarious. That we even care for him by the end of the film is testament to the actor's skills and charm.
