Now here's a pretty plain movie. I bought and watched it with no expectations at all, but nothing about it surprised me, either pleasantly or otherwise. The gist is simple and even a bit boring. Mark Ruffalo kills Joaquin Phoenix's son in an accidental hit-and-run. Phoenix's wife Jennifer Connelly is saddened, but Phoenix is more enraged. He vows to find his son's killer and hold him accountable. Phoenix even hires a lawyer who turns out to be - surprise! - Ruffalo himself. Their lives become more and more intertwined and by the end of the second act, wouldn't you know it, Phoenix has put together all the clues and come to the realization that Ruffalo himself is the guilty party. I won't "spoil" the ending, but I will lament that there's just about zero payoff and no ironic or dramatic shift in the tension whatsoever. All things considered, there was just too much about this movie that felt a little off. It felt like a Coen Brothers flick without the wit and dark humor of the Coen Brothers. It felt like a perfect Sean Penn movie without the talents of Sean Penn. Everything from the screenplay to the performances to the production value just seemed a little too amateurish for me to consider this a decent movie. I'll call it a 5 and move on with my life and my backlog.
No comments:
Post a Comment