Post by •°o.O emily O.o°• on Jan 2, 2007 22:15:28 GMT
*spoilers* Well ... I sampled this Johnny Depp film ( ;D) from '93 the other night, and was pleased to find it reminded me of What's Eating Gilbert Grape; an offbeat romance about people with "complicated lives" which has real emotion and character.
The set up was interesting and perhaps, quite original for the time (?)...a frustrated man looking after his mentally ill sister, sacrificing his own happiness to keep her out of the "farm". Mary Stuart Masterson gave, I thought, an amazing performance as a mentally ill person with high and low points. Aiden Quinn was endearing but quite understated, and I loved Johnny Depp's eccentric Buster Keaton imitating character which reminded me of his recent eccentric role as Willy Wonka (but less Jacko). Although this was a small story some of the shots were really interesting...a nice dirtied-over pan at the start, a beautiful shot of a train crossing a lake, a quirky tilt up at the asylum...it was good craftmanship on a small scale.
I found the story very involving, some of the dialogue was unexpected and felt real (Julianne Moore; "Give me a break Benny, I only offered you a beer" when he says his life is "complicated") and the little touches (making toast with an iron, Sam's 'magic' hat, Joon's strange smoothies) made for enjoyable watching. However, the scene where Sam and Joon run away and she freaks out on the bus was really painful...Joon's mad side shows through and Sam can't deal with it all, and it was a very uncomfortable, genuine scene. I found the ending very satisfying, although being the pessimistic person I am, perhaps it could have ended better with Sam realising he can't cope and Joon going to a group home - a nice gritty, sour ending
My only two niggles; that perhaps Joon and Benny's childhood could have been explored more, and we could have found out if Joon was wholly responsible for their parents' death (although its pretty heavily hinted at)
Also OH GOD the soundtrack...ok the quirky instrumental music was fine if repetitive, but The Proclaimers...twice??? And then spoiling the emotional moments with crappy eighties crap..argh..but music aside, I would recommend this film to anyone and give it a shiny 4 stars
emily
The set up was interesting and perhaps, quite original for the time (?)...a frustrated man looking after his mentally ill sister, sacrificing his own happiness to keep her out of the "farm". Mary Stuart Masterson gave, I thought, an amazing performance as a mentally ill person with high and low points. Aiden Quinn was endearing but quite understated, and I loved Johnny Depp's eccentric Buster Keaton imitating character which reminded me of his recent eccentric role as Willy Wonka (but less Jacko). Although this was a small story some of the shots were really interesting...a nice dirtied-over pan at the start, a beautiful shot of a train crossing a lake, a quirky tilt up at the asylum...it was good craftmanship on a small scale.
I found the story very involving, some of the dialogue was unexpected and felt real (Julianne Moore; "Give me a break Benny, I only offered you a beer" when he says his life is "complicated") and the little touches (making toast with an iron, Sam's 'magic' hat, Joon's strange smoothies) made for enjoyable watching. However, the scene where Sam and Joon run away and she freaks out on the bus was really painful...Joon's mad side shows through and Sam can't deal with it all, and it was a very uncomfortable, genuine scene. I found the ending very satisfying, although being the pessimistic person I am, perhaps it could have ended better with Sam realising he can't cope and Joon going to a group home - a nice gritty, sour ending
My only two niggles; that perhaps Joon and Benny's childhood could have been explored more, and we could have found out if Joon was wholly responsible for their parents' death (although its pretty heavily hinted at)
Also OH GOD the soundtrack...ok the quirky instrumental music was fine if repetitive, but The Proclaimers...twice??? And then spoiling the emotional moments with crappy eighties crap..argh..but music aside, I would recommend this film to anyone and give it a shiny 4 stars
emily