"2.75 stars out of 4"!
I went to see this movie because of being a fan of James
McAvoy’s work and I wasn’t disappointed to find that he was as charismatic as
ever. But at the same time I found this movie to be an independent gem in a
year that is dead, cinema-wise, and unsurprisingly, it has had the worst ticket
sale in 13 years.
To give a very brief storyline, the story revolves around the lives of a couple and their break up. The director very wisely keeps you asking what has happened to them for a very long time and engages you in every second of the movie. It is about relationships and the hardships of life.
Although I liked the chemistry between McAvoy and Chastain, their performances
were not convincing at times. Actually, that is not true. Erase that. What I
mean is, sometimes it seemed like the actors themselves did not believe the
words they were saying. The dramatic dialogue was good; I had the most trouble
finding the romantic part to be acted out well. Don’t get me wrong, the
dialogue in this movie was the best part, I had problems with the acting. But
back to dialogue…I don’t know if it is part of growing up or just getting older
and being more cognizant of what really life is like, but if you listen carefully,
you will find the dialogue to be very relatable. To give an example, I liked
the part where one of the parents was talking about how their kid (now
grown-up) comes up to them and tells them that the parent has done something wrong so
many years ago and accusing the parent of having a bad effect on
the child. But the parent couldn’t remember what it was. That is so true. I
sometimes tell my parents like “remember the time when you said this or did
that and blah blah blah”. Oh, grow up! So they did or said something that
wasn’t that horrible to begin with but probably triggered by a crappy behavior
on your side. Imagine being handed a child at 25 and being told to raise that
kid. Of course, there are going to be screw-up moments. Doesn’t mean they didn’t
do a top-notch job!
Anyway, in this drought of good movies, this one was
touching and smart. As I have mentioned many many times before, I think the
most important part about a movie for me is the ending. A movie can be good throughout
but it’s the final act that makes it either memorable or discard-able (yeah I
just made up a word). This movie, as you can obviously see based on my ramble,
had a very good ending. I don’t want to spoil it for you so I’m not saying
story-wise how it ended, but just technical-wise, it was smart. The director
hollows your heart out one last time before he throws you a rope in a hollowed
darkness.
Just one criticism: the movie ran a little longer than it
needed to.
P.S. A quick tip. DO NOT see this movie with a friend who
has just been through a break up. Bad baaad idea!
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