gehete-40949

This is the exact problem with this movie, except for the obviously from succession adapted cinematography and writing style that just did not fit as a movie.

So first things first, it is shot and edited in a very confusing manner, where we for some reason get the shooting style reminiscent of a tv show, where we get lots of face close up shots for dialogue, lots of seconds lasting shots of locations and no real ingenuity or rather attempts at it. The location shots are irritating because while in a show such shots showing for example the scranton offices in the office, or the skyscraper in succession are there to establish an associative connection with the upcoming scene, there is no real association here, since the locations are only shown once shortly, there is no episode 2, no new scenario happening in the same place with the same characters. It is one and done which is why establishing location shots ought to have time to breathe, shot from multiple angles.

Following the second point, lack of ingenuity, no real risks, no personality in the editing. It is clean, but tv-show clean. Even succession took more risks with at times fast cuts, shaky cams, documentary style following shots. None of it is here. All we get are faces and buildings behind a frame.

The writing, an attempt was made I would say and if maybe the cast had more chemistry, did not feel disconnected it would have been more impactful. The writing is filled with cliches of billionaire stereotypes, juvenile jabs and fast talk saviness that falls flat due to again lack of depth. It feels like a tiktok parody of succession that even the actors seem to be painfully unhappy delivering.

Lastly the actors, the chemistry was not there. More of an exercise of trying to recreate the succession magic with random celebrities who did not have time to develop and grow as in a tv show format hence had to improvise being douchebags on the fly. It is definitely hard to watch as it was probably intended by the amount of embarrassing moments, but the embarrassment mostly hails from the actors inability to know what to do rather than the scenario they find themselves in.

Disappointing.

Contemporary shows that aim to capture the Zeitgeist often fall into the trap of depicting time specific trends and innovations as punchlines for the audience, may it be older who laugh at themselves for failing to understand the references or for the target audience who willfully laugh at how whacky everything is and how different from the past. That is often the joke, you are too old to understand or look he is too old to understand. It is one kind of setup that really can amuse the audience, whole shows are dedicated to these punchlines, golden girls, modern family, married with children... Problem with this particular setup, it can get old, it should not be that repetitive and you are not setting yourself up for longevity. Timeless themes are what stick, on screen relationships, dynamics and human conflict. This show whilst having inks of these themes, it relies too much on cheap jokes and quips.

I do not know why movies like these are made with the added spice of having worker class minority struggle in the forefront when the actual premise of a deep dive into a niche field is so much more interesting. If the mash up between economic, societal and career struggle was done well I would not complain.

Adrian Brody's brutalist is a perfect example of how to give all 3 factors the attention they deserve whilst drawing the audience in with a all encompassing into the niche professional worlds that are so intriguing.

But if the movie just throws in these themes as a wagging finger of self importance it becomes pretentious, it loses substance and credibility. So many movies fall into these traps, with the apparent attempt of being righteous when all they are can be summarised as condescending towards the people they are trying to portray.

Freedom writers, the blind side, pursuit of happiness perpetuate stereotypes and harm the public discourse by doing so. This one is no exception, if the movie only remained on course, focused on the wine, the personal self discovery instead of wagging fingers every few minutes it could have been good. As it stands, it isn't.