Anora

I don't understand at all how this got 5 Oscar's this year. I'm watching for the first time as it has now hit streaming and I was left very confused. It was slow in the first half, picked up a little in the second and then the last half went back to being slow. A lot of scenes were super drawn out, there was no need for the film to be as long as it was. We got absolutely no back story on Anora at all which is what I was waiting for. Don't get me wrong, Mikey Madison isn't a bad actress but I was waiting for more. For the most part she just cursed, showed her body and screamed a lot. I didn't really see a performance worth best actress, even though her performance wasn't terrible. The script also wasn't that good, there were a lot of pieces that were overly repetitive and the characters were pretty much one dimensional. I guess the audience is left to use our imagination but I wish we were given more for the runtime.

Way too much of this movie's two hours is taken up with watching a fairly repulsive young couple -- an overprivileged Russian billionaire's sex-and-drug-crazed son and the brassy "sex worker" of the title -- getting it on in various ways and settings. They're both incredibly shallow, stupid, and greedy, though at least you get the sense that she hasn't enjoyed the easy life that he's had. Despite her occupation, she retains a certain believable naïveté.

That's the boring part of the movie. It goes on far too long.

The dumbest part involves the boy's three improbably clownish Russian handlers, who, in what's obviously meant to be a funny scene, behave like actors in a slapstick comedy. It doesn't work at all.

If you don't bail out at that point (as I was tempted to do), you'll find the final portion somewhat more satisfying.

The first 40 minutes can be quite misleading, likely catching viewers off guard if they enter with the expectation of a romantic narrative.

Once the first act concludes and the second act kicks in, there's a striking shift in both tone and style that I honestly did not see coming.

The comedy is genuinely entertaining, with moments that will have you laughing out loud. Despite serious circumstances, the absurdity of the situations elicits laughter and chuckles.

They have certainly nailed the dark comedy sides of the story.

However, I found the dramatic elements to be less impactful than I had anticipated, leaving me puzzled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback it has garnered from all around.

While Mikey Madison delivered an impressive performance, and fully deserves every praise coming along her way, her character needed more depth to properly flourish. It feels as if the writing intentionally held back on details, leaving the job of contemplation solely to the audience.

I wish that weren't the case.

How does a movie with no dialog win an Oscar?? Can someone explain that to me?! Saying a bunch of curse words for 2 hours does not constitute a dialog. The "couple" has zero chemistry so how are we expected to believe that she loved him?? Nothing happened between them for her to fall in love. They go on a vegas trip, spend a bunch of money, and that's it? That's how you fall in love with someone?! Hey writers, I got news for you - it doesn't work that way. It takes more than that! The russian actor was good and yes, the final scene made a lot of sense even though it was predictable as hell. The scenes where they're looking for the guy were soooooo drawn out and pointless. Why would you do that?!

If there was ever any doubt that the Academy was corrupt, after this movie, there is no doubt anymore. It's obvious that the Oscars are won with money, not talent. This movie winning 5 Oscars is undeniable proof of that.

Overrated and boring. Gratuitous nudity and sex scenes with a ton of fluff and fill dialogue. I'm not exactly sure what people were seeing when they gave it a great review, but there was only one solid takeaway from this movie, and that is that Mikey Madison can act. Caveat to that opinion is that specifics of her character can become quite annoying. You'll have to see it to understand exactly what I'm saying without giving any spoilers away. The movie starts out strong and sets itself up pretty well, only to come crashing down not even half way through. If you're not that curious of a movie buff, then you definitely won't regret passing on this one.