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MartaLisaD
Reviews
To Rome with Love (2012)
Not very charming
I hated the gimmick with the policeman speaking broken English in the start and I hated the gimmick with the guy on the balcony speaking broken English in the end.
In between those two low points a LOT of themes were introduced, all thrown around each other, and all of them failed to interest me. Maybe because the film, just as one of the characters do (this shows us she's a poseur), completely disregards the real meaning of "ironic". That is actually ironic.
Sadly the film failed to do the ONE thing it obviously set out to do, and the one thing expected of a comedy set in beautiful Rome, namely creating charming characters. Believe me, in this film when a woman is neurotic and they say it's charming? It isn't charming, it's just annoying. When somebody glances soulfully into the camera? Still annoying.
Not even Flavio Parenti could save this one. Go watch Midnight in Paris or Whatever Works instead.
Parked (2010)
A big surprise
This film really surprised me. I found it purely by chance and I really liked it!
It contains a lot of layers but basically is the story of Fred (Colm Meaney), who is hinted to be a former alcoholic, and his struggling with addiction, personalized by the charming drug addict Cathal (Colin Morgan).
Quoting the first lines of Dante's Inferno AND the last line from the same, the film does nothing to hide the fact that Fred has reached the middle of his life and has indeed lost the right path, but that he manages to get to Purgatory with some help and guidance from the dead-to-society Cathal as his Virgil.
Furthermore, as mentioned above, there are lots of other layers to the story. For example Cathal also personificates youth, which Fred is leaving behind. And there's also the part about Fred needing to be honest about his (housing)situation before he can experience a change (very much in line with The divine Comedy). And there might even be some Beatrice to the piano playing Jules.
Another surprise to me was that the symbolism is abundant in this film, Fred repairs other peoples watches (people who are more or less "stuck in time"), Fred finally jumping into the pool, the fireworks, the line about "the leaf falling from the branch", the various religious items etc. etc. Surprisingly the symbolism never feels out of place in the film and never slows the pace of the story.
It's definitely a film that grows on you, and I won't hesitate to recommend it. A little warning though: It's very melancholic and it WILL make you feel sad.
Finally: All the actors are great in this and leads Colm Meaney and Colin Morgan deserve all the praise they can get. I haven't seen either of them in anything else than Parked but I very much want to now.
Peter's Friends (1992)
This might have been a nice play
I love a lot of the actors in this film, so it's difficult for me to do an objective review but I'll try.
The plot is by no means a new one - old university friends get together 10 years later and talk a lot about their lives and how they have not become the persons they thought they would. More or less.
Normally I am fascinated by this theme but somehow the film never really made me feel anything towards the main characters besides indifference. None of the postulated "problems"were ever really addressed, but this could be the point of the film, so I won't say it's an entirely negative thing. the fact remains that none of the main characters seem more than 2-dimensional. Generally the film feels more like a play than a film but without the freshness of a live performance. It feels like going to the 700th performance of a play where the actors all know their part really really well and have started to grow bored with it.
In short: If you want to watch a young Hugh Laurie/Emma Thomson etc. this is definitely a must see. If you want to watch a film about growing up and facing the fact that a lot of your dreams are actually fantasies, watch Third Star, Reallity Bites or maybe Before Sunrise instead.
Wreckers (2011)
So-so
Why does the only user review of Wreckers on IMDb so far look as though it has been written by Benedict Cumberbatch's mother? I would have thought a lot of people had seen this film?
So, the good parts. Wreckers has a promising plot that belongs to a classic horror movie or a psychological thriller: A newly married couple wants to start a family. They move to the (on the surface) idyllic village where he grew up, and his brother shows up soon after. Soon enough the wife starts discovering unsettling things about her husband. (Yes, it is symbolical. He moves back + the brother shows up = symbolizes his childhood traumas being triggered by them wanting to have a child.) As the story unfolds the husband starts to show violent tendencies and it is ultimately suggested that the couple have an abusive relationship they don't really address (I might be wrong, but why would she otherwise end up in a hospital?). Overall there are all sorts of denial going on through the film but it is not clear whether the denial in it self is a good or a bad thing (this fact actually works to the film's advantage).
Technically, the acting is really good all around - Cumberbatch does "Am I gonna have to choke a bitch?" almost as well as he does "crying valiantly" and the meager script is carried as far as it ca go by the actors (Shaun Evans needs more recognition imho).
When all that is said: The film did not convince. It lacked suspense and character depth to such an extent that I was left, not only not caring about the characters, but also bored with them. The script was heavy handed and the pictures were dark beyond reason (yes, I get it, something lies hidden in the darkness etc. etc. but it still felt as too much darkness).
All in all I guess -i would recommend this film to anyone on the look for a not-so-thrilling-but-well-acted thriller with a psychological subplot.
Third Star (2010)
"Since I was little, this is my favorite place to come"
Well, on the surface this is a no-nonsense film about the last days of a young man who is terminally ill and his three best friends ("I'm 29, won't be 30").
Take a step back though and approach the film as a story about growing up and leaving your childhood beyond, and suddenly a lot of things in the film acquire a new meaning (to me at least).
The title of the film is referring to Peter Pan, thus I think I can say with some certainty that I am not stretching the subsequent analysis beyond belief: James symbolizes the childhood/youth of the main characters (it is a fact that he will never grow up just like Peter Pan) and his death symbolizes the loss of said childhood.
The acting is brilliant all around,and should be noted for it's subtlety (Benedict Cumberbatch, I'm looking at you). The script is quite good, the scenery is beautiful and the symbolism is a little heavy handed from time to time. Let me just mention: The angel throwing away the watch in the beginning (nice touch), the lonely seagull leaving the flock then disappearing, the tunnel with the light,the older guy looking for star wars figures (yes- looking for his childhood, never giving up his dreams. And representing what will happen to our main characters if the are unable to let James go)).And finally, of course, the old boatman. Yes- we even get the boatman of the dead. I guess one way to see the eye makeup-thing is a reference to Charon's flashing eyes).
In conclusion: I like to be heavily manipulated sometimes, so I like this film. As a modern take on Peter Pan it's actually quite good.