Nearly_Headless_J

Highly commendable effort by the writer, director and especially the actors (the main protagonist of this show has some serious serious acting chops, I hope she does even better in her career).

A story revolving vampires (although for some reason this term is never used in any episode) in modern day Kolkata, portrayed in a clever, engaging manner. Unique, entertaining experience when one considers the general scarcity of genres in Indian cinema/TV shows.

Just please don't frikkin' cancel this, Netflix. You will discourage whatever creativity is left in our Indian film/TV industry. Fingers crossed.

Previously, I had never really disliked Ben Affleck but I didn't think too highly of him either, as an actor. Then just recently I noticed his brilliant writing and decent performance in Good Will Hunting, and I grew to respect him a little…until a few hours ago when that respect drastically shot up to a much, much higher level than before.

Gone Baby Gone is definitely a triumphant win for Ben Affleck, considering it was his very first directorial venture (not counting the short film he had made years ago as a student). It is a maturely handled, realistic film which continuously shifts between telling a simple story and portraying some truly devastating moral dilemmas. What I like even more about this film is the way it presents the situations (which are again, very human and plausible); it takes to trouble to show both sides of the coin, and leaves the audience to make their own judgment without brainwashing/preaching them in any sort of way. This is especially significant in regards to the climax, when Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) has to make an important decision. The latter is not made out to be "the only way out", and nor are the consequences shown to be miraculously fitting to what Kenzie might have had in mind. Just like any real-life decision, the whole situation is portrayed with a hint of neutrality and uncertainty - because after all, we know absolutely nothing about what's going to happen in the future. We can only make our choices and hope we are right.

…Looks like I went on a bit of a tangent there so, er, sorry. Anyway, back to the movie. I have to admit that initially, I had been a little disappointed because I wasn't finding the movie as…thrilling, as I may have been expecting. But then I realised – the fault had not been the filmmaker's, but my own. Or rather, my upbringing of having seen so many mainstream 'thrillers' that I came to expect nothing but hollow, low-on-substance entertainment every time I heard the words "detective movie" or "mystery thriller". This movie, may not have the traditional "in-your-face" moments but it has something even more special – a heart. Not many filmmakers are able to achieve something like this…Affleck has all the right to feel proud of his work. Oh and of course, my comments would be incomplete if I don't mention the excellent performances by – well, the whole cast. Casey Affleck definitely stood out from the rest but even with their rather short screen times, people like Michelle Monaghan, Ed Harris and Amy Ryan certainly made their presence felt.

All in all this is an immensely well made, impactful movie. I'll be very much looking forward to Ben Affleck's next film as a director.

My Final Rating: 8.5/10.

Wow…this movie is a true work of art. The main story was rather straightforward, but the characterization, the intensely poetic visuals, the soulful score and the brilliant direction made it one of the most hauntingly unique cinematic experiences I've ever had.

First of all, the performances were all top-notch. Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck obviously dominated the screen most of the time, but quite a few secondary actors (Sam Rockwell, for instance) stood out as well. Casey Affleck's performance was widely acclaimed, and I was very impressed with him as well but personally I thought that Brad Pitt stole the show, especially in the last hour of the movie. The character of Jesse James was just as complex and layered as Robert Ford, and Pitt pulled off this multi-faceted personality very nicely in my opinion. It's a real shame he wasn't nominated for the Oscars.

Another major victim of an Oscar snub was Roger Deakins. I had liked his work in The Shawshank Redemption and Fargo (it had been one of the few redeeming features of the latter), but this time he really outdid himself. His style was strongly reminiscent of the cinematography in Terrence Malick's films, with the wonderful landscapes and the most interesting camera angles. Moreover the visuals blended effortlessly with the background score…every technical aspect of this movie seemed to fit right in place.

As far as the actual assassination of Jesse James is concerned, I thought it was brilliantly portrayed. The fact that the title itself was throwing such a huge spoiler at the audience even before they had seen the movie, must have made it very tough for the director/screenwriter to maintain the significance of that particular scene. However, the spoiler was very cleverly used by Andrew Dominik to provide some strong dramatic irony to the plot, and this made the assassination scene all the more impactful.

…There are quite a few more themes and interesting aspects that I noticed in the movie (e.g. the possible homosexual tension, the whole "novel-like" atmosphere) but no matter how much I write about it, it would all amount to a single fact – that I loved every minute of this film. As of now, it is definitely my favourite of the year.

My Final Rating: 9/10.