The Mimic

For those who like a great psychological twister, this movie is a real treat. Quirky humor is not for everyone so the genius of this film will be lost on most. This film drops you in the middle of the protagonist's dilemma then asks you to help solve it with him. It adeptly shifts your mental center of gravity sidewise and sidewise, until you feel like the whole situation is completely upside down... only to find out that all is right-side up. If you don't mind feeling like your brain is in the spin-cycle, this film will tickle your curiosity bone.

Most flicks that are carried by one or two actors are a complete annoyance/failure, but the main actors in The Mimic do an amazing job. Both characters are complex, endearing & annoying and ya kinda love that about them. The acting is so convincing and compelling, you hardly realize an entire movie has passed before you're dropped off unexpectedly at the end.

The writing, directing and acting are all wonderfully cohesive, quirky, enticing, subtle, touching... genius. It got many belly laughs out of me, and even if you can't always relate to the protagonists' situations, you somehow feel a bit emotionally healed along with them by the end.

Totally worth the ride.

Not sure why I watched this but it was largely a waste with an inexperienced writer/director combo - never turns out well - and unknown actors though some sorta famous old actors pay minor roles --> Marilu Henner, Jessica Walter, and Gina Gershon helped keep my interest a bit. But this definitely centers on the odd, can't-shake-you relationship between Tony and Peter aka "the kid" (names revealed late in film) and it's somewhat interesting for 1/2 hr then it gets old and you're like "when's this over?!" The ending has a weak payoff too, confirming your waste of time. Just add it to the Covid-era pile of rubbish out back.

Don't be fooled by the "high" rating. 4 out of 6 thus far have bothered to give this a rating of 1, because there is no rating for zero. If you don't look at the reviews, you keep waiting to see... (a) OK, is this all there is? (b) Is this ever going to get any better? (c) smart people finally turn this absurd ADD rambling about two male neighbors David and Peter off. Read a book. If you don't have a book, go read the white pages online. Count backwards from 20,000. Look at license plates of cars driving by. Anything is more interesting. Dull beyond belief.

The script consists of nothing but rapid-fire ping pong dialogue that's just stupid and mean without a funny line or idea. A pointless exercise in moviemaking everyone who went along with shooting and finishing this film should be ashamed.

It's like when someone assumes they're artistic just because they're bad at math. It tries way too hard to be smart but falls flat on execution. Messy metaphors and convoluted dialogue that attempts to unravel the main character's fight to identify his own flaws.