edinburghstoryteller
Joined Jan 2006
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edinburghstoryteller's rating
Jim Jarmusch hovers dangerously on the edge of being pretentious quite a lot of the time. He stepped wholeheartedly onto the bad side of that line with Coffee and Cigarettes but managed to completely avoid it when he made the outstanding Ghost Dog, back in '99. With this movie, he falls somewhere in between, but definitely closer to the good side than the bad.
Bill Murray's last few performances have shown that he is an actor of real quality and this is no exception. He plays this part beautifully and the writer doesn't really give him a huge amount to sink his teeth into, which makes that fact all the more impressive.
The story is very simple and really nicely handled. This movie shows how much you can do with very little, as long as you do the important stuff well. If you want a clutching-your-sides comedy then look elsewhere but if you're after something different, sedate and thoughtful with some amusing moments then you could do a lot worse than this one.
Bill Murray's last few performances have shown that he is an actor of real quality and this is no exception. He plays this part beautifully and the writer doesn't really give him a huge amount to sink his teeth into, which makes that fact all the more impressive.
The story is very simple and really nicely handled. This movie shows how much you can do with very little, as long as you do the important stuff well. If you want a clutching-your-sides comedy then look elsewhere but if you're after something different, sedate and thoughtful with some amusing moments then you could do a lot worse than this one.
This is outstanding. If you're feeling disillusioned with the state of movies or you'd like to see some social commentary without being preached at, then watch this immediately. It is everything that a movie should be.
It's a strange film to categorise, in the same way that Magnolia is. It kinds of stands outside of the standard stuff and just exists as a brilliant piece of cinema. There isn't really a role or a central storyline - just a succession of people, real people, living through a few days in LA. Their lives intertwine, in much the same way that they handled things in Magnolia, but that's not the important bit; it's just important that you sit back with an open mind and observe.
It's very rare that you find a movie that is - essentially - about race that doesn't try to preach at you one way or the other. Racism is a very cloudy issue these days and Crash does not say 'Look at this evil racist' or 'Look at how badly these people are treated', it shows a succession of people being real, genuine people right in the middle of this very tricky subject and lets you draw your own conclusions.
There are some fantastic acting performances in this. Terrence Howard and Matt Dillon in particular are superb, most notably the former. He was nominated this year for an Academy Award for his role in Hustle and Flow - which he was also brilliant in - but for me he should have been nominated for best supporting actor for his part in this too. He owns the screen when he's on it.
In short - this is a magnificent movie. It richly deserved it's Academy Award for best picture - I've seen all other nominees and this stood head and shoulders above all of them. I honestly believe that if you don't appreciate the quality of this film - whether you like it or you don't - then you need your head looked at. If you haven't seen it, watch it.
It's a strange film to categorise, in the same way that Magnolia is. It kinds of stands outside of the standard stuff and just exists as a brilliant piece of cinema. There isn't really a role or a central storyline - just a succession of people, real people, living through a few days in LA. Their lives intertwine, in much the same way that they handled things in Magnolia, but that's not the important bit; it's just important that you sit back with an open mind and observe.
It's very rare that you find a movie that is - essentially - about race that doesn't try to preach at you one way or the other. Racism is a very cloudy issue these days and Crash does not say 'Look at this evil racist' or 'Look at how badly these people are treated', it shows a succession of people being real, genuine people right in the middle of this very tricky subject and lets you draw your own conclusions.
There are some fantastic acting performances in this. Terrence Howard and Matt Dillon in particular are superb, most notably the former. He was nominated this year for an Academy Award for his role in Hustle and Flow - which he was also brilliant in - but for me he should have been nominated for best supporting actor for his part in this too. He owns the screen when he's on it.
In short - this is a magnificent movie. It richly deserved it's Academy Award for best picture - I've seen all other nominees and this stood head and shoulders above all of them. I honestly believe that if you don't appreciate the quality of this film - whether you like it or you don't - then you need your head looked at. If you haven't seen it, watch it.
Ignore all the hype that surrounds this movie. It's been one that produces vastly differing opinions at either end of the scale, but not because of the qualities of the film itself - there's far too much political nonsense wrapped up in the way people are viewing this movie and it should be judged on no more than how efffective it is at portraying the story in question. Too many people seem to have gone into this having already made up their mind that they were going to hate it or that they were going to be mesmerised by it.
In truth, it's a fairly ordinary film. If it wasn't about homosexuality it would barely have gotten a mention, but as it is everybody feels the need to show how enlightened they are by writing melodramatic stories about how it's changed their life. That's just another bandwagon for people to jump onto though. In reality, this has a few decent moments, a decent premise and some stunning cinematography; apart from that it's badly put together and ignores far too many details.
When I say 'details', I'm talking about the fundamentals, the foundational stuff. For example, the accents start out pretty bad and by the end of the film they're just plain awful. Jake Gyllenhall doesn't know how to ride a horse which - given that he's playing a rodeo rider - is just sloppy directing by Ang Lee. Apart from that though, I thought Gyllenhall was the better of the two main parts. Apart from the accent and the riding he did a very good job with it. Heath Ledger just mumbled a lot.
The main problem with this movie is that it was about their struggle to come to terms with what happened up there on Brokeback Mountain - about their inner turmoil over it given their strict, traditional upbringings. With that in mind, they jumped into the sack with each other WAY too easily. It didn't build - it was far too easy a transition for them to go from nothing at all to stroking each other lovingly, and when that's what you're building a film on top of you need to make sure it feels authentic. This just didn't.
So overall, some really nice camera-work, some mixed acting, a flimsy plot and a criminal lack of attention to detail adds up to a pretty ordinary movie. I wouldn't bother with it if I were you, but if it's one you want to have an opinion on then then don't expect anything spectacular. The scene with the fireworks is pretty cool though.
In truth, it's a fairly ordinary film. If it wasn't about homosexuality it would barely have gotten a mention, but as it is everybody feels the need to show how enlightened they are by writing melodramatic stories about how it's changed their life. That's just another bandwagon for people to jump onto though. In reality, this has a few decent moments, a decent premise and some stunning cinematography; apart from that it's badly put together and ignores far too many details.
When I say 'details', I'm talking about the fundamentals, the foundational stuff. For example, the accents start out pretty bad and by the end of the film they're just plain awful. Jake Gyllenhall doesn't know how to ride a horse which - given that he's playing a rodeo rider - is just sloppy directing by Ang Lee. Apart from that though, I thought Gyllenhall was the better of the two main parts. Apart from the accent and the riding he did a very good job with it. Heath Ledger just mumbled a lot.
The main problem with this movie is that it was about their struggle to come to terms with what happened up there on Brokeback Mountain - about their inner turmoil over it given their strict, traditional upbringings. With that in mind, they jumped into the sack with each other WAY too easily. It didn't build - it was far too easy a transition for them to go from nothing at all to stroking each other lovingly, and when that's what you're building a film on top of you need to make sure it feels authentic. This just didn't.
So overall, some really nice camera-work, some mixed acting, a flimsy plot and a criminal lack of attention to detail adds up to a pretty ordinary movie. I wouldn't bother with it if I were you, but if it's one you want to have an opinion on then then don't expect anything spectacular. The scene with the fireworks is pretty cool though.