marydm-43470
Joined Nov 2018
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Reviews139
marydm-43470's rating
Some reviewers are like toddlers at a birthday party: he got more cake than me, it's not what I want, I want this not that, his party favours are better than mine...
Perfect movie, no. No such thing. I rewatched Lawrence of Arabia recently and yes, the cinematography and music are still thrilling but Brit actors in dark makeup playing Arabs, and gorgeous Peter O'Toole playing the white saviour are so cringe worthy now.
The Amateur does have a number of issues, the relationship of the couple is never fleshed out, so we don't get enough of the emotional bond behind the hero's grief, the plotting is a tad formulaic and repetitive , the scintillating computer tech almost takes over the movie as the main character etc.
But I don't give a fig for those issues. I'm focusing on the one gigantic positive aspect: Rami turns in a spectacular performance, he lights up every frame he's in, he's just an utterly natural charismatic screen presence. I'd watch him in a sock or toothpaste commercial just as happily. He's incapable of overacting, every facial expression and bit of body language is perfectly calibrated. And his voice: what a divine gift, so warm, so manly, so instantly recognisable. In short, he's my most favourite actor right now and I can't get enough of him. He absolutely elevates the whole thing. Just like he outperformed all the Brit greats in No Time to Die.
Nicholson and Fishburne are great here too, but Rami's dazzle is just on another level. Someone will give him a role worthy of his talent one of these days, something as emotionally intelligent and complex as Mr Robot. Till then I'm delighted to watch him in anything short of great cinematic glory.
Perfect movie, no. No such thing. I rewatched Lawrence of Arabia recently and yes, the cinematography and music are still thrilling but Brit actors in dark makeup playing Arabs, and gorgeous Peter O'Toole playing the white saviour are so cringe worthy now.
The Amateur does have a number of issues, the relationship of the couple is never fleshed out, so we don't get enough of the emotional bond behind the hero's grief, the plotting is a tad formulaic and repetitive , the scintillating computer tech almost takes over the movie as the main character etc.
But I don't give a fig for those issues. I'm focusing on the one gigantic positive aspect: Rami turns in a spectacular performance, he lights up every frame he's in, he's just an utterly natural charismatic screen presence. I'd watch him in a sock or toothpaste commercial just as happily. He's incapable of overacting, every facial expression and bit of body language is perfectly calibrated. And his voice: what a divine gift, so warm, so manly, so instantly recognisable. In short, he's my most favourite actor right now and I can't get enough of him. He absolutely elevates the whole thing. Just like he outperformed all the Brit greats in No Time to Die.
Nicholson and Fishburne are great here too, but Rami's dazzle is just on another level. Someone will give him a role worthy of his talent one of these days, something as emotionally intelligent and complex as Mr Robot. Till then I'm delighted to watch him in anything short of great cinematic glory.
I don't believe the negative reviews all over the place. Hey, dear critics great and small, it's not about you and your self important opinions, it's about what's actually in the film.
The film is one giant extended metaphor about the isolation we may be bringing on to ourselves by immersing ourselves in tech media and forgetting to keep up the connection with our nearest and dearest.
A digital game programmer immerses himself in his programming work ostensibly to try to deal with his grief after a personal tragedy and closes himself off from his partner who is even more personally affected by the tragedy.
Then after an industrial accident in the town their doors and windows are automatically boarded up by "pixelated " security shutters/walls they cannot break through. Visuals reminiscent of so many films with CGIs and creating an atmosphere of being inside a digital game a la The Matrix. A game programmer caught inside a game like setting? Did most critics not get the metaphor and irony?
Our programmer protagonist's skills are of no avail. They meet a motley crew of characters on their "journey" through their apartment block trying to find a way out. None of these characters are of any help at all.
It's not until our programmer protagonist reconnects emotionally with his partner that they find a way out...while the rest of the town remain firmly shut off behind these security walls.
It's a brilliantly original and pretty simple premise actually. A most enjoyable film if you come to it with an open mind. The male protagonist is adorable in every possible way. A real, flawed but essentially decent human being. An actor with great understated acting skills. If you've found him lacking depth you haven't been paying attention.
Excellent work Netflix...a very tasty cinematic treat.
The film is one giant extended metaphor about the isolation we may be bringing on to ourselves by immersing ourselves in tech media and forgetting to keep up the connection with our nearest and dearest.
A digital game programmer immerses himself in his programming work ostensibly to try to deal with his grief after a personal tragedy and closes himself off from his partner who is even more personally affected by the tragedy.
Then after an industrial accident in the town their doors and windows are automatically boarded up by "pixelated " security shutters/walls they cannot break through. Visuals reminiscent of so many films with CGIs and creating an atmosphere of being inside a digital game a la The Matrix. A game programmer caught inside a game like setting? Did most critics not get the metaphor and irony?
Our programmer protagonist's skills are of no avail. They meet a motley crew of characters on their "journey" through their apartment block trying to find a way out. None of these characters are of any help at all.
It's not until our programmer protagonist reconnects emotionally with his partner that they find a way out...while the rest of the town remain firmly shut off behind these security walls.
It's a brilliantly original and pretty simple premise actually. A most enjoyable film if you come to it with an open mind. The male protagonist is adorable in every possible way. A real, flawed but essentially decent human being. An actor with great understated acting skills. If you've found him lacking depth you haven't been paying attention.
Excellent work Netflix...a very tasty cinematic treat.
Why isn't there a negative rating possible on IMDB? I'm 99%well disposed towards bad films as long as they exhibit some integrity and make their mistakes in good cinematic faith. And such honest "fails" are actually quite fun to sit through because of that very honesty. This film unfortunately is an exercise in unmitigated bad faith:
-Acting -what acting? Reciting lines in a flat tone utterly devoid of inflection and intonation betrays a total inability to convey character and emotional nuance.
-Script - what script? A string of cliches and dialogue no real life person would ever speak even in the tritest everyday situation.
Cinematography - nah, a still camera doing a series of still frames despite some pretty landscape isn't cinematography.
Etc etc etc.
As for the "literal" story: someone without either imagination or language skills pretending to be a writer who resolves a putative mystery (he doesn't) by creating another mystery at the end.
I don't remember whether I've ever said on any forum that any film was the worst I've ever seen, but this one has left me so devoid of good will I'm prepared to confer that title on it: the worst film I've ever seen.
Just good grief!
-Script - what script? A string of cliches and dialogue no real life person would ever speak even in the tritest everyday situation.
Cinematography - nah, a still camera doing a series of still frames despite some pretty landscape isn't cinematography.
Etc etc etc.
As for the "literal" story: someone without either imagination or language skills pretending to be a writer who resolves a putative mystery (he doesn't) by creating another mystery at the end.
I don't remember whether I've ever said on any forum that any film was the worst I've ever seen, but this one has left me so devoid of good will I'm prepared to confer that title on it: the worst film I've ever seen.
Just good grief!