inframan

I waited ~20 years to watch this movie as I am not a big fan of Allen's later work, that is anything post-Deconstructing Harry. Never much into his social dramas like Crime and Misdemeanors or Hannah and Her Sisters, either. I liked this one up to part where the crime is committed. I thought the acting was very good, particularly Rhys-Meyers & Johansson. Once the crime is committed, it felt to me like Woody just got tired or bored with the story and gave it the quickest close he possibly could, A real disappointment, in my view.

Wow, amazing they can release stuff like this. And get signed up for eight episodes. I would almost feel bad for Jude Law because he's a decent actor (or used to be) but he knows what he's doing, he's getting plenty of work (and shekels). Interesting that Jude Law has been in 2 remakes of great Michael Caine movies (Alfie & Gambit) neither as god as the originals but like Caine, Law seems to take any work that comes along. Well, why not, with AI imminently set to clone all performers.

My problem with this series is that nothing rings true. Black Rabbit does not look like any restaurant I've ever seen or heard of, the kitchen is a mess, the staff and sycophants are not believable, the action is consistently laughable, the bad guys act like they are doing improvs on amateur night. Jewelry displays in a restaurant? The Times food critic *announcing* her arrival beforehand? Really? Is this the swan song of lala land? Oy vey.

I was prepared to dislike this movie. I was not going to watch it but I'm glad now I did. 'It has a lot of deeper reflection than I expected. Clooney did a really great job walking the fine line between being a living god and being a fallible human being. He projected a perfect balance of swagger and vulnerability. I thought the best parts were his ruminations on being a Hollywood legend, especially invoking the three gods: Gable, Cooper and Grant, who have always symbolized to me the pinnacles/archetypes of male stardom. (Curious, by the way, that Clooney shares first initials with all three.

I like Adam Sandler a lot, too. In a way his performance reminded me of Jerry Lewis in King of Comedy.

What I didn't care so much for was what I considered the overemphasis on Clooney's character letting his children down, which seemed to cater to today's over-therapized culture/audience. It reminded me of the plays/movies/sitcoms that used to come out of Hollywood where the dad was a bad guy because he spent too much time at work. Well, jeez, the kids had it pretty good.