laughingbirdpro

Director Kate Dennis doesn't get Preacher. Please don't let her direct another. It may be based on a comic book, but that doesn't mean you throw away all suspension of disbelief and empathy for the characters. This HORRIBLY DIRECTED EPISODE includes multiple off camera fights which defy logic or sense, offensively uncharacteristic behavior from the "protagonists" and horribly stilted, sit-com level acting. It puts a bad taste in your mouth for continued viewing, and I read the comics and love the story. I hope they learn from this foul entry in the series and course correct. Where is the story I read? Why not use it as your basis? NONE OF THIS IS IN THE GRAPHIC NOVELS. Get back to the roots.

I love "The Night Of" so far. The flawless casting lends so much to the story, but Jeannie Berlin's performance in "Subtle Beast" WAY pulled me out of it. Perhaps this is insensitive to working stroke victims, but I couldn't get past the slurred, mumbled, flat delivery of her lines. When the camera gave a clear look at her face, she seemed completely drugged out, propped up and puppeteered. Jeannie Berlin's interpretation of district attorney Helen Weiss ripped me right out of the moment and ceased to suspend my disbelief. I even had to look her up on IMDb to see if there was a story behind her casting and perhaps it has to do with her mother Elaine May, much like her daughter, resurfacing on television after decades retired from the industry. I appreciate Elaine May is an award winning Hollywood legend, but her daughter, Jeannie Berlin, is Ishtar level bad in an otherwise note perfect cast.

James DeMonaco, the Writer/Director of The Purge Trilogy, expands his nightmare vision in brilliant fashion. Somehow, he manages to bring back the personal stakes from the first film and incorporate them organically with his nihilistic world building in the second. The acting was solid and cinematographer Jacques Jouffret continues to paint the scenes with his odd palette of American Gothic and gaudiness.

Be warned: There is a clear political stance held by all three films designed to rattle the Evangelical Right and the One Percenters, so expect much nay saying from reactive trolls in thrall to the like.

The Purge: Election Year wins my vote by bringing an unpredictable and unsettling end to a violent and thought provoking series.