SpelingError
Joined May 2014
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Ratings4.7K
SpelingError's rating
Reviews339
SpelingError's rating
Perhaps the best way to depict depression is to strip the film of all the forced pathos and grand dramatic moments we're so used to seeing and to simply present the mental state for what it really is. Given what we see of Blake (muttering nonsensical ramblings to himself as he walks around, shuffling from area to area in a zombie-like manner, and displaying disconnect whenever someone attempts to speak with him), what's being depicted is the point of no return - stuck in an endless trance-like daze for an indeterminate amount of time before you finally choose to end it. This minimalist approach put plenty of people off, but the predominant focus on Blake's mannerisms is exactly what makes the film work so well. In fact, the film actually loses a lot of steam whenever it shifts focus to the secondary characters, like Blake's bandmates, a pair of LDS missionaries, or a private detective. Explaining the origins of Mormonism or the details of Chung Ling Soo's death throughout those scenes served as a distraction from the emotional core. Fortunately, these moments were few enough that Blake's storyline was able to (mostly) shine through. I imagine Van Sant's approach will still leave plenty of people cold, but I'd say the film is exactly what it wanted to be. I don't expect for this to be the best portrayal of depression I'll ever come across (again, there was potential for it to be even better), but this is the type of approach to perfect and improve upon.
Highly ambitious and quite atmospheric, but otherwise, a failure. The decision to be 100% vague and ambiguous over pretty much everything which goes on ultimately did more harm than good for me as it prevented me from forming an emotional connection with anyone or anything and left me asking "Why should I care?" constantly. For instance, a character gets shot. We know nothing about that character or the politics/goals of the side they're fighting for, so why should I care about that? The entire first half involves the resistances efforts to steal a truck from the invaders, but we know nothing about what the invaders are planning on doing if they're successful with their goals or even if the resistance fighters are actually the good guys, so why should I care about that? Overall, I was just left emotionally cold and unimpressed by everything since I was given nobody and nothing to latch on to. The closest the film came to moving me were the brief discussions on how the resistance has to save the city, but even this was too vague to go all the way. And yes, I'm aware that giving an explanation to the motives of both sides likely wasn't what the filmmakers wanted to do, so I don't mean for this to be "They should've made the film I wanted them to make" criticism. The film is exactly what they wanted it to be and, considering it has plenty of fans, it seemed to pay off pretty well. I, personally, was unmoved by it though.
Having been a huge fan of Elaine May so far, I can see why this is usually considered to be her weakest film. Still though, I would classify it as an interesting failure, so I don't think its Razzie win was deserved. The opening 20 minutes are easily the best part about it. The two leads are dreadfully untalented, yet the fault lines between their perception of their talents vs. The reality of their situation makes their banter full of comedic tension. Also, while the duo's songwriting/singing voices aren't good by any means, you can still get a sense they have passion for what they do and are trying to make their dreadful act as exciting as possible. With the early stretches, this seemed destined for greatness. Unfortunately, once the pair arrive at Morocco, the brilliant character dynamics are pushed aside in service of a convoluted, twisty plot involving CIA overreach, political uprisings, left-wing guerillas, etc. This section does have a couple fun moments here and there and isn't poorly directed by any means, but it doesn't play to May's strengths which were on display in the opening and the potentially great film we got in the first act is lost. Now, was the fun of the detour worth it? I honestly don't think so. While I did enjoy the auction and helicopter scenes well enough, most of the comedy/plot threads still feel as if May is simply thinking them up as she goes along with little thought put into congruency/comedic bite. As a result, the jokes don't hold up when you start to analyze them and the satire on the CIA lacks any sort of bite. If it wasn't for the opening 20 minutes and if this was from a different director, I might've been more amused by this, but May was just the wrong director for this kind of film. Especially since it teases us by starting out in her signature style.
