Well....comparing the Karate kid and TBD seems very random and nonsensical,since they have exactly NOTHING in common,from genre to when they were made to directors or the time period they are placed in. Neithr is the rating like comparing a 5.2 to a 7.6.
But acting? Which film was Oscarnominated of these two for best Supporting actor? That is correct,The karate kid.
The black Dahlia got a nom for cinematography and deservedly so,I would also have supported an art direction nom...but that is ALL it has going for it.
Eckhart embarrasses himself here,he sure as hell isn´t helped by the script who just turns him into a teeth-grinding,very agressive junkie in 4 seconds. His arc is so pointless and convoluted and since it ties in with the rest of the story,by the time we get to sum things up,the whole story becomes even way more convoluted(And amazingly,since so repetitive,a plot for simpletons) then it is at this point.
Cause that is what this is;A hollow,goodlooking,derivative,very poor attempt at film noir. So much exposition,every scene,every name will mean something,from Eckharts openng random shooting of a thug;it was so painfully obvious.
There is nothing special"to understand." WHY would Hilary Swank even be in this picture if not to have the role she has? This is of course underscored and made too abbundantly clear from the amount of time we spend with this rich,eccentric family. There are NO other suspects.
Dinner after dinner,scene after scene,we just wait for" the revelation",since this basically is the story and no red herring. When mommy goes nuts and explains certain things,while it´s not helped by Fionas extreme overacting,the explanation for certain elements of the story is so farfetched and convoluted,it doesn´t even seem to make sense to her crazy character.
Hartnett,bland,harmless and wannabe noir,Swank as a femme fatale but she looks like the mix of a cute horse and Courtney Cox. Johansson,as so often,just doesn´t fit,seeming out of place,readings sound like she gets the dialog through a ear-mic and belonging in another century and film.
Mia Kirshner and John Kavanagh were the only good ones here- Great shame on DePalma for this one and I can Not understand how James Ellroy liked this interpretation of his book but shunned the supremely more ambigous,tenser and better acted(Russell,Gleeson,Rhames) Dark Blue by Ron Shelton. 3.5 for this superficial,messy film that lacks direction,conviction and discipline.
So you understand movies,ey and if one does not like this one,it means one does not understand it? Awesome mentality there.
reply
share