Really starting to think that Noe...

is just sort of a dolt. I mean, he's technically proficient, and he can do violence and sex. But here we have a movie just about relationships, and he doesn't seem to grasp that the characters have almost no inner life--and what inner life they DO have is as boring as toast. Why should we care about them? They have practically no discernible personalities. He must relate to his protagonist, but this guy (whose inner thoughts we hear on the soundtrack) has no complicated emotions, no ideas whatsoever, even though he's allegedly an (at least aspiring) artist--and we never even see him making art, either. He's just an averagely good-looking empty shell. Which could be an interesting subject for a movie, but I don't think Noe is AWARE that these characters are vacuous. He cast entirely inexperienced actors, and they're helpless to provide a depth his script and god knows his direction doesn't help them with.

I did like "Irreversible," if only because its reverse chronological structure gave it a semblance of larger meaning. But otherwise, after four movies I don't know if Noe has ANYTHING to say. At one point his hero enthuses about "2001," saying that movie is why he decided to become a filmmaker. I couldn't help but think of the character "OK, you liked a great movie--but don't you have any ideas of your own? Something you need to say as an artist?" I'm beginning to think he (Noe) doesn't. Maybe like his protagonist here, he feels empty and unsatisfied. But like his protagonist, he doesn't know how to express it in any way that isn't in itself empty and unsatisfying, not to mention suggestive of a not-especially-bright, permanently adolescent mindset.

I think I'm done with seeing his movies--but then, he keeps saying "I'm quitting movies!," so maybe there won't be more to see anyway. (On the other hand, he's said that after at least the last couple films, so it seems to be an idle threat, or an idle promise.)