It's laughably bad. I love that the city of LA is depicted as a ghost town in this movie. The best was the end when the movie took a bizzare zombie apocalypse turn and it looked as if the victims were getting ready to chow down on Elijah Wood. If only Wilfred was in this movie. Or perhaps this was a depiction of what happens to Ryan after he and Wilfred are no longer friends.
shareI don't know about laughable but it certainly is bad. I saw it the other night at a university film club showing, with no preconceptions as to what it was.
The acting is fine, Woods wanting to get away from Frodo Baggins and so does his take on Gollum instead. Really creepy. Apart from Nora Arnezeder who does a splendid job as Anna the rest of the cast don't survive long enough to develop their characters.
The lighting of the indoor scenes is good, effective without being excessive. The cinematography is mostly bland, far too much POV, and just looks washed out and cheap, even at night. This works to the advantage of the subway station scene, which comes off well. There are some interesting effects near the end, but they are wasted.
The big problem is the plot. It is dull, repetitive, and seriously lacking in dramatic tension. From the first shot with heavy breathing, followed absurdly closely by the first murder, we get the idea, and we are right. A succession of perfectly viable young women are murdered, we are shown the psycho-social background but we know the guy is a nut-job anyway so it adds nothing.
Near the end I thought the film was about to get airborne finally, but no, wheels firmly back on the tarmac for a really lame ending.
There is enough material here for a 40 minute TV piece, with as much again of pointless stuff stuck on the front and taking about 4 minutes too long in the wasted opportunity of the finale.
This is either a poor excuse for a film or one for the fans. While not glaringly terrible it is so relentlessly mediocre that I have to assume that is how the fans like it. Good luck to them!
Great review of this film. Just watched it on Film4. Very nondescript movie. And was the city (wherever it was set) some sort of ghost town?!
shareThanks for putting some thought and actual details behind the OP's ridiculously exaggerated claim (along with all the exaggerations in the responses from both side).
Me? I don't have a dog in this fight. I think the 6 IMDB rating is just about right.
To me, the cinematography & lighting were stunning, almost approaching Korine's Spring Breakers.
At first, the deserted city is aggravating, but then the force of metaphor comes thru: the alienation and disconnectedness of society (kind of like IMDB message boards!)
But what I really wanted to add to your analysis is the metaphor of exploration of relationships, which is the point of the story. Yeah, yeah, no plot. But notice how all of the killings are on the order of one night stands? Wham, bam, thank you maam?
Then he meets Anna, and she glows in the sunlight at the duck pond as no other woman does. And he waits, not wanting to "consummate". He goes into a monologue near the end about this, and he does not kill her, the car crash does. Then we see her in the wedding dress.
OK, there is no PLOT!
No cemetery plot in which to bury your sensibilities?
(BTW, the director talks about the whole movie being shot as POV and only seeing the protagonist in mirrors. It's experimental cinema.)
This is a dark & sometimes nauseating film and it's not for everyone, but you have to admit it is technically excellent and there is a lot going on here.
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Agreed, wasted my time on it..
shareTo each their own, I thought it was a pretty good film. Sure, there are problems like the one you said with there being virtually little to no people at night but I take you never saw the original because the "zombie apocalypse scene" is all mental and was present in both films. I thought this film was dark and brutal with a great soundtrack and a excellent performance by Elijah Wood. By the opening scene, you can tell if you're going to like the film or not. Like I said and you said, there are problems but for me, it was a very interesting character study filled with solid directing. 7.5/10.
shareThis movie was awful, and not even watchable as a so-bad-it's-good type of movie. I'd heard from others that it was an underrated gem and kept waiting for things to get better...nope.
Three dickless Frodos out of ten.