MovieChat Forums > American Ultra (2015) Discussion > A balancing act.

A balancing act.

posted 9 years ago by Interstellar98
4 replies | jump to latest

Seems like many on here are being tough on this movie. I found it an interesting amalgam of indie/stoner movie/comedy/romance/spy thriller/action. I think it was meant in good fun and I was watching it with that mindset.

That's a hard balancing act to get right, and while it may not deliver as much in each category as a movie geared to a single genre, I thought it hung together well enough and I enjoyed the two leads at the center of it.

It had some great moments.

The closest thing I have seen to this, but that works in a different way is Red, for the combo of spies, action, and humour.

You can't be more horrific than life itself. - Francis Bacon

[–] thaumielx72-569-308202 9 years ago

It had a lot of different elements, but never got confusing.

[–] Scorpio_Sewer_Moon 9 years ago

The balancing act is one of it's biggest positives. In fact, I'm hard pressed to think of another movie that blended genres so tightly.

I disagree strongly with Red Letter media that it tried to be too many things and ended up being none of them, but maybe having so many elements IS what made it hard to market. Landis said in an interview on there that they dialed back a lot of the humor he had written, especially for Grace's character, but after seeing it I think they probably made a good decision. Sure we missed some good jokes, but I appreciate them not going too over the top on that angle, it helps them play this ridiculous concept straighter.

I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter! 

[–] Scorpio_Sewer_Moon 9 years ago

I like the recommendation of Red. Operation: Endgame is the first thing that comes to mind for me, as far as similiar movies, but they both focus on aspects farther from what this is really about, I'm thinking I'd compare it more to something like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous winter! 

[–] KingCobra686 9 years ago

I think that it was spread too thin over those genres and had no real depth. There were very minimal stoner or comedy or romance scenes, and the rest of it was generic action scenes. I wanted to enjoy this movie, but there wasnt really that much to keep me interested in it.