Hello All,
Boy am I tired. I lately end up always having to do these doubles whenever I have to go all the way across town, and I hate the journey there. I’ll tell ya, I was much more apprehensive going this time because I barely knew anything about these movies. I had only seen one trailer for Miss Sloane, and I had seen nothing about Nocturnal Animals. So it was one of those rare occasions where I went in completely blind. So as much as I hated the trip, how where the movies? Let’s find out together shall we?
Miss Sloane Review
Plot Summary - Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain) is D.C’s most powerful lobbyist. When she decides to take on the gun lobby however, she finds that the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before.
Pros - Jessica Chastain is basically the greatest thing about this movie. Since the whole film is basically a character piece she manages to take full control of this movie, and it’s fascinating to see where the character will go next with her plan. It’s also a very thorough movie, as it covers a lot of aspects about the nature of her work. It’s also got a twist ending which I love to death.
Cons - Because it does cover a lot of different aspects, the movie does have a tendency to feel very long at times, and it is at 2h 15m. It also (for me at least) can’t help but feel like a slightly more serious version of the wolf of wall street, even with a different subject matter at it’s helm. For as much as I love the ending, I will admit that I feel like I’ve missed something about it while watching it. Perhaps it’s one of those instances where they showed too little to hint at it coming.
Final Score - 9/10
Honestly, I actually really liked this film a lot, and the ending plus Jessica’s performance really help to elevate what could’ve been a relatively mediocre political drama.
Nocturnal Animals Review
Plot Summary - Troubled art gallery owner Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) is sent a proof copy of her ex-husband’s novel called Nocturnal Animals. As she reads more and more of the book, she finds that it forces her to re-examine her failed relationship.
Pros - It’s a beautiful film visually, as it manages to perfectly blend the bourgeois feeling of Susan’s world, and the gritty west texas feeling of the location of the book she reads in the film. The three best actors in the film are Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michael Shannon, but Aaron Taylor-Johnson is virtually unrecognizable is his role as the main antagonist of the novel.
Cons - I’m probably going to be in the minority on this, but honestly beyond what I said above I hate this movie intensely. The film at the end of the day is simply reading a book that makes her sad, and the flashbacks we get of her marriage before, during, and after, are simply uninteresting as we get just surface levels of narrative as to what’s happening. The main story basically feels so basic that nothing of interest really happens. Even the ending, which is trying to come across as deep and meaningful, feels flat, confusing, and anti climactic as fuck. The story thinks it’s built up to this big reveal, but since you’re not invested you simply don’t care. The B Story, which is the plot of the novel visualized, is better, but feels like it’s missing a lot of dramatic depth because we’re not getting the full story that she’s reading. While the performances are good, it just can’t help but feel like a story we’ve seen before done better. The flashbacks if her marriage, to me at least, makes her look like a cold hearted bitch who can’t be happy with anything. She even acknowledges herself that she was awful to her ex, so where’s the goddamn character development in there then? The film also has a variety of great actors playing supporting roles so miniscule, it makes you wonder why they didn’t get someone else a chance to shine in those roles instead. There’s also huge narrative whiplash when we see the first flashback scene as it’s basically not set up, and you think you’re watching the present and not the past. There’s also a weird jump scare moment that caught me way the fuck off guard, which shows the gem of an interesting idea, but doesn’t capitalize on it at all.
Final Score - 1/10
While the film is not bad on a technical level, it’s execution is so painfully bad it just feels like it’s dead weight before it even starts. Honestly, the only that came out of this film for me is the fact that I now kind of want to read the book she was reading in the film.
Next - The Bounce Back: Well………..fuck.
Links:
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