|
A (very well-made) mess. Anyone who claims this movie made sense to them is a liar, including Charlie Kaufman. I guess it's completely possible that it hold some significance to Kaufman, but he should have followed his own film's advice and never actually expose it to an audience. The whole thing was an undeniably very artful waste of time. 1.5 / 5
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2008 06:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 08:58 |
|
|
The movie is a huge mind gently caress. There's a lot of moments where you have no idea what is going on. Strong acting by Hoffman though, other than that... 1.5/5
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2008 07:50
|
|
|
One of the coolest, funniest movies I've ever seen. This is the type of movie that you can watch 10 times and get different reactions each time. The first time I saw it I did not really understand it, but knew I wanted to see it again. The second time it really clicked with me. I don't think the movie is meant to have a grand meaning. It is just about one man's life and the journey he goes on until he dies. Can't really describe it, but GO SEE IT! 5/5
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2008 02:59
|
|
|
I feel that this film needs better representation than it has so far. It's true that this is an incredibly polarizing movie, but in my opinion, it's one of the best films I've ever seen and certainly the greatest of this year. I've explained how much I love this to my friends and family dozens of times, so I'll keep it succinct. [Very light spoilers] Charlie Kaufman is without a doubt the most imaginitive mind in screenwriting today. I left this movie feeling like absolute poo poo because (among other reasons), as a writer, I felt as though I will never be smart enough to write anything better than this. Though it starts off as a fairly docile dark comedy, as many Kaufman films do, it gradually develops into a curious story of a man whose life is ending faster than he can comprehend. Given a blank check to create his opus as a theatre director, he decides to make a play based on his own life, but because his own life entails making a play about his own life, the multiplicity of microcosms in the play creates a situation wherein Caden (Hoffman's character) can look "down" upon himself and observe the sad intricacies of his own slow death. About 20-30 minutes before the film ends, you begin to realise the chilling scope of the story. When Caden begins to fulfill roles other than his own inside his own play and other characters become his director, I sat, literally mouth agape, until the reel had finished for the first time ever when watching a movie. The film will absolutely require a second or third viewing, a discussion of the motifs and subtleties, and perhaps a look at the excellent CD thread on the movie, which helps to know what to look for the second time 'round. See this movie before you die, but preferrably sooner than later so you don't off yourself when the end is in sight. It takes a lot out of you, but puts even more back in. 5/5
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2009 22:40
|
|
|
Charlie Kaufman is losing his personal perspective. His last three films were all complicated messes - attempting to explain himself to his own audience. The only problem is that we already get who he is. He's an ambitious and smart manipulator, who's afraid - no - terrified of being washed up and thoroughly used by life. Only problem is, that life does that to everybody. You can either roll with the punches, or in Charlie's case, wax poetic ad nauseum on how difficult it is. To me, a good analogy of this film would be that if it were a piece of music, it would be like listening to various emotive phrases in different keys that all sounded somber, but had no melody to string them to. It's free jazz nonsense, and although there are certainly memorable moments in this film, you can't help but wish there actually was a melody to listen to at some point. I think that the kitsch of his technique is something that is now starting to feel like a crutch. There's a certain beauty in sadness, which is what I think Kaufmann was trying to accomplish here - but ultimately, the audience needs something more to chew on instead of random, philosophical lines strewn together like pieces in a candy necklace. I think what Kaufman needs is actually a way to neatly package his moments of brilliance together into something that is cohesive. I'm sure that the people who actually adore this movie do so because it seems like it's actually "breaking the mold" of how a movie should be. But that is simply a ruse that it perpetuated on the audience. My problem is that the mold has been broken before and now it's being shattered into small pieces, and the beauty is being lost. This isn't a terrible movie by any stretch. It has great acting. It has great casting. Great sets. Great texture. There's a lot of interesting accomplishments in this film. But accomplishments can sometimes be bittersweet. A lot like life. 2.5/5 ajrosales fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Mar 29, 2009 |
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2009 15:26
|
|
|
This movie struck a chord with me like no other movie has in years. I was on the verge of crying for pretty much the entire movie, whether or not I always understood why I felt that way. It felt cohesive to me; it felt like a true emotional experience. I didn't find myself thinking I was clever for "getting" the plot or something. Instead, I was so fully occupied emotionally that it didn't feel important to understand what was literally going on, or even to worry about the subtext. It's not that it just confused me into liking it, though... thinking about the movie later it still feels rewarding, often for entirely different reasons than I understood while watching it. 5/5
|
|
#
?
Mar 31, 2009 12:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 08:58 |
|
|
This film starts out like a straight but gets more and more surrealistic as it goes along. Over all the movie is well made but I have a hard time dealing with this types of depressing movies. What I do like is the visuals and the music. The story has some nice aspects especially the meta play but it doesn't come all the way. 3/5
|
|
#
?
Aug 7, 2009 13:10
|
|