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The problem with directors and writers (or worse: a writer/director) who want to be cool is that they start to copy Tarantino and Guy Ritchie. You get long, long, looooong conversations that do not advance the plot in any way, but you can almost hear the writer's groan of pleasure as he jacks off all over the page. Dialogue for the sake of dialogue is cool maybe once or twice. But in every fucking scene? It's not as bad as 'Death Proof,' but it ain't far off. If you only look at the scenes pertaining to the actual plot, the film's maybe about 20 minutes long. But it's padded with screenwriter's cum.
Sure, it's trying to show that the characters are tri-dimensional and all that. But no, it's just boring.
The actors are mostly really good. I am a big Richard Jenkins fan and I also enjoyed the whole 'Sopranos' reunion with all those actors. I was disappointed by Pitt who seems to be imitating Colin Farrell most of the time, acting with this eyebrows and his hands, especially in the beginning. He does get better after a while, but not much. At least he's gotten better since 'Cool World.'
Haha, I'm being an asshole. I am actually a fan of the guy. Really. I'm not being sarcastic. Shit, I'm still sounding sarcastic aren't I? But really: I'm not. And I've entered a never-ending loop, so it's time to move on to the next paragraph.
The film tries to be art-housey, so I've been told. I am guessing that's because it so fucking heavy-handedly parallels the mobsters with what's going on in American politics and its economy. The opening titles worked. But when pretty much literally every scene has Obama or Bush speaking in the background, or worse still: right smack in the foreground, you can't help but scream at the screen: 'I got it, already. Beating a dead horse! Time to move on!' It's trying to be deep by spouting clichés about America, but it's not, really it's not.
We know it's a society based on - and obsessed with - money. No surprises there, bubba.
Then there's the music. It's amazing, yes. But again it draws so much attention to itself that it feels less like a movie and more like a very expensive (and expansive) mixed tape.
Then there's the 'Goodfellas' vibe. Sure, there's Liotta and there's a great reference when you hear that he 'didn't fold under questioning.' But then you got Gandolfini being all Pesci with a waiter. That's like: meh. Why be Pesci when you could be Tony? And by the way, what purpose does Gandolfini's character have in this film? Can anyone tell me? Does he represent regret, how Pitt's gonna turn out? Yawn. At least it's Gandolfini, so that's cool.
I wanted to like this film, I did. There were some parts I enjoyed. The beating of Liotta was painful to watch, in a good way, thanks to the sound design. The fucked-out-of-his-mind on heroin was also pretty cool and from what I've heard pretty damn accurate. The hit scene is beautiful, if I can use such a verb. Reminded me a bit of 'Raging Bull,' but it was great, especially the bullet casing hitting the rain drops (don't misunderstand that conjunction, by the way. I love 'Raging Bull.' I was merely trying to say that too many movie references or homages or whatever get boring quickly). The other hits are also nicely shot and realistic and painful to watch(ish).
So, no: I didn't really like this film, unfortunately. I didn't totally hate it. Okay, the beginning I didn't like, the drawn-out dialogue I didn't like, but it is very nicely shot and the music is cool and the actors are cool, too.
I am sad(ish, again) to be harsh because I am truly a huge big great humongous fan of 'Chopper' and 'The Assassination of Jesse James' which are two very underrated and very amazing films.
But I guess the director decided to sell out or be clever or got pressured to do something more 'commercial.' Or he ran out of ideas. Or I don't know what.
It's not the worst film I've seen in the last few months, but it was a huge disappointment and now I'm gonna watch 'Chopper,' because ultra-realistic stabbing is just what I need right now.
