After Whiplash and Birdman (which I saw last year) this was the award season film I was looking forward to the most. That anticipation may contribute to some of the disappointment but I thought this was only good when I was expecting it to be great.
*some none specific spoilers about the nature of spoilers/shocks follow *
I'd managed to avoid finding out the real life outcome despite some critics incorrectly thinking it isn't a spoiler if it's based on true life. It's always clear that there is more to the story than initially meets the eye, mostly due to Carrel's creepy performance, but the final revelation is the film's biggest problem. Knowing something was coming was a distraction and, if the story is well known in the US, it seems odd that the film keeps throwing out suggestions about different darker turns it may eventually take.
The final revelation may come as a shock (there were several gasps in my audience) but is such an anti-climax compared to what the film has previously teased. It isn't clear if the film is trying to suggest other things have happened, the change in one character would imply so, but the moment is only fleetingly covered in one scene which would be easy to miss. Perhaps this is deliberate but if the filmmakers are not brave enough to follow through perhaps it should have just been left to speculation instead of being the main driving force for one character. The real life character is apparently unhappy with the portrayal which is completely understandable but the doubt only damages the film rather than provide ambiguity.
I complained about Fruitvale Station starting with a real life event and then working up to it but that is a structure that feels like it would have worked here. In fact, it always feels like there is a much better edit of the same material that would make a far more compelling film.
February 22, 2015 at 03:41PM
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