This movie is nonstop plot and, I bet, if I bothered to stop and scrutinize I’d find things to dislike. I won’t do that to myself. This movie is sooooo much juicy fun. One of the best CRIME SURE AS SHIT DOESN’T PAY tales I’ve ever seen. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke are absolutely terrific as they get further and further into disaster. The flash back-flash forward (which I am pretty sick of as a rule) works wonders here. Minor complaints: Marisa Tomei, who looks darned fine as she ages, is a terrible actress. I can only imagine what takes *weren’t* used. Was she always this bad? Her close-ups distract from the rest of the film, because she is so terrible — luckily she doesn’t have much to do. Another complaint: why was this shot on video? Shots of windows look all digital and one whole sequence was blanched out from some weird exposure. Sid, you’re a hundred and six years old? Why not dance with the girl you came with?
Lumet went off on a whole thing at the NYFF about how he loves shooting on DV and that shooting on film is “a pain in the ass.” He said he thinks it’ll all be video soon. Lucky for us, he’s wrong…right?
I don’t think it’s that Ms. Tomei is a bad actress, it’s that the role makes no sense whatsoever. In one scene, you can see her figuring out what’s going on, and in the next she acts like a total idiot again. I kept waiting to see her side of the story, where she’s pulling the meta-heist, but it was not to be, and she just leaves with the cab money. It’s a wasted character. The truth is, this thing isn’t nearly as well plotted as Lumet likes to think it is, and I found the nihilism abhorrent. “The world is an evil place,” yadda yadda yadda. It’s an ugly little movie.
1 – Jimmy Jazz – thanks for posting, I dig your blog.
2 – Jurgen – I don’t think it is an ENTIRELY nihilistic film. Ethan Hawke’s character, while hardly a genius or a boy scout, is sympathetic.
I have always loved Sidney Lumet. I feel our relationship has sort of ended with this film. I agree with Jurgen. I thought Marisa Tomei was weak, but I thought it was (shockingly, because it is Lumet) the fault of the director, who makes her do entire scenes with no bra on for no reason other than he likes the way she looks and makes her do other things as illogical from an acting perspective. I asked Kerry after, “did she love her husband more? ” The answer must be yes, but I wasn’t really convinced by her last scene. I think we should have known definitely. I think a film must be a little repulsive if at the end I can’t wait to stop listening to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s voice. I was so excited to see it and in such a bad mood when I left the theatre.
Wait- I will tell you why it is nihilistic- because even the godamned little girl called her father a “loser.” I thought it would have been much more effective to have her be forgiving, it would have made him feel like a loser. But having a child shout that kind of nauseating line- yep, that’s nihilism.