In my cram to review just about every movie that came out in 2013, I present four that slipped through the cracks…
Only God Forgives…What It’s About: Ryan Gosling reteams with his Drive director to make a movie about violence and revenge in Thailand. His brother commits a crime, then a rogue cop enforces order by having him killed, then Gosling’s mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) shows up to drop some bodies, then…Review: Wholesale unsatisfying and self-consciously strange, this is the kind of film that is trying so hard to be “different” that it unintentionally comes off as boring. I hated the rogue cop (ostensibly our “hero”), and wished him death eight ways to sunday, and Gosling gives his worst performance as well. The sole bright spots may be the red-neon cinematography and Kristin Scott Thomas playing an extremely different role than her usual. Grade: D
Shadowdancer…What It’s About: The sister of a high-level IRA member is asked by an M:I-5 agent (Clive Owen, as a bureaucrat, downbeat James Bond) to spy on her family or go to jail for life…Review: This twisty, intelligent thriller may have a slightly stilted mood (there’s a weird lack of suspense for the first three quarters), but the plot is interesting enough to power it through. Grade: B-
Frances Ha…What It’s About: If HBO’s Girls became a pretentiously black and white love letter to its self, this film would closely resemble it. Review: Except Greta Gerwig (a prettier Lena Dunham…which defeats the purpose, and yes I know she’s technically been around longer) doesn’t have the verbal spark that all the great neurotic heroines do, and the ironic detachment in her voice is an odd fit for a character that’s supposed to be anxious and floundering. [Famed indie writer/director Noah Baumbach dates her in real life…you decide if this is relevant because this is a star vehicle with a mismatched star.] I think the film is saying something semi-interesting about the closeness of millennial female friendships, but I’m not sure it’s worth sifting through the rest of it. Grade: C
Lovelace…What It’s About: Legendary porn star Linda Lovelace’s beginning in the porn trade and her tumultuous relationship with her sleazy ex-husband whom she says forced her into porn…Review: The only clever thing about this movie is the way it acknowledges there’s two different versions of this story (Lovelace’s where she’s a victim, and everyone else’s where she’s a willing participant), and keeps layering back new info into stuff we’ve seen. Otherwise, it’s pretty stale stuff, and shockingly (for a porn movie) boring. Grade: C