Here goes:
Righteous Kill
Sucked. Waste of time. A lame, run-of-the-mill script only put to celluloid because two of the medium's greatest actors ever, Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, share a large amount of scenes together, basically playing geriatric parodies of their own screen persona's. Both guys seem very past their prime, as evident in Righteous Kill. Their respective performances aren't necessarily awful, just extremely phoned-in and lacking any sense of verve. And the script is just so lame and undercooked that no matter what DeNiro and Pacino do here, it'll fail.
For instance, there's this plot "twist" that's so obvious and telegraphed that it feels a bit insulting, at least it did to me. It plays as if the filmmakers are saying, "Whammy! Didn't see that one coming, did ya?!" Too bad I figured it out about 20 minutes into the film, and that's never good. And then once this twist rushes itself in exposition during the movie's final setpiece, you're supposed to feel a bit of compassion for the unfortunate person, yet the scene is so terribly written and acted with such a scarcity of emotion, its like watching robots programmed to imitate DeNiro and Pacino.
But really, neither actor really seems to give a shit at any point. Totally going through the motions of a moronic story, full of anticlimactic scenes, wannabe-tense moments that inspire yawns. Pacino does, thankfully, have a few funny lines and choice moments, but not nearly enough. I never thought I'd ever think to myself while watching one of his movies that "Wow, Robert DeNiro kinda sucks as an actor," but I did a few times during Righteous Kill, and that's just blasphemic. I think I'll actually watch Taxi Driver one night this week just to rekindle the love again.
If not for sexy-ass Carla Gugino, I may have honestly walked out of the movie at around the 30-minute mark.
Yeah, she's hot.
Oh, and 50 Cent is a truly atrocious actor. He's always sucked in movies, but his performance here is painfully robotic, lifeless, vapid, etc.....stop acting, Curtis, for the love of God. The fact that you were able to share the same screen as DeNiro and Pacino is just plain sad. And speaks volumes of both iconic actors' current careers.
Up next.....
Burn After Reading
This one, thankfully, I really dug. A bit slow at points, and nothing much really happens overall, but then that's sort of the point here. The Coen Brothers' films are largely centered on the theme that despicable, asshole people bring upon themselves further torment by totally fucking things up. And Burn After Reading is chockful of low-lives and indesirables. But the performances are all great, particuarly John Malkovich as a fired, disgruntled former CIA analyst, and Brad Pitt as an airhead, goofy, in-over-his-empty-head trainer at Hardbodies gym.
George Clooney is also pretty top-shelf here, playing a womanizing married man who meets middle-aged dames online, has sex as soon as possible, and then runs his routine 5-mile jog immediately after sexy times conclude. And wait 'til you see the sexual contraption he makes in his basement---it's the funniest use of a dildo I've seen in a long time. Perhaps ever. Shit, I can't recall too many other funny dildo moments on film, outside of porn, and I don't watch porn really anyway so I'm not one to comment really.....oh, and I don't want to shortchange the Coens' go-to-actress, the quirky and invaluable Frances McDormand, who plays a fellow Hardbodies employee who also meets other through cyber dating, and is obsessed with extensive plastic surgery that she can't pay for.
Burn After Reading is all about how the worlds of these wild characters all come crashing tragically together, thanks to Malkovich's character's CIA memoirs falling into the hands of the Hardbodies employees, who try to blackmail him with disastrous, and pretty comical, consequences. It's also pretty cool to see Clooney and Pitt immersing themselves into roles of the moronically colorful kind. Shows that they can care less about their "suave, sex symbol" status(es) in real life. Well played, sirs.
Everybody involved just seems like they're having a ball making the movie, playing the hell out of their characters and just basking in the foul, dirty, dumbass-laden world of the Coen Brothers the entire time. And it's magnetic to watch. It's not a perfect movie, and the script could've used a little more fine-tuning. Especially with Tilda Swinton's character, who isn't given much to do and never is fully developed enough to really register.
But in the end, though, it's just an irreverent comedy that's hard not to like, that's pretty dark and violent in spots, but never less than entertaining. Especially the way the Coens use a couple of conversations between two CIA heads as they basically try to make sense of all that's going on, plot-wise, and continuously fail to do so, mirroring the bewildered feelings of the audience. Only here, that sense of confusion and intrigue makes for a fun little flick. I definitely recommend this one.
Oh, and once this hits DVD, I'm buying a copy and introducing a new kick-ass drinking game into my friends' lexicon: every time Malkovich's character says the word "fuck," or "fucking," we have to do a shot. Dude says the always-effective word like 300 times here. So yes, this game will wreck us into submission. Good times, it shall be.
And yeah, it's official: Brad Pitt is one of my fave actors. He's pretty much brilliant in everything he does, and unafraid to take chances. He doesn't get the talent-fueled priase that he deserves, mainly because of his larger-than-life persona, but man is he great on screen, and that fact is proven further in Burn After Reading. I fucking can't wait to see him in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards next year. Gonna be awesome.
.....okay, once again I was wordy, despite saying I wouldn't be. Sue me.
.jpeg)
No comments:
Post a Comment